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Big League Stew - MLB

Big League Stew

Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:35 am EDT

Top O' The Order: Honk if you can't get enough Honkball

By 'Duk

A few quick links to start your day ...

• Villanova. George Mason. The United States hockey team. And now the Netherlands baseball team. If the World Baseball Classic ends up becoming a huge success, we're going to point toward the Dutch's two wins over Dominican Republic as the initial spark. And if the underdogs advance past this second round? Well, I think we'd have to at least consider renaming it the World Honkball Classic. Good show, Dutch. You're teaching us all what it means to be alive. [Yahoo! Sports]

• Anyone else think Carlos Marmol is wishing he would have just passed up the WBC, like he said he was going to in the first place, and avoid a huge blown save that let his country down? I think I can speak for all Cubs fans when I say that it's not hard to picture Marmol bookending this year with a blown save in the decisive World Series/NLCS/NLDS/tiebreaker game. Cubs pessimism. Catch it. [Rotowire]

• For those of you who don't speak Dutch, here's a translation of a gamer from a Netherlands newspaper. (And here I thought they spoke Flemish in the Netherlands. And is there a better name for a language then Flemish? Maybe Swahili.) [Baseball Musings]

• Wednesday's WBC action: Mexico-Australia (10 p.m. ET) is the only game that features a second-round invite on the line. Meanwhile, Netherlands-Puerto Rico (5:30) and U.S.-Venezuela (6:30) will feature the finest jockeying that the WBC can offer. [Y! Sports] 

• Have your feelings on the WBC changed since the weekend? [Athletics Nation]

• Just a few hours after his torn labrum surgery, A-Rod was working out on a stationary bike. Considering that I once used getting my wisdom teeth out as an excuse to stay in bed for a week — I was bleeding like a stuck pig! —  [Yankees Chick]

• Reed Johnson talks with MLB Network about his goatee and the new nickname his Cubs teammates have given him — "White Slice" [NESW Sports]

• A sad, but ultimately uplifting story about the friendship between a dying Dodgers fan and a Dodger Stadium usher. [Los Angeles Times]

• Erik Bedard is about to conquer the greeting card industry. [Lookout Landing]

• Sarge Matthews is buddies with Barack Obama. [The Fightins]

• Rob Iracane attempts to answer the question on everybody's mind: Why haven't there been any baseball players on Dancing With The Stars? [Walkoff Walk]

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27 Comments

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  1. David P
    1. Posted by David P Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:39 pm EDT

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    Thanks for the link.
    Flemish is spoken in Belgium. Dutch is spoken in the Netherlands .
  2. Super Mario
    2. Posted by Super Mario Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:00 pm EDT

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    I still am so happy to see the Netherlands win. They deserved to win, the Dominicans rightly had their butts handed to them. No excuses for DR because they should be ashamed, and will learn to respect their opponents, something that they were to arrogant to understand. I can't wait to see the Dutch in Miami.
  3. RandomClown
    3. Posted by RandomClown Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:34 pm EDT

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    More on the Dutch....www.smokingwithhank.wordpress.com
  4. Saro G
    4. Posted by Saro G Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:46 pm EDT

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    Don't worry about Marmol Duk, cause the same clowns who accuse Minaya of assembling 'Los Mets' blame Jose Reyes for the DR's loss. Apparently his celebration willed the Netherlands to victory, never mind Marmol's awful pickoff and Aybar's botching of a soft line drive.
  5. sam spade
    5. Posted by sam spade Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    Collateral damage from A-Rod. Next time he will not be on any team. No one will want him. DR or the USA. I love it.
  6. saucy
    6. Posted by saucy Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    great game last night. much better than any spring training game, imo. i love the WBC!
    could be wrong, but i always thought Flemish was an official dialect of Dutch. kind of like the difference between American English and Brittish English.
    and of course, it's all A-Rod's fault.
  7. lman12
    7. Posted by lman12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    Yaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnn
  8. sam spade
    8. Posted by sam spade Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    This is what makes it fake. Can anyone tell me how many players on the "Netherlands" were born, raised or actually live there now or ever? I'll bet the answer is: none. It's why I don't like the WBC. It's made up trash. Can anyone speak the national language. We are having trouble with what it is. I know I don't know what it is. I saw a player from the Netherlands team on ESPN, he was a black Latin. So what is it, really?
  9. saucy
    9. Posted by saucy Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    holland has some central american colonies. Aruba and another 1 or 2, i think.
    read the dutch team preview on this blog, and i'm sure all your questions will be answered... lman read it twice!
  10. sam spade
    10. Posted by sam spade Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    absolutely fake. The picture has more people of color and Latins than in the entire country of the Netherlands. So no one on the team was born in the Netherlands. there's no celebration anywhere in the Netherlands. FAKE
  11. Khan Torres
    11. Posted by Khan Torres Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:42 pm EDT

