ESPN just said Clemens is shutting it down until June or July after tonight's game. That makes Clemens the biggest trade deadline acquisition of the season for some team. He'll be the X-Factor in the AL East. That's my prediction.

The same umpire who blew the tag-up call for Japan blew another call in the first inning. A-Rod was out on that play at first.

At least it didn't lead to anything.

What a joke.

I can't take this commentary. Who is that? Rick Sutcliff? So awful.

After 2: no score. Clemens, effective so far, 25 pitches - 15 strikes. Nice DB by catcher Barret in the 1st. Angel Stadium looks quite crowded, but there's nothing of the passion of the three previous elimination games.

James: It's Bob Davidson. He just blew ANOTHER call. This guy sucks at umping.

Furthermore, why there is no left field or right field line ump as there are during the World Series is beyond me. That wasn't even close to not being a home run.

So this Davidson guy used to umpire in the major leagues, but for some mysterious reason he's now only working in the minor leagues.

I think I'm starting to see why.

Esteban Loaiza would have been a better umpire. At least he KNOWS to look at the baseball. America can't win this Classic by getting "help" by the umpire EVERY game.

I'll refrain from using the word TAINT, but when a ball bounces off the foul pole 15 feet in the air, it should be a home run - not a double. Do these umpires need glasses or do they just need a refresher course in the rules?

I've been enjoying the Baseball Classic, until now. A second bad call so that the US can advance. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. I'll not watch again this year.

WTF are the ESPN announcers talking about? Mexico can't SCORE a run until the 13th? That doesn't make sense AT ALL. Does anyone understand that?

Wow, Davidson and crew are lost. How did all 4 of those guys miss that call? While the world pondered pitch counts and injuries, we get 2nd rate umpires in what has otherwise been a 1st rate event.

What the hell did I just see? Bob Davidson is either blind, or on someone's payroll that he shouldn't be.

And what about the other umpires????

By the way, I believe Davidson was an MLB umpire until the strike a few years ago.

But that was one of the single worst calls I've EVER seen.

Wow. That is so bad. I can understand the other bad calls (and they were really bad), but how do you miss a baseball hitting a large metal object and then coming back into the field of play? Not only would you hear the ball hit the pole, but the only way for the ball to come flying back into the field of play is if it hit the pole. This guy must subscribe to the magic bullet theory as well.

"Oh, well, I thought the ball took a 90-degree turn in midair."

Does Mexico realize that they shouldn't arguing? The only way for them to advance is if they win 3-0 or 4-0 in the 13th inning.

Someone must have told Mexico what they have to do to advance, right? If they score, they can't advance.

Bob: You know, the Cuba/Dominican game on Saturday will be the best game of the tournament. You're going to miss out one helluva game if you boycott the tournament now over bad umping.

Just checked Grund Rules of Angel Stadium, ans someone added a misterious asterisk...:
"Foul poles and attached yellow screen are in fair territory. Ball striking either the pole* or attached screen is a home run."
*If minor league officiating foul pole has to be torn down to award a home run
(I just made that up)

...and Mexico eliminates themselves.

Mexico just eliminated themselves and they are cheering. Hahaha.

:)

Funny, so did Bob Davidson

> ...and Mexico eliminates themselves.

At least the run ended up crossing the plate.

What?! Valenzuela clearly missed home plate by at least 15 feet. That run shouldn't count!
So, right now we have another Korea-Japan on saturday, right? Redemption for Ichiro & Co or harakiri!

Right now USA would advance. If the score stands at 1-0, of course.

The WBC website says Mexico advances if "A 3-0 or 4-0 win over the United States, with Mexico having played 13 innings or more on defense". Which is insane, but it means Mexico isn't technically eliminated.

Regardless, they're playing for the win, not to advance.

Okay, now they're out.

Earl, think about it...they are eliminated.

You can't go to thirteen inning and win 3-0 if you've already score a run in the second inning.

I hope every tag-up play is appealed from her on out. That would be pretty funny.

You can't go to thirteen inning and win 3-0 if you've already score a run in the second inning.

I dunno...anything's possible with this umpiring crew.

(Yeah, I'm an idiot. Sorry about that.)

