The All-Time World Baseball Classic

     I know what many of you are already thinking, what your feeling, and what you are longing for. Every March, sports fans pine for the madness that consumes the the longest month of the year. Begging for its drama, and is mesmerized by its intensity, the sporting world revolves around the biggest tournament the world has ever seen. And of course, we are talking about the World Baseball Classic.


     Now granted it does not take place every year (no matter how much we pine for it) and it has yet to rival the true March Madness tournament you probably thought I was referring to, but the World Baseball Classic is a unique effort by Major League Baseball to be creative. Being creating is something the sport has historically struggled with. But with Spring Training games finally starting the 2015 baseball season, I have a great difficulty being engaged in these pointless baseball affairs. And baseball already has an issue with having too many baseball games as is. Now granted the WBC, some would argue, can be as pointless as the Spring Training games, but at least players are visibly trying or going all-out for a prideful, nationalistic related trophy.

     Sometimes I wish it were every year, or there could another tournament to ignite our appetite for our national pastime. The flags, the horns, the songs, the pageantry that surrounds the WBC by the fans and players alike is intoxicating and the only other time you can see that in the sport of baseball, is in October. As we become more apart of a larger global community, baseball can prove to be an excellent competition to peak our interests in other nations and groups of people. If the common conception is that America is "greatest country in the world" from a baseball perspective it is becoming harder to defend as the game's best players seem to becoming from abroad. Long story short, if Baseball is America's Pastime, how come we have never reached a WBC final? Answer those damn Commies from Cuba keep kicking our ass (as well as Japan, Korea, Dominican Republic).

     Now I will not continue to drone on about the "significance" of an American victory in the World War of Baseball (which just sounds better than the WBC) but if you enjoy baseball, and have every thought about putting heroes and legends of the past against stars of today, then check out the All-Time World Baseball Classic. We have seven teams from the United States spanning over seven "Time Periods" of baseball history, and five international teams from Dominican Republic, Cuba, Japan, Venezuela, and Puerto Rico. Who would win? Who would you want to root for? Those questions I will leave to you, but for now just enjoy the All-Time World Baseball Classic:

                         USA 1- Dead Ball Era (1890-1920)                                                           

1) Tris Speaker-CF

2) Nap Lajoie- 2B

3) Honus Wagner- SS

4) Ty Cobb- RF

5) Mickey Cochrane-C

6) Dan Brouthers- 1B

7) Ed Delahanty- LF

8) Cap Anson- DH

9) Homerun Baker- 3B

SP- Walter Johnson

SP- Christy Mathewson

SP- Cy Young

SP- Mordeaci Brown

SP- Grover Alexander

CP- Kid Nichols

USA 2 The War Era (1920-1945)

1) Stan Hack- 3B

2) Joe DiMaggio- CF

3) Babe Ruth- RF

4) Ted Williams- LF

5) Lou Gehrig- 1B

6) Rogers Hornsby- 2B

7) Stan Musial- DH

8) Yogi Berra- C

9) Phil Rizzuto- SS

SP- Lefty Grove

SP- Bob Feller

SP- Dizzy Dean

SP- Hal Newhouser

SP- Carl Hubbell

CP- Joe Page

USA 3 The Golden Age (1945-1965)

1) Jackie Robinson-2B

2) Willie Mays- CF

3) Mickey Mantle- LF

4) Hank Aaron- RF

5) Frank Robinson- DH

6) Willie McCovey- 1B

7) Ernie Banks- SS

8) Roy Campenella- C

9) Eddie Mathews- 3B

SP- Bob Gibson

SP- Sandy Koufax

SP- Warren Spahn

SP- Don Drysdale

SP- Ferguson Jenkins

RP- Hoyt Wilhelm

USA 4 Dead Ball Era 2 (1965-1988)

1) Rickey Henderson-LF

2) Joe Morgan- 2B

3) George Brett- DH

4) Mike Schmidt- 3B

5) Reggie Jackson- RF

6) Jim Rice- CF

7) Johnny Bench- C

8) Willie Stargell- 1B

9) Ozzie Smith- SS

SP- Tom Seaver

SP- Steve Carlton

SP- Nolan Ryan

SP- Dwight Gooden

SP- Catifsh Hunter
CP- Goose Gossage

USA 5 The Steroid Era (1988-2000)

