Over in Taiwan, sixteen countries are competing in the 37th Baseball World Cup. We’re one of them and we’re trying to improve our 2005 performance, when the World Cup was hosted in the Netherlands and we ended fourth overall.
The teams were split up into two groups initially, with the top four of each group advancing into the quarter finals. Our first game was against Thailand, who were playing their first World Cup game ever. We showed no mercy and slugged away to a 16-0 victory.
Our opponents on day two were Australia, who were considered one of the favourites for the title. After falling behind 0-2, we came back in the sixth inning and carried a 2-2 tie into the ninth. A sensation seemed to be in the making when we scored in the top of the frame, but Australia worked hard in the bottom half and took away a 3-4 win.
Day three brought a European showdown: the Netherlands vs. Germany. Since we won the last five European Championships, this was a game we should win, and we did so easily. With a 15-5 final score, Germany didn’t stand a chance. Venezuela, opponent number four, was a bit of a higher hurdle, but they didn’t prove to be any real trouble. An early lead was enough for a 7-4 win.
With three games won out of four, we were nicely en route towards the quarter finals. Unfortunately, our last three games were against strong teams: Canada, Korea and Cuba. Winning two of those would ensure a spot in the next round. If we’d only win one, it would depend on what the rest of the group was doing.
Canada proved to be too strong the next day, as they beat us 7-1. After a much-needed day off (most Dutch players aren’t used to playing five days straight), we took on Korea, knowing we had to win, but knowing also they made it to the finals in the last World Cup two years ago. An impossible task? Hardly. We did run into sixteen strikeouts, but we managed to hit the ball often enough in between to score five runs. We kept Korea to only one for a very important victory.
If we’d beaten Korea by seven runs or more, the tie-breaker rules would have granted us a quarter final spot right away. As it was, we had to win against Cuba. Another impossible task? It sure looked that way. Cuba have won the last nine World Cups, they made it to the final of the 2005 World Baseball Classic, they’ve won the last two Intercontinental Cups, and three out of four Olympic gold medals (plus one silver). The last time they lost a World Cup game was in 2001 and they’d never lost a World Cup game to us.
However, no team is invincible. Cuba fought hard, but we fought just a bit harder this time. We put the first run on the board in the top of the second inning and Cuba only came back in the seventh. We retook the lead in the next frame and kept the score at 2-1 going into the ninth. Thanks to a powerful performance from one of our closers, the one-run lead was enough. We did it! We brought Cuba their first World Cup loss in six years and earned ourselves a place in the quarters finals.
That was two days ago. Today, at noon in Taiwan, we took on the host team in our quarter final game. Taiwan took a 2-0 lead in the third, helped by the fact that their supporters outnumbers ours by about 15,000 to 15. We halved their lead three frames later, but we were still trailing 2-1 going into the ninth. The first two batters were retired. Down to our final out, our first baseman decided today would be his day, and he slammed the ball over the fence. Tie game! We didn’t score any more in the ninth, and neither did Taiwan. The tenth remained scoreless as well.
Our catcher led off the eleventh with a basehit. The left fielder followed with a bunt, which Taiwan misplayed to put runners at first and second. Another bunt followed, by our right fielder, to advance both runners. That brought up our first baseman, but Taiwan wasn’t going to give him another chance. He got a free walk. With the bases loaded, our second baseman worked towards a full count before striking out. And that’s where things went wrong for Taiwan. Next up were our center fielder and short stop, who both doubled to drive in a combined four runs. Taiwan got one run back in the bottom of the eleventh, but we closed it out for a remarkable victory.
We’re in the semi finals now for the second straight time. Back in 2005, it was in the Netherlands, and one could argue the home field advantage helped us get there. That advantage belonged to our opponent this time, and still we won. Clearly, the quality of Dutch baseball is continuing to improve.
The semi finals are tomorrow, and we’re playing Korea or the USA. They’ll have to bring their best if they want to make it to the final.
