For those of us hoping to make the WBC final a Japanese-Korean battle for Dokdo, we couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome to last night’s game.  You see, despite my loyalty to team Korea, I think Japan’s 6-2 victory works to everyone advantage.  Having evened the score, we can now treat a potential Korea-Japan final with the gravitas that it deserves.

That said, first they have to get there.

Japan’s road to the finals will not be an easy one.  It will require them to win their upcoming game against Team USA with likely starter Jake Peavy.  And despite the fact that the red, white and blue is a team increasingly riddled with injury, it is also a force to be reckoned with.

As for the Koreans, they will meet the Venezuelans, a team favored in many circles on account of their lineup of major league sluggers. Our Korean boys, however, do have one distinct advantage.  Recon.  According to Korean manager Kim In-Sik, “We didn’t meet them directly, but we saw them through the TV different times.”

If I had a dollar for every time I said that to a famous person.