Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Japan attempts to defend its World Baseball Classic title, as it begins Pool A play against China on March 5 at the Tokyo Dome.
Japan rode the left arm of a relatively-unknown Daisuke Matsuzaka to a WBC title in 2006, upending unbeaten Korea in the semifinals before disposing of Cuba in a thrilling championship game at Petco Park.
Matsuzaka became a household name at the 2006 event, as he won all three of his starts, while pitching to a 1.38 earned run average on his way to MVP honors. Of course, Dice K's performance led to a monster six-year contract with the Boston Red Sox nine months later.
Matsuzaka is expected to be back for Japan, which will be guided by skipper. Tatsunori Hara, who takes over for legendary home run king Sadaharu Oh.
Oh is skipping this year's Classic because of health concerns.
Other major leaguers expected to participate for Japan will include Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, Chicago Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome and Tampa Bay infielder Akinori Iwamura.
New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui has already declined an invitation.
One player to keep an eye on for Japan will be 22-year-old right-hander Yu Darvish, who is the country's best pitcher now that Matsuzaka is in the United States. Darvish has electric stuff and most think this will be his international stage coming-out party similar to Dice-K's in '06.
The tournament's format is a bit different than it was three years ago. Rather than the Round-Robin format employed in 2006, Round 1 will be double elimination - the first two teams to lose twice will be eliminated. The pool winners and runner ups will advance to the second round of the tournament. Round 2 will also be double elimination. The first two teams to lose twice will be eliminated and the remaining teams advance to the semifinal round in Los Angeles.
Let's take a look at the rest of Pool A:
KOREA: Korea was the surprise of the 2006 WBC, as it went a perfect 3-0 in Pool play before bowing out to eventual champion Japan in the semifinals. The Koreans carried their strong effort into the 2008 Olympics, where it captured the Gold Medal, beating Cuba in the championship game. Leading the charge for Korea will once again be In-Sik Kim, who served as manager the first go around. Korea's most prominent major leaguer will be Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, who was one of the final cuts on the 2006 roster. Choo, though, has developed into a solid major leaguer and hit .309 with 14 homers and 66 RBIs in 94 games for the Tribe last season. However, right- hander Chan Ho Park, who threw 10 scoreless innings and recorded three saves for Korea in the 2006 Classic, is expected to sit out this time around, as is slugging first baseman Seung Yeop Lee, who tied Ken Griffey Jr. for the 2006 Classic lead in RBI with 10. Lee has indicated that he will skip the event to prepare for his 2009 campaign with the Yomiuri Giants. The Korean government rewarded the team's performance in 2006 by releasing each player from the country's military service requirement. They've already said that won't be the case this year. Korea opens play on March 6 against Chinese Taipei.
CHINESE TAIPEI: Long one of Asia's preeminent baseball powers, Chinese Taipei enters this tournament as a heavy underdog. Not helping its cause any is the fact that New York Yankees right-hander and favorite son Chien-Ming Wang will miss the event, as he recovers from a foot injury that sidelined him for most of the 2008 major league season. Chinese Taipei will be managed by Chih-Hsien Yeh, who served as third-base coach during the inaugural WBC. Chinese Taipei failed to make it out of the Asian bracket at the 2006 WBC, then finished 2-5 at the Beijing Olympics, where it was the only team to lose to upstart China. Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Chin-lung Hu is expected to play and hit .417 with a pair of doubles in the three games in '06.
CHINA: Former major league manager Terry Collins guides a Chinese squad that will feature no current big league players. Still a neophyte in the baseball world, China lost all three of its WBC games by a combined score of 40-6. They allowed 14.40 runs per nine innings in these matches and batted a mere .185. Things went a little smoother at the Beijing Games, despite a poor 1-6 showing. China was relatively competitive in every matchup and was perhaps over-aggressive at times, which almost led to a brawl in its contest with the United States. However, China's stay at this double-elimination event figures to be short, as it opens WBC play against Japan on March 5 at the Tokyo Dome. It will then likely be fighting elimination in game two against Chinese-Tapei, the only team it was able to beat at the past Olympics.
