Rosy...I am down here in San Diego and saw both games. Just left Petco early with the rain delay and Japan up 5-0.
The Domnicans have picked up all the bad habits of Major League Baseball. The Cubans play with heart and in my opinion not a lot more. The Korea vs. Japan game was a revelation to attend. Both on the field and in the stands the passions ran very high. Where our players are too cool and selfish to help defend the honor of their country regarding the game we invented, the other teams are here to prove something. This is just like the NBA...the style of play promoted in MLB and The NBA has left us weak in terms of playing the game the right way.
It isn't about talent....both The USA and Dominicans hit the ball harder and throw the ball harder than the others, but we sure don't play the game well.
Next time we invent something (The World Baseball Classic) we better prepare as well as the others....the arrogant attitude we had coming into this ended up giving us the result we deserved.
By the way, a stadium full of Korean and Japanese fans was as loud and as energetic as any game I have ever attended. The fans may or may not know the game as well as soem of us do, but their passion and interest was way beyond what we have.
Soxnole, you are right.....the game between the Koreans and the Japanese was as crisply played game as you are going to see...players were where they should have been and virtually every time tried to execute.....no lazy running to bases, etc. The Japanese pitcher threw nearly 4 times as many strikes as balls...he really pitched.