Dave, it was Valenzuela, 1st batter in the bottom of the 3rd on a 2-0 pitch.

Clemens is up to 68 pitches, that could be it. Just in case, so long and thanks, Roger.

Buck just said they'll send him out for the 5th. Hopefully he mows 'em down.

yes, thank you Buck Martinez for asking Young to bunt AGAIN

I love bunting with the best offensive SS in baseball. It's just smart baseball.

Stupid to ask Young to bunt, but I suppose it's the same outcome - with that grounder, they could have turned two if Barrett was still on first.

well there's no way of knowing if Young grounds out if allowed to bat from the first pitch

Just think, this might be the very last time we see Roger Clemens pitch for the very last time. He's been pitching for the very last time at least several times these last few years, and it's been a remarkable tradition.

If this score holds, and Mexico wins 2-1 after 9 innings, US advances, right? They don't celebrate on the field, do they? For not losing too badly?

No, the US would not advance on a 2-1 win now. They would have to get an out in the bottom of the ninth. Since they wouldn't play the bottom of the ninth if the game ends with this score, the US loses to Japan on the tie breaker.

For the US to advance with a 2-1 loss, they had to have played 8 2/3 innings or more on defense. Since Mexico is home team that is not possible.
US has to win (sure they'll never convince).

Yes. they advance because they would have played fewer innings in defense.

Or rather, the other way around. Japan would advance...

but partial innings= whole innings so the 2/3 wouldn' t matter if it were possible...

Thanks. Man I'm bad at this.

what an embarrassment.

What I think people are missing is that the Mexican fans were cheering for two reasons.

1. They beat the US. This is a huge rivalry in international soccer, and I'm sure most of the Mexican fans are cueing in on this.

2. They eliminated the US from the tournament. See reason number 1.

I personally found it revolting to cheer for the US team...to many Yankee players.

Well despite bad calls the baseball gods ensured that the Japanese team advanced. I can't complain, the US got too many bad calls in their favor; it wouldn't be right for them to advance.

This weekend's games should be real good.

Good for Japan, who certainly deserved to advance after the debacle in the Japan-U.S. game. Hilarious that it was the same umpire, Bob Davidson.

Will posted that it wasn't a surprise that he's a minor league umpire now after having been a major leaguer...he lost his job because he was one of the geniuses who "quit" some years back, and then tried to sue MLB when they accepted and refused to rehire them. What an ass.

On umpiring...doesn't it seem strange that they'd let American umps umpire American games? I think the World Cup always uses a third country for refs, so that there is no risk of impropriety. Am I right on that? The honorable Bob Davidson makes a strong case for this same policy to be implemented in the next WBC. I've really enjoyed it so far, much much more than I expected. To make it better next time, here are my unasked for suggestions:

1) the umpire thing...third country umps
2) timing...if it's only every four years, extend the all-star break and play it then, or play it in November in warm climates...it's pretty clear that there are significantly different levels of rust on the players involved
3) televise ALL of the games so that we can watch them

Jeff Francoeur had to be embarassed to be picked off at second base by the catcher. It would be interesting to know how many times last season a player was picked off second base in the majors. Was working so didn't get to see the play but Francoeur had to be napping to not realize what was happening in time and return to the base safely.

Andrew,
the batter missed his bunt, IIRC. Yes Jeff was a bit too far off the bag, but it was almost like a suicide squeeze play to get him to third. They actually should have played it that way, rather than having Jeff hesitate between the bases.

I'll repeat it here: in the 1987 Canada Cup (all games refereed by NHL refs), between Canada and USSR, the Russians insisted that the referee not be American. That left Don Koharski (I believe), a canuck, to ref.

I think when you have someone who is considered the best in the business, that quality trumps any nationalistic tendencies. Obviously, in WBC, where quality was mediocre at best, that doesn't apply.

Anyone know if the wonderful umpiring crew will be making the trip to San Diego?

Fans with a long memory may recall that it was Bob Davidson as umpire who made the classic bad call of the 1992 World Series, where the triple play was ruined because the umpire, after a double-play, didn't see Kelly Gruber tag Deion Sanders' heel.