Why play the WBC now?

I was looking at some of the box scores from the first couple of days of exhibition games and observed how most pitchers were only pitching 1 or 2 inning. This got me thinking about the World Baseball Classic (WBC) and how pitchers are being asked to compete at a time of year when they are only able to pitch a couple of innings. What were the owners and MLB management thinking by having a competitive tournament this time of year?

To me it would make more sense to have the classic after the world series. I know, it’ll already be November. But doing it then makes alot of sense when you think about it. Here are a few reasons to play the classic after the season:

  1. The games will not interfere with spring training so players will be able to get back into shape and ready for the regular season with their own clubs.
  2. Players will still be in shape from having played the regular season.
  3. Players whose teams did not make the playoffs will have had a couple of weeks to rest up and get over whatever nagging injuries thay were nursing in the stretch run of the season.
  4. New player rivalries will arise during the season and post season making some matchups in the classic more interesting.
  5. Who says you can’t play baseball in November? Keep the games in warm weather or domed venues and you can play any time of year.

Just some points to think about.

Tags: ,


If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.