I know mine may not be the majority opinion on this one, but I love the World  Baseball Classic.

Maybe it’s that I sort of like nationalism when it’s being expressed by countries that aren’t international superpowers.  (Ever notice how it sounds festive and spirited for a group of people to chant, say, “Venezuela” whereas it seems aggressive and hostile when people chant, “USA?”  This is not to say I don’t love my country, but it’s an indisputable truth.)  Maybe I think that people’s sense of national pride is better expressed in the stadium than in other arenas.  Maybe I think it’s nice for countries that don’t often have a chance to showcase their talent to finally have such a forum.  Maybe I just love to feel like the whole world is playing and watching baseball.

Whatever the case, what can I say?  If you want to trick people into starting a new international tradition involving baseball, I guess I’m the target audience.

Last night, I went to see Puerto Rico play Panama in San Juan, and I got some affirmation as to just what it is that makes this such a good idea.  For starters, I have a truth bomb to drop on all you Yankee fans out there:  We aren’t the best fans in the world.  That is, assuming the quality of a group’s fanmanship can be determined by the amount of noise  that group is able to generate.  And let me just say that for a stadium that was probably a quarter the size of what we’ve got going on in the Bronx, the noise level was probably about five times as impressive.  There were horns, chants, sticks, trumpets, a sound effect for every on-field scenario, salsa music with dancers on top of the dugout in between innings.  It was a lot.  At times, arguably, too much.  But obviously there is not a universe that exists in which “Cotton-Eyed Joe” is ever a better idea than salsa dancing on top of a dugout.

Ultimately, the festive nature of the crowd was a reflection of what it is that I think makes the WBC so special.   It is a rare opportunity when the people of Puerto Rico get to cheer for Bernie Williams, Carlos Delgado, and Carlos Beltran as representatives of Puerto Rico rather than players for various MLB teams.  For the most part, players makes good and leave their countries of origin to come to the States.  I’m sure it’s nice if you’re from the Dominican Republic to have your guys come back home and rep you as a nation.

(Of course, Puerto Rico is not technically its own country, but that’s another story.)

The highlight of the game was obviously when Bernie Williams came in to pinch hit in the 6^th.  Sadly, the Panamanians intentionally walked him, which prompted some awesome Spanish song from the crowd-something presumably mean and directed towards the pitcher.

I have to learn that song.

Bernie was immediately replaced with a pinch runner, despite Puerto Rico’s four-run lead.  An unnecessary precaution in my mind.   It was great to see him on the field again under any circumstances, but I would have loved to see some heroics.  Or a second at-bat.  Or, at the very least, a pitch he could have hit in the one at-bat he did have.  But standing ten feet away and getting a chance to be part of that crowd going crazy as he took the field, well, it was good enough for me.

In the end, Puerto Rico smoked Panama 7-0, thanks in part to Pudge Rodriguez.  He went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs and two dingers.  Not a bad game for a guy still looking for a job. For the record, in Puerto Rico, no one calls Pudge “Pudge.”  Nor do they call him “Gordo.”  It’s just Ivan.  Which is nicer, I think.

As for the rest of it, my Korean boys are still standing strong.  They humiliated China 14-0.  In so doing, they advance to the second round.  Our boys in red, white and blue beat the Canadians, just barely-6-5.  Venezuela beat Italy 7-0.  I know; you’re all shocked to find out the Venezuelans play better baseball than the Italians.

But for a real surprise, how about this? The Dominican Republic lost to the Dutch-3-2. I know.   And if you think you’re confused, you’re not.  The Dominican Republic is, in fact, the team with David Ortiz, Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano, Hanley Ramirez, and Miguel Tejada.  The Dutch team is the team that tried to trick Dan Haren into thinking he was Dutch so that he’d play for them.  Apparently, the win was thanks in large part to the Arubian Knight, who’s also looking for work these days.

So, apparently those Dutch mean business.  And when they end up walking away with the whole thing, don’t forget who told you they were the dark horse to win this competition.