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    I have been reading comments all over the web with people saying that the players are not from "The Netherlands". Could these commenters please inform themselves before posting?? Is it that hard to look up on the web and find out that St. Maarten, St. Eustatius, Saba, Curacao, and Bonaire, comprising The Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba belong to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as overseas territories? They are dutch citizens and citizens of the EU. To those commenters, please educate yourselves before posting...please stop the stupidity.
  12. lman12
    12. Posted by lman12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    I'm with you sam. I believe it's all a farce!!! Somewaht similar to the Olympics. You have these athletes who live and train here in the United States practically their whole life, come to the United States when they are 1 month old and then when the Olympics roll around decide to represent another country.
    What would you like me to read twice *saucy*..?
  13. Aaron Z
    13. Posted by Aaron Z Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:48 pm EDT

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    It is definitely a farce. Have you ever been to the Netherlands The Great Khan? They are just bringing in foreigners to help their team win. What a joke. Go USA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  14. Ed E
    14. Posted by Ed E Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:47 pm EDT

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    How unimportant and meaningless is this tournament? Well the Netherlands are involved so its clearly not important.
  15. Khan Torres
    15. Posted by Khan Torres Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:42 pm EDT

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    To Jim Bowden & others: If France used football players from Guadeloupe, Montserrat or Martinique would you say the the same thing? Are you implying that they are foreigners because they're not white? Read up on history...sigh....It's no use using common sense. I give up...I am surrounded by imbeciles.
  16. lman12
    16. Posted by lman12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    LOL@ #14
  17. lman12
    17. Posted by lman12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    Khan, your clearly the type that's probably never played a sport in your lifetime, so go bury your head in another book will you and leave sports talk to sports minded people.
  18. saucy
    18. Posted by saucy Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    lman, i was just making a joke about your "who cares" attitude you show in just about every WBC thread. you didn't get it though. no big deal. ('read', past tense, in my first response. not telling you to read it. )
    i'm 1/4 dutch, so of course i'm rooting for them. WBC beats the other stuff on tv these days...
  19. sam spade
    19. Posted by sam spade Thu Sep 03, 2009 9:12 pm EDT

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    The real loser here as the blogger has said is the Cubs. Another reason to be against the WBC. I'm a Cubs fan, live here in Chicago. Can we trade Marmol now? He'll be no good for us. He'll replay this loss in his mind over and over. This is why I hate the WBC. I only care that the Cubs win. It's been 100 years. anything and anybody that's not focused on that should get off of the Cubs. Marmol is now ruined. Could we(the Cubs) at least win a round in the playoffs? Marmol has a rubber arm and is used long, medium or short. When he's no good to our(the Cubs) effort to win, should I thank the WBC or blame the billy goat?
  20. Aaron Z
    20. Posted by Aaron Z Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:48 pm EDT

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    Iman12, what the hell are you talking about? Khan has clearly never played a sport because he knows basic geopolitical facts? Why don't you get out of here and leave sports talk to intelligent sports-minded people.
  21. lman12
    21. Posted by lman12 Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:38 pm EDT

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    The only intelligent people i see on here are sam spade and myself ..bowden
    go play with your dolls
  22. bigboo's bro
    22. Posted by bigboo's bro Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:38 pm EDT

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    Hooray for the Dutch for ousting the DR lady boys. All that juicing and injecting one another in their butts and lying about their ages must have tired them out. What a shame.
  23. Aaron Z
    23. Posted by Aaron Z Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:48 pm EDT

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    Sounds good, Inam. I'll go play with my dolls and Khan will go play with his books. You, however, are clearly a sports genius. You should continue making brilliant comments completely detached from reality. Some day you might realize that knowing basic facts about the world is not a bad thing. Knowledge doesn't make you less of a sports fan; it makes you less of an ignorant fool.
  24. maddog_207
    24. Posted by maddog_207 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:02 pm EDT

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    Wow, there's a lot of hate on the Netherlands team. It's simple guys. There are many players on the Dutch team such as Sidney Ponson (Aruba) and Randall Simon (Curacao) who were born in the Caribbean territories of the Netherlands. There are also players that are descended from Dutch. And there are some like Tom Stuifbergen who are actually Dutch. The point is this: no matter what way you look at it, this was an upset for the ages. There is no way that this team should have beat the Dominicans not just once, but TWICE, yet they did. Kudos to the Dutch.
    And jimbowden44 and Inam are idiots. You need to actually read something like a book for once. Perhaps maybe you'll learn something.
  25. EGGBERT
    25. Posted by EGGBERT Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:25 pm EDT

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    i will be glad when this sand lot basebull world classic bud selig dream games are over .

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Big League Stew is an MLB blog edited by Kevin Kaduk. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

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