2009 World Baseball Classic
by James on Apr.12, 2009, under Trips, World Baseball Classic
This is a bit late in coming but a combination of things (home purchase among them) have been keeping me pretty busy.
After experiencing the first World Baseball Classic in San Diego back in 2006, I decided that any chance I had, I’d try to go to every tournament in some way. This time around the semis and final were held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles so it was easy to make plans to attend. It was also the first time I’d been to that ballpark. The 1988 World Series is so long ago that I didn’t really think about Gibson/Eckersley. It’s a pretty nice place, though their seating sections are clearly separated. I had a ticket a few rows from the field so I could wander pretty much anywhere I wanted, but that’s not the case for fans in the nosebleeds. All the talk of traffic in and out of the place being horrible wasn’t too bad, either. The crowds were pretty big and I’m sure it didn’t hurt that my buddies and I got there early and winded up closer to an exit.
The games themselves were worth it, especially the final. The first one (Venezuela vs. Korea) wasn’t close and the second (Japan vs. United States) had its moments, but the final (Korea vs. Japan) was as good as it gets.
Korea won, 10-2. Shin-Soo Choo homered and had 3 RBI, Tae Kyun Kim homered, had 2 RBI and 2 hits and scored 3 runs, and Hyun-Soo Kim went 3-for-3 with a walk and a double. Suk-Min Yoon pitched into the 7th, allowing 2 runs for Korea while Venezuela’s Carlos Silva didn’t make it out of the 2nd, giving up 7 runs. Venezuela made 5 errors in the game, including a costly dropped fly ball by Bobby Abreu in the first inning.
3/22/09: Japan vs. United States
Japan won, 9-4. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched into the 5th and allowed 2 runs while Japan had a big 4th inning against Roy Oswalt, scoring 5 runs. Overall, 4 of Japan’s 9 runs were unearned due to errors by the United States. Three players had a pair of hits for Japan (Hiroyuki Nakajima, Michihiro Ogasawara and Munenori Kawasaki) while Nakajima and Kenji Johjima had 2 RBI apiece. Brian Roberts led off the game with a home run and Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-4 for the United States.
Japan won, 5-3 in 10 innings. Ichiro Suzuki’s 2-out, 2-strike, 2-run single in the 10th gave Japan the lead after Bum Ho Lee tied it in the bottom of the 9th with a 2-out single for Korea. Ichiro went 4-for-6 and Seiichi Uchikawa had 3 hits and 2 RBI. Shin-Soo Choo homered for Korea. Japan’s Hisashi Iwakuma pitched late into the 8th inning, allowing 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks with 6 strikeouts. Though Yu Darvish gave up the tying run in the 9th, 5 of the 6 outs he had were via strikeout. Jung Keun Bong got into trouble early but only allowed an unearned run in 4 innings for Korea.
The crowds, especially Korea’s fans, were great. In the last few years Korea has surprised a lot of people by becoming an international baseball power, highlighted by a trip to the WBC semis in 2006 and a gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Much has been made of the growing rivalry between Korea and Japan and that along with the drama of late-inning rallies in the championship game made for as amazing an experience as you can hope for, even if those teams had nothing to do with my favorite MLB team. At that stage, it’s special just to be there and be a part of that atmosphere. When Korea tied the game, their fans were elated while Japan’s were nearly heartbroken. Then when Ichiro came through with the go-ahead runs, the moods were flipped around with one swing of the bat.
Before going to Los Angeles I bought a new lens for my camera, a Nikon 70-200mm one that gets to f2.8. I was a little concerned I’d run into trouble bringing that monster into the stadium but it aside from opening the bag for it the thing didn’t get a second glance. For the first time using it, I felt very comfortable. It’s heavy but it’s a top-line lens and it worked very well. When I do minor league games and I’m a little closer than I was at the WBC, I’m sure I’ll get some excellent results.
Oh, I guess adding the D3 after getting back home won’t hurt either. THAT thing is nice.
In addition to those game galleries, I’ve also got a few more for fan shots and stadium photos. It’s all here:
