The World Baseball Classic is like the World Cup to soccer. I absolutely love the competition and the patriotism in this tournament.
The last time the WBC was played was in 2006, when Alex Rodriguez was involved in a controversy as to which team to play for: the Domincan Republic or the US? I absolutely disagree with Ozzie Guillen's quote in the article... that guy isn't in touch with life as a XXXXX-American.
Since then I've wondered which team I would be asked to play for if I were a baseball player, and which team I'd pick. So I looked up eligibility:
Q: Who is eligible to play in the World Baseball Classic?
A: A player is eligible to participate on a World Baseball Classic team if:
- The player is a citizen of the nation the team represents. (Additionally, if a player is qualified for citizenship or to hold a passport under the laws of a nation represented by a team, but has not been granted citizenship or been issued a passport, then the player may be made eligible by WBCI upon petition by the player or team.)
- The player is a permanent legal resident of the nation or territory the team represents.
- The player was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
- The player has one parent who is, or if deceased was, a citizen of the nation the team represents.
- The player has one parent who was born in the nation or territory the team represents.
Note: In the event a player appropriately appears on more than one provisional roster, he may select the team for which he wishes to play.
So assuming I had a choice, who would I play for? Who would YOU play for?
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5 comments:
You'd play for the US... if you wanted any chance to win!
Whenever I'm cheering for "my country" I'm cheering for the US, so I would play for them. Although if I couldn't make the US team or felt snubbed on playing time, I would go play for whatever team that would let me play.
I was thinking that... but then would I be a benchwarmer on the US team or a starter on the Chinese team?
I'd play for the Dominican Republic, cuz they kick axx and bleed baseball. David Ortiz, Albert Pujuls, no A-Rod, what a team!
hahaha....i don't exactly recall the dominican republican kicking the netherland's "axx"...we must have been following 2 different games...what a team is right!
dale, not that this applies to the US or China, but u sing your example, is it more important for you to be a benchwarmer on the winning team, or starter on the losing team would you rather have the experience of playing innings in the game or winning said game?
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