1) Craig Biggio- 2B

2) Tony Gwynn- DH

3) Ken Griffey Jr.- CF

4) Barry Bonds- LF

5) Frank Thomas- 1B

6) Mike Piazza- C

7) Chipper Jones- 3B
8) Larry Walker- RF

9) Cal Ripken Jr.- SS

SP- Roger Clemens

SP- Greg Maddux

SP- Randy Johnson

SP- Tom Glavine

SP- John Smoltz
CP- Trevor Hoffman

USA 6 Steroid Era Cont. (2000-2010)

1) Johnny Damon- CF

2) Derek Jeter- SS

3) Todd Helton- 1B
4) Alex Rodriguez- 3B

5) Lance Berkman- LF

6) Jim Thome- DH

7) Garry Sheffield- RF

8) Joe Mauer- C

9) Chase Utley- 2B

SP- Roy Halladay

SP- Curt Schilling

SP- C.C. Sabathia

SP- Jake Peavy

SP- Tim Hudson

CP- Jonathon Pappelbon

USA 7 Dead Ball Era 3 (2010-2015)

1) Jacoby Elsbury- CF

2) Troy Tulowitzki- SS

3) Mike Trout- LF

4) Giancarlo Stanton- DH

5) Buster Posey- C

6) Adam Jones- RF

7) Freddie Freeman- 1B

8) Evan Longoria- 3B

9) Dustin Pedroia- 2B

SP- Clayton Kershaw

SP- Justin Verlander

SP- Adam Wainwright

SP- Madison Bumgardner

SP- Jared Weaver

CP- Craig Kimbrell

Japan

1) Ichiro- CF

2) Kaz Matsui- SS

3) Hediki Matsui- LF

4) Sadaharra Oh- 1B

5) Isao Harimoto-DH
6) Kenji Johjima- C

7) Koske Fukodome- RF

8) Shiego Nagashima-3B

9) Tadahito Iguchi-2B

SP- Yu Darvish

SP- Hideo Nomo

SP- Daisuke Matsuzaka

SP- Mashioro Tanaka

SP- Masaichi Kaneda

CP- Kaz Sasaki

Dominican Republic

1) Robinson Cano- 2B

2) Miguel Tejada- SS

3) Albert Pujols- 1B

4) David Ortiz- DH

5) Manny Ramirez- LF

6) Vladimir Guererro- RF

7) Sammy Sosa- DH

8) Aramis Ramirez- 3B

9) Tony Pena- C

SP- Pedro Martinez

SP- Juan Marichal

SP- Bartolo Colon

SP- Jose Rijo

SP- Juan Guzman

RP- Jose Mesa

Venezuela

1) Luis Aparicio- SS

2) Melvin Mora- CF

3) Bobby Abreu- RF

4) Miguel Cabrera- 3B

5) Andres Galaragga- 1B

6) Miguel Ordonez- LF

7) Victor Martinez- C

8) Edgar Alfonso- 2B
9) Dave Conception- DH

SP- Johan Santana

SP- Felix Hernandez

SP- Carlos Zambrano

SP- Feddy Garcia

SP- Carlos Silva

RP- Ugeth Urbina

Cuba

1) Minnie Minoso- CF

2) Yasiel Puig-RF

3) Jose Abreu-DH

4) Rafael Palmiero- 1B

5) Tony Perez- 3B

6) Yeonis Cespesdas-LF

7) Yenir Bello- C

8) Tony Taylor- 2B

9) Alexi Ramirez- SS

SP- Jose Mendez

SP- Orlando Hernandez

SP- Livan Hernandez

SP- Luis Tiant

SP- Jose Fernandez

CP- Aroldis Chapman

Puerto Rico

1) Roberto Alomar- 2B

2) Roberto Clemente- RF

3) Carlos Beltran- CF

4) Carlos Delgado- 1B

5) Ivan Rodriguez- C

6) Bernie Williams- CF

7) Ruben Sierra- DH

8) Mike Lowell- 3B

9) Jose Oquendo- SS

SP- Juan Piazarro

SP- Javier Vazquez

SP- Ed Figueroa

SP- Juan Guzman

SP- Jaime Navarro

CP- Roberto Hernandez