JOKER_ESCO wrote: I hope cuba wins tonight Agains Japan, I was so glad 2 see the U.S. Loose LoL Bro... I was at a function on Thursday night....and I was calling my house for updates..... I was happy the U.S. lost!!!
LSC was talking about this before, from mlb.com There are teams and then there are collections of individuals. Look at the basics of the game. In the second inning Saturday, the No. 5 hitter in the Cuban lineup, left fielder Frederich Cepeda was asked to bunt. He bunted successfully. On most American professional clubs, the No. 5 hitter will not be asked to bunt, because if you asked him to bunt, the next day his agent would be publicly demanding a trade. "This organization shows me no respect," the No. 5 hitter would say, doing an unintentional Rodney Dangerfield impersonation. There is undoubtedly more personal freedom for the American player than for the Cuban player and we wouldn't have it any other way. But there is something to be said for a baseball team in which the No. 5 hitter will bunt as a matter of course, because this is what the team needs him to do. These baseball games tend to be won by teams, not by individuals. Cuban manager Higinio Velez has made a point of stressing this concept, saying: "This is a team made up of men, not of names." Saturday, he wanted to make certain that this was not misunderstood. The other teams were also made up of men, he said, "good men and hard men and manly men." The difference with the Cuban players was, Velez said: "Ours are men without names; they're playing as a team, as members of a team." The elimination of what were essentially the Major League teams in this tournament, and the stunning success of the true national teams, leads to another possible conclusion.Perhaps Major League Baseball is no longer the dominant form of baseball on the planet. Perhaps it is simply the most expensive. You obviously cannot state this as fact. But you also can no longer dismiss it as a completely goofy notion. The Cubans belong here. There are plenty of Americans who object to Cuban politics, Cuban leadership, Cuban anti-Americanism, etc. All of this counts for next to nothing when the teams take the field. "It seems to us that we deserve to be here; we did play well, and now we're here," said Marti, the starting pitcher on Saturday. The Cuban baseball team will be playing for the championship of the World Baseball Classic on Monday. The record states clearly that, yes, this Cuban team deserves to be here, it belongs here, and it is still here, a baseball team playing for a world championship.
I think the outcome of this tournament is proving that!
Politics are politics...and it should NEVER be dabbled in a sport. The Cuban team already have shut alot of blabbing mouths. Good for them!
VAMOS CUBA!!!!
__________________
"Live the life that you love, so you can love the life that you live"
S.L.U.T *Support YOUR talent!*
There are teams and then there are collections of individuals. Look at the basics of the game. In the second inning Saturday, the No. 5 hitter in the Cuban lineup, left fielder Frederich Cepeda was asked to bunt. He bunted successfully.
On most American professional clubs, the No. 5 hitter will not be asked to bunt, because if you asked him to bunt, the next day his agent would be publicly demanding a trade. "This organization shows me no respect," the No. 5 hitter would say, doing an unintentional Rodney Dangerfield impersonation.
There is undoubtedly more personal freedom for the American player than for the Cuban player and we wouldn't have it any other way. But there is something to be said for a baseball team in which the No. 5 hitter will bunt as a matter of course, because this is what the team needs him to do. These baseball games tend to be won by teams, not by individuals.
Cuban manager Higinio Velez has made a point of stressing this concept, saying: "This is a team made up of men, not of names." Saturday, he wanted to make certain that this was not misunderstood. The other teams were also made up of men, he said, "good men and hard men and manly men."
The difference with the Cuban players was, Velez said: "Ours are men without names; they're playing as a team, as members of a team."
The elimination of what were essentially the Major League teams in this tournament, and the stunning success of the true national teams, leads to another possible conclusion. Perhaps Major League Baseball is no longer the dominant form of baseball on the planet. Perhaps it is simply the most expensive.
You obviously cannot state this as fact. But you also can no longer dismiss it as a completely goofy notion.
The Cubans belong here. There are plenty of Americans who object to Cuban politics, Cuban leadership, Cuban anti-Americanism, etc. All of this counts for next to nothing when the teams take the field.
"It seems to us that we deserve to be here; we did play well, and now we're here," said Marti, the starting pitcher on Saturday.
The Cuban baseball team will be playing for the championship of the World Baseball Classic on Monday. The record states clearly that, yes, this Cuban team deserves to be here, it belongs here, and it is still here, a baseball team playing for a world championship.
latinsoulchild wrote: Los Dominicanos sacaron a Tavarez.... Vamos Cuba! I want to see a "team" win...not a bunch of high profile Major Leaguers I totally agree lsc. see velez's comments above about just that. hey, by the way, I never got an opinion on the "bares y cantinas" CD...
By the way...I never knew you were LAB!!..lol
I loved the CD...great classic cuban stuff!!
You missed Cervejaria yesterday...El tresero de "Cubanisimo" jumped on stage and put Son Ache's Jay Danely to sleep...Best tres solo I've heard! El tipo se llama Pablo...pero no me acuerdo de su apellido. Pero que clase de musico!
FELICIDADES CUBA!!!
__________________
"Live the life that you love, so you can love the life that you live"
S.L.U.T *Support YOUR talent!*
For Monday's game, I have already got some of the ingredients:
And to think that the %&(*)&^$%& americans at first tried to avoid Cuba's participation! And we could well be the champions of this thing, and Team USA didn't even make it to the semifinals!
As we say in Cuba... se cogieron el culo con la puerta
I sure hope this game is as good as the one with the boricuas.
And also that Velez opens with Adiel Palma, for crying out loud!
From the press conference this morning:
" Velez said that Castro had not demanded victory from the Cuban players, but had urged that they do their best as a team to represent Cuba in this tournament. That was fine. In fact, you sort of wish that some American political leader had suggested the same approach for the U.S. team.
Velez became a bit testy when asked about possible defections. Not much shock value in that response. But coming up here shortly was the best thing he said. In fact, it was one of the best things that anybody has said during this tournament. When asked about succeeding in the Classic without Major League players, the Cuban manager responded:
"You have to play as a team, and this is the wonderful situation about this whole thing".
"I will say something, and I want you to take note of these words: You have a team of men and not of names. If you don't play as a team, you have to defend the flag of your country, you have to defend your homeland, the love for your country. That is what brings together the players in a team. Cuba has quality, but we have the same love that you saw here in this Classic with the other teams. They got together representing their country, and it is the love for that country, what brought them to this very last round.
"You can see what happened with Japan, with Korea, they got together and played as a team, not as individual stars. The star is the team, and the team is what constitutes a star."