Japan beats Cuba 5-0 to reach WBC semifinals

Todays game was very good. Tomorrow Japan and Korea will fight again. Maybe 2 more possible games.

The game drew 9,774 fans to 42,000-seat Petco Park.

Looks like people had more important things to do -- like rearranging their sock drawer -- than watch two losing teams play each other.

The organisation of this tournament is too confusing.

Couldn't they just put on a normal tournament like most other sports manage to do?

I've decided next time I'm going to just bite the bullet and pay one of those online sights to see the games live. I'm always at work during these games, save for the weekends, but I can still at least watch parts on the computer.

Anyway, following live blogs of the game it looked like it was a pretty good one, save the MASSIVE error by Cespedes (don't want to be THAT boy flying back to Cuba tomorrow!). Still, errors happen, and the rest of it seemed like good old skill by the Japanese. Good for them. Cuba blew quite a few chances with runners on base from the beginning through to the end, so no sympathy for them.

As for Ichiro, good on him for FINALLY raising his average above 200. That just might help them eke by the Koreans in the next game, though I'll be cheering for them 100%.

Good job, Japan.

One more note... I have to say this is more fun than watching a team that dominates throughout the entire tournament. I think the scare of being eliminated, as in the USA/Puerto Rico match, is often enough to get a team to really put forth what they can. Well, not so for Cuba, but only one can win.

So... another Japan/Korea game tomorrow then, eh?

Aggie: "Looks like people had more important things to do -- like rearranging their sock drawer -- than watch two losing teams play each other."

No kidding. It also doesn't help that they're playing some games over there at 11:00 p.m., etc.

So, supposing Korea beats Japan, will Japan have YET another chance to get to the final? Something's not right here.

No wonder no-one is watching this badly run tournament: The next game will be Japan vs Sth Korea FOR THE 4TH TIME! If baseball wants to ever expand outside of Asia and the Americas, they have to start running things professionally like soccer. Can you imagine, say, Germany playing Brazil 4 times in the World Cup? Insane!!! Well done to Japan, I think Sth Korea or Japan will rout whoever they face in the final. If I had to make a prdiction for the final: Japan 19-USA 1.

Or they could tire each other out and lose a biggy to an injury-laden, out of shape, not in tune for March baseball USA. Or it could be a surprise (though not very) Venezualan team who's loaded with MLB top talent. One things for sure, Cuba is no longer as dominant as they used to be.

happy to see japan and korea play...yet again. the format of this tournament really needs to be changed to single elimination. i wonder if one of the japanese players will plant a japanese flag on the mound if japan wins. wouldn't THAT cause quite a stir. from here on out, no matter the sport, the winning team should plant their country's flag in the middle of the field. (snark)

btw, someone on this site said earlier that ichiro used a korean flag to wipe his nose. did this really happen?

Congrats Japan!

One more time vs Korea...

This tournament needs to be reorganized with the play schedule. Maybe after the first round they could re-draw to move the teams around.

Congratulations to Japan for reaching the semifinals, and for yet another date with Korea. It was sad to see Cuba end their run like this, but pitching proved to be the difference tonight. Looking at the stats, it wasn't surprising to see that Iwakuma got 15 groundball outs and a few flyouts. He is the type of pitcher who won't overpower you and try to get strikeouts, but will use location and placement of the ball to induce you to groundout or flyout; much like Greg Maddux did. It was too bad that the foggy weather played a factor in creating a key error, but that's the game of baseball. I'm sure Cuba will be back. They have some young, up-and-coming players who we will see in many international tournaments to come.

smithinjapan: "I've decided next time I'm going to just bite the bullet and pay one of those online sights to see the games live."

email me at: jojo(under score)in(under score)japan(at)yahoo(dot)com

I'll send you something that might be of interest to you.

The system of game play is ridiculous. Japan vs Korea again? so boring. Burakumin is right. It should follow a similar format as soccer.

jojo_: cool

BurakuminDes/No wonder no-one is watching this badly run tournament: The next game will be Japan vs Sth Korea FOR THE 4TH TIME! If baseball wants to ever expand outside of Asia and the Americas, they have to start running things professionally like soccer. Can you imagine, say, Germany playing Brazil 4 times in the World Cup? Insane!!!

thats why i cant imagine to see baseball, once more, in the olympics !

The system of game play is ridiculous. Japan vs Korea again? so boring.

bobbafett: True, the current WBC format has some flaws and it is ridiculous to see the same teams playing each other over and over. Yet, I would hardly call games between Japan and Korea boring. Other than the lopsided first meeting in this WBC between them, they've always had close hardfought games. Both teams don't pound out a lot of homers, but do play "small ball" (aggressive base-running, tagging up on sacrifice flies, laying down the bunt in key situations) very well. They also both have deep pitching rotations.

It was a pretty good game...too bad Cuba couldn't get on the board. And the format is totally messed up when you can face your opponent 5 times.

btw, someone on this site said earlier that ichiro used a korean flag to wipe his nose. did this really happen?

Uh no that's not true...some people need to back things up before they say such things(not you obama08).I have been following this since the beginning wbc 2006 and never came across this and I have Korean friends who would have told me right away if such a thing happened...just like they told me about the 30 year old and garlic comment.

Tomorrows ball game Japan vs Korea will be almost nothing important. It makes only order/number #1 and #2 vs US/Venezuela. Tomorrow is 4th game of Japan vs Korea. Yes, it will be so boring game. Japanese say "again!" Korean say "again!". Why don't they flip "coin" to make number #1 and #2?

