Superficial Intelligence

Sports? Nah! Not really, PLEASE NO!

I have greatly enjoyed reading about your passion for this WBC. However, I feel that your assessment of the reason why Japan and Korea did so well versus why the other western countries did not is a tad uneducated.

If you look at team batting stats for the WBC, there is nothing to suggest that the western teams were "still more focused on helping by hitting the awesome homer than by playing what the team really needs, even if it's small". In fact, only one team averaged more than 2 home runs per game, Mexico. While that doesn't mean that they weren't trying to, a stat like strikeouts per game might give you insight into how patient the batters were. In that realm, the top teams in the tournament all averaged around 6 strikeouts per game, while maintaining a batting average of above .280 (except Korea which batted .243). There isn't really a batting stat other that stolen bases per game where the Japan-Korea tandem really stands out.

Apart from that, baseball is a very "controlled situation" game as opposed to basketball which is for the most part dynamic and quick thinking. There are signs coming from the manager to the batter and runner(s) at each at bat to communicate the type of situation to play towards (Hit and run, sac fly, stolen base, short lead from base, hit to left, hit to right, swing for the fences, etc.). Obviously, they don't always end up doing that, but they are looking for it. In the same token there are signs coming for the defense and the pitcher. So at the end of it, it comes down to how well the pitcher, batter, and maybe runner can execute those signs and how correct the signs were.

If I were to point out a couple of factors that led Korea and Japan to play so well, they would be:
-Putting teams together that were, top to bottom, the best players their country had to offer and that those players were of at least better than average quality. Very few other teams in the tournament can claim this.
-Playing to their strengths ALL THE TIME: Good pitching, the ability to exit the batters box quickly upon contact allowing them to reach first on a lot of infield hits, excellent base running, and speed.
-Excellent situational coaching. The coach knew when to call the sac flies, sac bunts, when to pull pitchers, when to call for a steal, etc.

I hope this offers some insight.
-Jaime

Way to put it, in a very very very (WELL ITS JUST TOO LONG!!!) long way.

Oh well, would have been nice if PR came a little higher though. I wonder when the next time comes... I may be somewhere else when it happens and then I don't know who to root for.

Jaime, I see your point, but I don't completely agree. My view is not completely uneducated either. This article seems to agree with me: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090324&content_id=4057704&vkey=perspectives&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Nando, I am not in PR but I am still rooting for them. You should do the same!

Fernando,
I never said or thought that your view was completely uneducated. I said it was a "tad uneducated".

I read the article and it seems to agree with both of us, yet while you cast your net to all western countries, the article is specific to the U.S. team.