In 2006, I headed down to San Diego with a buddy to catch the WBC’s semifinal game between the Dominican Republic and Cuba. San Diego is one of my favorite places in the world, and Petco Park one of my favorite ballparks.
We had a great time as we watched an anonymous group of oppressed Cubans, in god awful red uniforms, battle the stacked Dominican team to earn a hard victory.
But as much fun as that was, it is my only memory of the 2006 WBC; and as the 2009 Classic approaches, I am finding it difficult to find any interest in it whatsoever.
As fans, our loyalties lay with our favorite Major League team and with the players who fill out its roster. Asking an Angels fan to set aside his hatred for players from the A’s, Yankees, Dodgers and Red Sox is too much to ask, despite the fact that they’re representing our country. The disdain one develops for an opposing player over the course of a season, if not several seasons and post-seasons, is not something that can be set aside — even in the name of National Pride.
Call me unpatriotic, but if a scenario arises where Kevin Youkilis steps to the plate in the bottom of the ninth of the championship game, with the United States team trailing Japan by a run and the bases juiced, my neighbors will most certainly here the following chant: “Ni-pon! Ni-pon! Ni-pon!”
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