A Classic update

The U.S. beat the Netherlands, 9-3 on March 15 to stay alive in the WBC. Kevin Youkilis drove in one run and Ryan Braun contributed two singles and scored a run. Reliever John Grabow yielded a walk but retired another batter and has yet to give up a run or a hit.

According to an Associated Press report, Braun may have aggravated a rin-cage injury he sustained last year that kept him out of action for several weeks late in the season. Braun left Sunday’s game late into the action and said the i jury wasn’t serious.

This is why people hate the Internet and/or the media. The opening screen on Comcast features sports headlines, including this one: “U.S. May Forfeit WBC?”

The implication is that the team was actually considering the possibility. Only after you click on the link do you get the actual story:

Team USA manager Davey Johnson already knows what he would do if injuries got so bad in the World Baseball Classic that he ran out of certain position players: He would forfeit.

The injury-plagued Americans were so short-handed Sunday against the Netherlands that backup catcher Brian McCann played left field in the ninth. Asked during the team’s batting practice Monday who his third catcher would have been, Johnson said he wouldn’t have even tried to put a player in that position for fear of injury – even if it meant elimination.

He used Kevin Youkilis as an example, saying he could never return to Boston if the Red Sox first baseman was injured playing catcher in the WBC.

“I would definitely had to gone out and said we had to forfeit this ballgame,” Johnson said.

Not exactly the same meaning.

Several members of the squad have already been lost to injury, Braun’s situation notwithstanding. Johnson would be caught shorthanded since WBC rules would not allow a change in the roster until the tam moves to the next round of play.

Team U.S.A. plays Venezuela tonight. The winner moves on to the semi-finals in Los Angeles this weekend; the loser goes home.

---

Kaplan’s Korner on Jews and Sports © 2009 New Jersey Jewish News

Powered by WordPress | ElegantBlue theme by Nathan Rice