gnapse corner

It was amazing but perhaps understandable how the US media diminished Cuban baseball prior to the beginning of the inaugural edition of the World Baseball Classic. And I say understandable because although it is true that Cuban baseball has mostly succeeded in amateur international events, Cuba had never before been in front of rosters loaded with major league all-stars, like Team USA, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela. US media didn't know about Cuban players, so they assumed they were not as good.

But after the clear and outstanding role played by Team Cuba in this unique event, it is really sad that most mainstream media is still referring to it as the great surprise in the event, while some going as far as still saying that Cuba was extremely lucky to be where it is now: in the final game against Japan.

US Major Leagues cannot stand that except for two Japanese players, no other of their "super players" are in the finals. They wrote this Hollywood ending for the event, with the Dominican Republic against Team USA, but they failed. And this unexpected final game promises to be as exciting and interesting as anyone could expect. It gives more merit to the event, a higher level of entertainment. And the fact that the final is celebrated in US soil makes this even more interesting.

I never liked announced finals, I've always preferred the unknown and unannounced. And if this also means having my country there, defending the title of my favorite sport (and my country's national sport too), and doing so in the most tough event that ever existed, the pleasure and joy is infinite.

Cuban path to this final was anything but easy. They won key games against strong rosters such as Venezuela (7-2), Puerto Rico (4-3) and the Dominican Republic (3-1). And the myth is over. Even most Cuban people thought Cuba was not at this level, and they were proved wrong. Cuba deserves to be where it is, and the odds to win tonight are high. Both teams are just as strong, and both will do the same great effort, tributing to what will surely be a beautiful game filled with emotion. And in the end, baseball will be the winner. Global baseball, world baseball, and not just US major leagues.

Before I finish, I would like to refer you to the one piece of article that I really enjoyed. It gives an interesting overview of the two finalists, how different and yet how akin they are. It's a sincere and genuine point of view very dissimilar to most of what I've read. It is titled The world is shrinking, and I will end quoting a piece of it.

So no matter who wins Monday night, the World Baseball Classic will have taught us an invaluable lesson:

They can play this game as well as we can play it. Their leagues might actually be just as good as our leagues. And we can learn as much from the way the Japanese and Cubans play baseball as they can learn from us.

It was worth holding the WBC just for that lesson alone. Wasn't it?