...or harvest moss outdoors.
...or tell the boss I'm bored.
Giardina(Sr)(Durant) is supposed to throw tonight against Scheerhorn(Jr) for Wharton.
He's Wharton's #3 pitcher behind Carmody(Sr) and Lally(Jr).
Nobody told these kids that they weren't supposed to be beating Gaither or Chamberlain.
He's Wharton's #3 pitcher behind Carmody(Sr) and Lally(Jr).
Nobody told these kids that they weren't supposed to be beating Gaither or Chamberlain.
Not to argue, but in the interest of accuracy.
In another thread this topic, as it relates to the JOs, was brought up. Then someone brought up the poor performance by the youth national team. It is true that this is an all star type team selected to represent the USA while Cuba is a team that is built within and practices together year around. It would be virtually impossible to have every one of America’s very best players on the USA team, let alone play together for years. (Too many to choose from) However, there are a few facts regarding the Youth National Team that make things look much different regarding competition against Cuba.
First of all the competition with Cuba has been intense, but the results have been anything but one sided. The following is copied from the USA Baseball site.
Most important from above is to know that the USA never fielded an official team until 1997! Here is the record since that time:
1998
USA – Gold / Cuba – No Medal
1999
No Tournament (But USA won the Gold Medal in the unofficial World Championship)
2000
USA – Gold / Cuba – Silver
2001
USA – Gold / Cuba – No Medal
2002
Cuba Gold / USA – Silver
2003
USA – Gold / Cuba – Bronze
2004
Cuba Gold / USA – Silver
2005
Cuba – Gold / USA – Silver
So in the years that the USA has competed in the World Tournament here is the medal count.
Gold Medals – USA 4 / Cuba 3
Silver Medals – USA 3 / Cuba 1
USA first or second place – 7 times / 4 Championships
Cuba first or second place – 4 times / 3 Championships
And USA won the Gold, beating Cuba in the unsanctioned 1999 tournament.
Where is that total domination by Cuba in this age group?
In another thread this topic, as it relates to the JOs, was brought up. Then someone brought up the poor performance by the youth national team. It is true that this is an all star type team selected to represent the USA while Cuba is a team that is built within and practices together year around. It would be virtually impossible to have every one of America’s very best players on the USA team, let alone play together for years. (Too many to choose from) However, there are a few facts regarding the Youth National Team that make things look much different regarding competition against Cuba.
First of all the competition with Cuba has been intense, but the results have been anything but one sided. The following is copied from the USA Baseball site.
quote:Having already established itself as an international powerhouse, the USA Baseball Youth National Team has become a golden lightning rod. USA Baseball began selecting and training an official National Team in the 16-under age category in the summer of 1997. Since then, the program has captured six straight medals in tournament play, including four golds.
To say the USA Baseball Youth National Program has tasted success in the program's short existence certainly would be accurate. In fact, some might even argue that such a claim even would be an understatement.
After claiming the gold medal at the 2003 International Baseball Federation's "AA" World Youth Championships in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the USA Youth have now captured the last three world titles.
Besides its three gold medals in world championship play, the program also has more gold to its credit, having won the 2000 COPABE Pan American Youth Championships in Monterrey, Mexico. All told, that's four gold medals and one silver medal finish at the 2002 COPABE Youth Pan Am Championships in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. In addition, the program has garnered one domestic crown as well - the title in the Police Athletic Leagues (PAL) World Series in Jupiter, Fla., in 1999 (a year in which there was no scheduled international tournament in which the YNT program could compete).
And all of this success has come in just seven years - since the inception of the USA Baseball Youth National Team program in 1997. With a record like this, few people can dispute the claim that the program has established itself as the premier youth baseball program in the world at the 16-and-under age level. But the program's success has not come by mere accident. That success has evolved from a system of identifying, evaluating and, ultimately, selecting the best players to be members of the Youth National Team annually.
Most important from above is to know that the USA never fielded an official team until 1997! Here is the record since that time:
1998
USA – Gold / Cuba – No Medal
1999
No Tournament (But USA won the Gold Medal in the unofficial World Championship)
2000
USA – Gold / Cuba – Silver
2001
USA – Gold / Cuba – No Medal
2002
Cuba Gold / USA – Silver
2003
USA – Gold / Cuba – Bronze
2004
Cuba Gold / USA – Silver
2005
Cuba – Gold / USA – Silver
So in the years that the USA has competed in the World Tournament here is the medal count.
Gold Medals – USA 4 / Cuba 3
Silver Medals – USA 3 / Cuba 1
USA first or second place – 7 times / 4 Championships
Cuba first or second place – 4 times / 3 Championships
And USA won the Gold, beating Cuba in the unsanctioned 1999 tournament.
Where is that total domination by Cuba in this age group?
1999 The Youth National Team won a domestic PAL World Series. Did Cuba have a domestic PAL team that year?
1997 The Youth National team did not medal while Cuba took the gold.
So here we have four gold medals each.
An island nation of 11.4 million people is apparently equal to or superior to our nation of 300 million people in the game of baseball, our national pastime.
Maybe I'll do an examination of the success of the 1984 to present national teams in comparison to an island nation with 1/26th the population.
1997 The Youth National team did not medal while Cuba took the gold.
So here we have four gold medals each.
An island nation of 11.4 million people is apparently equal to or superior to our nation of 300 million people in the game of baseball, our national pastime.
Maybe I'll do an examination of the success of the 1984 to present national teams in comparison to an island nation with 1/26th the population.
Willie,
It might be our national pastime.
In the Dominican and Cuba it is far more important than that!
It might be our national pastime.
In the Dominican and Cuba it is far more important than that!