Puerto Rico had an excellent series except for that last inning when the US caught up and took the game from them. I am very sad that they lost, they had the best record until that time. I can't believe that teams that lost so many times are still allowed to stay in this tournament. They should also factor in run differences in the same way as soccer or other tournaments. I would have also liked to see PR against either Cuba or Japan.

It was amazing watching the Cubans unravel after that dropped fly ball, more so when you consider that Japan blanked them twice in four days.

Congratulations to Japan on another win over Cuba.

For those who criticize the tournament's format-i.e. the many times Korea and Japan have to play-I see a positive in it, namely, that we have a large enough sampling to see who has the better team, and thus far it has been Korea.

Regardless, the tournament will either undergo major changes as to how it is conducted, and the time of year it is played, or there will be little interest in holding it again in 2013.

pathat: "For those who criticize the tournament's format-i.e. the many times Korea and Japan have to play-I see a positive in it, namely, that we have a large enough sampling to see who has the better team, and thus far it has been Korea."

You know... I was actually JUST going to say that exact same thing. I do have to be honest and say it's tedious, but given that some of us have been complaining it's not a round-robin format and/or a true test of how the two teams (in particular with relation to these two) match up against each other, this is an ideal test.

And you're right on the last point as well. In fact, I'd go a step further and say that creating this tournament was a sure-fire way of screwing baseball out of the Olympics for good, and while that decision is being made in the next year or so, they'll possibly also decide not to do the WBC again, either.

""For those who criticize the tournament's format-i.e. the many times Korea and Japan have to play-I see a positive in it, namely, that we have a large enough sampling to see who has the better team, and thus far it has been Korea."

You know... I was actually JUST going to say that exact same thing. I do have to be honest and say it's tedious, but given that some of us have been complaining it's not a round-robin format and/or a true test of how the two teams (in particular with relation to these two) match up against each other, this is an ideal test."

Yes, but the WBC 'should' be about which team is best against a variety of opponents. Korea certainly seems to have the edge against Japan (not always though, as that first 14-2 game shows), and I'm sure their regional/historical rivalry has a lot to do with Korea's motivation (do they plant the flag after every game, or only when they beat Japan?). But otherwise, Korea has only played Taiwan, China, and Mexico - not exactly a broad sampling of international talent.

So tomorrow's game should be good, but perhaps not so interesting (been there, done that X3). Korea's future match-up against Venezuela, or as seems more likely the USA, should will finally show us what they can do against top MLB talent. But hopefully they'll have a better system in place for 2013, and maybe a plan host the final rounds in a different place, seeing as how folks in the US don't seem to give a **** (I don't think you can blame less than 10K attendance on the late hour and a bad economy).

It wasn't that late when they started the game - 8:00 or 8:30 local time.

thorgrimfile: "But otherwise, Korea has only played Taiwan, China, and Mexico - not exactly a broad sampling of international talent."

And only everyone else in the Olympics. If you mean this tournament, then you have to look at other teams, too: Japan has played China, Korea, Korea, Korea, Cuba, Cuba. My point being only that there isn't that much variety with the current system for any team, period. That won't change until the whole system changes, if this even continues in the future, and I have my doubt it will with the current teams (US has sustained too many injuries and won't put the major players in harm's way next time, which will call into question the legitimacy, etc.).

JohnBecker: Sorry... for some reason I was thinking EST instead of where the game was actually taking place. My bad.

@smithinjapan: Yeah, I certainly get your point about variety - and that's something that needs to be fixed before the next WBC - but I would argue that 2 games vs Cuba is a lot more informative than one game against Mexico.

As far as the WBC continuing? Well, I'm sure it will, even if the the sponsors and main organizers, the MLB, continues to be extremely ambivalent on an individual club level. Too much has already been invested (enough to kill off Olympic baseball at least).

Just because the US team doesn't give enough of a s**t to take it seriously doesn't mean there aren't a lot of other countries that don't enjoy the opportunity. You can't say that Japan and Korea don't take it seriously. And now that without the Olympics, that Cuba (especially after having something to prove after this historic early tournament exit) wont want it to continue either (what other venue will they have to prove themselves?).

Don't mistake US apathy and ill preparation (and bogus "spring-training" coaching decisions) for the attitude of other countries in the tournament. I'm sure if Venezuela wins the whole enchilada (do they eat them there?), they'll be psyched, and good ol'e Hugo will be cheering the superiority of 'his' ballplayers over those of the diabolic Yankies! See, we don't even need Cuba still in it to have political overtones (come on, admit it, that's what makes these tournaments great, just like the Miracle on Ice, etc.).

So in that regard, it'll be a success. Sure, the rules are still screwy, and people in America aren't giving a damn. But as long as the rest of the participants do, it'll still be serving the whole purpose of spreading baseball. Heck, I bet certain Dutch people (OK, probably not 'regular' Dutch people, but perhaps islander types) will be all up for WBC 2013...

Too bad for the lousy conditions (fog, or "marine layer" as they would say on the West Coast; or according to the color commentator "a big 'ol Texas barbecue") at the Cuba-Japan game. It is also interesting to read opinions of people who actually attended that game:

http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2009/3/19/804088/my-night-at-the-wbc

It is quite hilarious reading.

nice job Japan, too bad Cuba

Another thing that I've observed while watching this game between Cuba and Japan, is that I've never seen cleaner dugouts in my life! Wow! If any of you get a chance to see shots of dugouts in the semifinal and final games of this tournament, take a close look. Absolutely no Gatorade cups on the ground, no peanut shells, and no spit. Amazing! The Koreans' dugout was also clean, in the game they just played with Japan.