Whether you love it or hate it, the World Baseball Classic came to a close in bottom of the 10th, with Japan topping Korea 5-3 last night in Los Angeles. I personally think the WBC is a good idea, especially after Japan has won back to back championships. Why? You ask?

Well, we need to prove that we are really the best in the world again. At this point, I don't think MLB's best team from last year, the Phillies couldn't beat Japan. I mean a team of what was essentially all stars couldn't do it. I know people (myself included) have issues with the format...U.S.A. playing Venezuela four times in the tournament and Japan playing Korea five times is overkill. Plus a total of 39 games were played during the WBC, that is way too many for a 3 week time span. Then you have fear of injury, teams not wanting their star players playing the in tournament, pitch counts and American players, managers and fans who just don't give a fuck.

To be honest, it really bothered me that at times Davey Johnson treated the games as they were All Star games. It bothered me that our fans weren't out in droves like the other countries.

For those that didn't see the game last night, Dodger Stadium was packed to capacity with Japanese and Korean fans going apeshit on every pitch. Meamwhile, the games in Toronto where mostly Canadian fans and the games in Florida where mostly Puerto Rican fans, making every game essentially a road game for the U.S. I mean thats really sad, its no wonder some of our best players don't want to play in this thing. I wouldn't either if I knew no one was going to be there to cheer me on. Not to take anything away from Japan, Korea or their fans but, it kind bothered me two other countries, one in its baseball infancy, Korea didn't have its first professional league until 1982 and Japan, who is widely considered the best international team in the world compete for a championship on American soil.

The WBC was exciting at moments, Ichiro proved again why he is one of the best hitters in the world, going 4 for 4. Including a 10 pitch at bat in the top of the 10th eventually driving in the game winning RBI's with a ball he smoked up the middle. Then there is Yu Darvish, Japan's 22 year old ace who has one sickest sliders I have ever seen, period. The Netherlands knocking off the Dominican Republic twice and then you had the U.S.A's come back on Puerto Rico in the bottom of the 9th last week thanks to David Wright. I really want this thing to work, I enjoyed watching international baseball, it was interesting to see how fundamentally sound the Asian teams were. Also to see how much work the Dutch have to put in to catch up with the rest of the world but, still had enough hustle to knock off the team that was supposed to win it all.

Two things have to happen for this succeed and matter, MLB has to retool the format and Americans, players and fans have to give a fuck. Plus, its more exciting than spring training, Damn It!!! Last night showed me that we are no longer the best in the world at our national pastime. And we haven't been for a longtime, whether we want to admit it or not.