I just finished reading Ken Rosenthal's article "U.S. No Longer Envy of Baseball World," on Foxsports.com and while I don't have a crystal ball like Nostradumbass, I have to wonder why that comes as a surprise to anyone, especially a supposed baseball expert. Did Rosenthal, or anyone else for that matter, really believe the U.S. was simply going to waltz into the WBC and wipe the floor (or in this case, the field) with the competition?

Not that the United States team couldn't still win, but if they do it will only be with help from Sout Korea and would now have to be considered a major upset, which, apparently, has some people majorly upset. If all you want is to see the U.S. kick butt, just roll those halfpipe highlights from the recently concuded Winter Olympic games, and revel in our dominance in a sport which nobody else knew existed until about ten minutes ago. As far as the rest of the world knows, halfpipe is nothing more than Ricky Williams' pre-breakfast routine...but I digress.


The World Plays Catch(Up)
The rest of the world has been making steady inroads into the baseball world practically since Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947. Latin America has a passion for baseball that rivals ours from fifty years ago, in that simple time before 24-hour sports channels, hundred-million dollar endorsement deals, and the culture of me, me, me permeated the American sports scene.

This Latin American love affair with baseball is nothing new, either. Long before Ramon and Pedro Martinez came from the Dominican to baffle Major League hitters, Juan Marichal did the same thing. Decades before Magglio Ordonez and Bobby Abreu came to the Major Leagues from Venezuela, Chico Carrasquel and Luis Aparicio led the way.

Ditto the players from Mexico. Before Erubiel Durazo was even born, Bobby Avila was a regular in the big leagues.

More recent, but just as significant, is the influx of Asian players into the majors. Hideki Irabu led the way in the mid-1990's, but Japanese baseball was flourishing for decades before that.


National Pride
With players from foreign countries coming to the United States to showcase their abilities on the big stage of MLB, is it any wonder many would jump at the chance to represent their homeland in this type of tournament? While many U.S.-born players don't seem to want to get out of their comfort zone and interrupt their tried-and-true spring routines, foreign-born players might view the WBC as a chance to pay homage to the people they left behind when they came to this country, often not even knowing more than a few words of the language.

The United States roster is filled with big names, although the pitching staff seems to be comprised of guys that are older than dirt combined with young, relatively untested names like Huston Street. But it's not just a question of what country can build the most impressive Fantasy Baseball roster. The players from countries where baseball is practically a religion unto itself, like the Latin American countries and Japan, might play with a little more motivation than their American counterparts, since they know they represent the hopes of their entire nation.

Think back to the Winter Olympics of 1980, when the lightly regarded United States Olympic hockey team toppled the mighty Soviets en route to the Gold Medal. The fact that the U.S. team had the entire country behind it had to have been a factor in getting performances from players above and beyond what was expected. Meanwhile, for the battle-tested Soviet team, it was another international tournament they were expected to win, simply because they always did. Business as usual.

For whatever reason, though, the U.S. has struggled mightily in this inaugural tournament while the rest of the teams have had the pleasure of seeing other countries poke a finger in Uncle Sam's eye.