Béisbol!

(Venezuelans rooting for their losing side...)

Now that the boring bits in Pool A are over (Korea edged Japan for the top seed and everyone else was so bad they really shouldn't have bothered fielding a team,) action has moved to the much more lively and talented Western Hemisphere.

I mean after all, this isn't the Little League Baseball World Series where the Koreans can field a team of 20 year old ringers with forged birth certificates against the American 12 year olds, these are the creme de la creme, of those who are bothering to attend anyway.

In any event, the Americans won their opener yesterday, a real nail biter of sorts...

Ok Rodrigo Lopez, the starter for Mexico is no slouch, but he normally pitches for the Orioles, not exactly renowned for their pitching prowess, so how come this "powerhouse" USA team only managed 6 hits and two runs all game? Damon, Jeter, Junior, A-Rod and Texeira opening things off and that was all they managed? What are they going to do when they face "real" pitching in the later rounds.

Still, a win is a win, one supposes, even if it had to be dramatic. The pitching was good, starter Jake Peavy allowed only one hit and struck out three in three innings work. Overall, a combination of SEVEN pitchers combined to shut out the Mexicans and allow them only four hits all game.

Fortunately for the Yanks, Derrek Lee and Laaaaa-rrrrry "Chipper" Jones both hit homers in their WBC debuts and Team USA won 2-0. We Mets fans were rather hoping Chipper would take one to the head for the team but there's still several more games to be played. But let's face it, team Canada and South Africa are going to send shivers of fear through no one so this victory pretty much clinches the next round for America.

Did they get this excited after the Alamo?

*****

Dominican Republic 11 Venezuela 5

The Dominicans on the other hand, with a true powerhouse, cracking batting order, won easily. This was a game started by the two past AL Cy Young winners, Twins ace Johan Santana v Angels star pitcher Bartolo Colon.

Red Sock Papi Ortiz led off the second inning with a solo homer off Santana, and then added a second homer in the ninth, a two-run shot off Venezuelan left-hander Carlos Hernandez to ice the game.

Adrian Beltre also recorded a multihomer game. He knocked a three-run blast off Carlos Zambrano to contribute to a four-run fifth inning , and he also went deep off newly acquired Met, Jorge Julio in the ninth, giving the Dominicans a five-run advantage.

Puerto Rico 2 Panama 1

Proving their victory over the Mets on Sunday was no fluke, Puerto Rico won following a Bernie Williams double and an Alexis Rios homerun. Williams was batting leadoff in a lineup that included Pudge Rodriguez, Carlos Beltran and Javy Lopez, among others.

The Panamanians were fielding a side that had well, Ruben Rivera playing centerfield and their starting pitcher was none other than Lenin Picota. This is like the B List of Hispanic players, or maybe even the C list. Wonder why Panama ends up with so few stars and a little island like the Domincan Republic has so many superstars...

In any event, the PRs are a "team" in the classic sense and this might even give them an advantage, at least in this first round. There's only so far homefield advantage will go and that's this round only so although they're good, with 7 Mets on their side, I'm hoping PR get knocked out early so they can return to the team. Especially with Carlos Beltran sliding head first into first base trying to beat out a hit. Hellooooo? It's not the bloody World Series Carlos, save your enthusiasm for the Mets who are paying you a gazillion dollars a year to hit .270...

BONDS STEROIDS RUMOURS DELUXE

Swallowed up in the excitement is the interesting revelation of the degree to which Barry Bonds is now alleged to have taken steroids.

"But as the 1998 season unfolded and, as he watched Mark McGwire take over the game -- his game -- Barry Bonds decided that he, too, would begin using what he called "the s---."

He began working out with a real gym rat, a trainer who spent 12 hours a day pumping iron in a gym on the San Francisco peninsula. Bonds's new workout partner called himself the Weight Guru, and he had a sophisticated approach to training. He prescribed specific, intense workouts for individual muscle groups, and he tailored the program for baseball to maximize hitting power while maintaining agility. He could talk about nutrition and blood tests and body-fat percentages with such authority that you might mistake him for a doctor."

Yeahyeah. Big surprise. Now let's get on with it...

Bonds' Bird, Bimbo or Bitch for spilling her guts about him?

..."He said he usually dated strippers. Bonds also began giving her money: $5,000 to $10,000 in cash in an envelope, on an irregular basis. He said the money came from the sale of autographed memorabilia. Often Bonds would tell her how she should spend the money: a new big-screen TV or a bed for her apartment, for example. In 1996, he decided she should have breast augmentation surgery, and a check arrived from the Beverly Hills Sports Council, Bonds's agent, to pay for it."

Juicy stuff, indeed.