World Cup (for baseball) in March 2005? (Barf alert) (Excerpt from article: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1658802 ) Teams would include team's big stars Another World Cup may be in the offing, this one for pitchers and batters. Looking at soccer's success at creating the world's most-watched tournament, major league baseball could give the go-ahead by the end of January to start a World Cup in March 2005. Many issues are unsettled, but both the commissioner's office and players' association would like to have at least one year of lead time to prepare. The U.S. team might have a difficult time winning. Stars such as Pedro Martinez and Vladimir Guerrero could play for the Dominican Republic, and the Japanese team could include Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui.
Why the barf alert? This is baseball I might actually watch. I think it would be interesting, if done right. Whil I think there are questions of legitimacy, as this will be put on entirely by MLB and not an international governing body, I'd be interested in seeing how the US does.
World Cup of Baseball ALREADY exists. As a matter of fact Cuba just won it last month. Like it or not THAT is a fact.
The Pan Am Games? That isn't the "World Cup" of baseball. "World cups" imply that countries send their very BEST sides. Typically, that means their very best professionals. No country in the Pan Am Games with players in the major leagues sent their best teams...and THAT is the fact! You cannot consider the Pan Am Games the world cup of baseball.
I'd watch it too. It would be fun seeing the USA, Japan, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico playing one another.
If you can't get the countries to show up for an Olympic qualifier, then how do you expect them to show up for this?