World Baseball Classic

I'm not sure how many people know too much about the World Baseball Classic. It's baseball trying to start their own World Cup tournament. Frankly, I find it silly. The reason that the World Cup works is that soccer is a worldwide sport (as much as I hate to say it). Their are leagues in all kinds of countries that are somewhat on par. In baseball, there is the MLB. All other leagues are inferior. So, I don't think a worldwide baseball tournament will have the same impact because the World Series will still be so much more important. Think about the World Championships in basketball. Sure, they are more popular to Europeans than Americans, but I'm willing to bet even the European players would rather win the NBA championship than the basketball world championship.

The only reason I've even noticed the World Baseball Classic (can you call something a classic that's never been played before?) is the Cuban controversy. At first, Cuba wasn't given a license to come play by the U.S. government because of sanctions against Cuba. Then, they reversed course due to pressure from Major League Baseball, the players association, the Olympics and the International Baseball Federation. One side of me is happy the Cubans are going to be playing. I hope some defect. The other side of me is still indignant that these totalitarian countries are allowed into these international sporting events. I've long thought the Olympics were unethical when they were allowing the Soviet bloc countries to participate. Sure, they like to say the Olympics are above politics (I call B.S. on that one). This wasn't just politics, but basic human rights. How can let a country participate when they don't send security guards to protect their athletes, but to keep them prisoner? How can you glorify the amateur athlete when some of them are forced to be amateurs by their country who won't let them leave?

Cuba is still like that. The one I can't believe is the player's association fighting to get Cuba in. Excuse me? How many Cuban members do they have who can no longer go back home because of Fidel Castro? Who actually had to escape an island prison to play professional baseball? This union pitches a hissy fit when there is talk of a salary cap even though their players will still make millions. This union believes that anything less than unfettered free agency is slavery. Yet, they are supporting a regime who forces players to play where the government wants them to or not play at all. A regime that uses baseball as punishment. Orlando Hernandez was banned from playing baseball in Cuba because his brother Livan defected, so he ended up having to flee the island. How can the player's union sanction anything that would keep that kind of system alive?

But I shouldn't be surprised. These international sports organizations have always had a tendency to suck up to dictators. They are more than willing to criticize the U.S. for "playing politics" with their little events, because they know they can get away with it. But when it comes to pressure from a totalitarian government like China, they'll fold in a heartbeat. Not allowing a country to send it's prisoner/athletes is a horrible display of politics, but forcing a democratic country to play under a different name to appease China is perfectly OK. If the U.S. had any balls, they would refuse to play until Taiwan is allowed to play under their own name, play their national anthem and fly their flag. Of course, apparently this has already been a common rule for the Olympics (so much for no politics). That means that Taiwan isn't allowed to play in the Olympics as a country even though they are one, but Palestine is allowed to play as a country even though they aren't one.