Luis Salazar, a coach with the Braves, lost an eye because he got hit by a foul ball. On the bright side, he's still alive, unlike that poor guy in the Rockies' minor league system.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Remembering the 2009 WBC (and Wondering When's the Next One)
The 2009 World Baseball Classic held many surprises. Some of them stood out more than others. These were the things that stood out to me (and forgotten soonafter, until now)
1) China beats Chinese Taipei 4-1
I've always thought Chinese Taipei were only bested in Asia by Japan and South Korea. Hmmm.. guess I was wrong.
Interesting side notes:
i) The manager for the Chinese side was none other than Mets manager Terry Collins.
ii) The hero of the game, Ray Chang, was named Eastern League's Best Defensive 3B in 2010 by Baseball America. Who knew? So far he can hit A and AA pitching, but stunk at AAA.
iii) The two prospect, Kai Liu and Zhenwang Zhang, signed by the Yanks. Liu went back to China a few years later, but I can't seem to find any info on Zhang. I can't even find anything in the past two years about the entire Chinese team. Rumors say Zhang went back to China too. Either way, they weren't in the MiLB database. Oh well, their appearance in the WBC was after their 2007 signing anyways.
2) Netherlands beats Dominican Rep. twice
Almost every name looked weird back then, with the exception of Ponson, plus a few other guys who had some time in the majors.
Today, more familiar names came up. Kenley Jansen, who is now pitching instead of catching. Hainley Statia, with the Angels. Halman, Vanden Hurk and Smit joins the group too. Looks like they may do something at the next WBC too.
Main problem: Anyone got any idea about when is the next one?
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