WBC Games - Saturday (cont'd)

USA over Canada(*)

It was the Joey Votto vs. Adam Dunn Show. Really good game, and great to see two of my favorite guys playing such a pivotal role. And the Dunn stuff in the 9th inning was priceless--I really miss having him on the team.

Overall, while it again screwed up my bracket (I picked the wrong upset), I was relieved to see team USA playing to win. The only substitution was Jimmy Rollins replacing Derek Jeter, and I don't see how you can consider that anything but an upgrade. It seemed like a very different atmosphere than what we saw from this team in 2006. More humble, and more hungry.

Puerto Rico(*) over Panama

As much as they love Bernie Williams, this was the Ivan Rodriguez show. He projects as a replacement-level hitter, which isn't a disaster for a catcher if he's solid defensively (is he?). It's not good either. Would he take a reserve job? Somehow, I doubt it.