Cup of Joe: Starkey on sports in 350 words or less
Yes, Team USA choked away the overrated World Baseball Classic, its vaunted lineup again coming up small in a 3-2 loss to Venezuela and journeyman pitcher Eduardo Rodríguez in the championship game.
But at least they honored the San Diego Padres.
How seriously can anybody take this tournament when one of Team USA’s top players (Tarik Skubal) quit in the middle of it — he could have pitched Tuesday — and their best relief pitcher was only available for a save situation because of apparent restrictions imposed by his major league team?
And if the Padres really told Team USA that Mason Miller could only pitch in a save situation, shouldn’t the reply have been something like, “If he can do that, could he maybe pitch the top of ninth in a tie game so we could maybe walk it off and WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP?”
I mean, was he available or wasn’t he?
In a related matter, I feel confident predicting this was the last game MLB Network host Mark DeRosa will manage in a Team USA uniform.
DeRosa famously did not know he needed to beat Italy last week in order to qualify for the knockout round, telling his “buddies” at MLB Network his team had its “ticket punched” to the quarterfinals when, in fact, it did not.
DeRosa rested key players that night, lost to Italy and needed help just to reach the quarterfinals. Italy provided it by beating Mexico.
Then, after some terrible strike calls helped the Americans beat the Dominican Republic in the semifinals, DeRosa apparently was forced to keep his closer on ice in the title game
So after Bryce Harper tied the game 2-2 on a dramatic home run, Miller sat and watched the top of the ninth.
When asked why he didn’t use Miller — and no, it wasn’t because DeRosa thought it was a three-game series — DeRosa said, “Honoring the Padres. Had we taken the lead, he was coming in, but I wasn’t going to bring him into a tie game.”
I guess that means Miller wasn’t going to pitch at all, because there are no save situations for the home team in extra innings (I wonder if anybody told DeRosa!).
Oh well, maybe instead of wearing USA hockey jerseys to their next big game, like they did Tuesday night, the Americans could wear Padres jerseys. And maybe Aaron Judge could actually swing the bat in a key situation.
What a disaster.