The Fever

Work stuff* has kept me away from the WBC over the last couple of days, but I'm slowly catching up, thanks to all the other baseball fans out there who have tuned in to the tournament just to have a look and have come away hooked. Sam sums it up pretty well:

I don't care what George Steinbrenner or David Wells think. Bud Selig got something right with this thing. If you don't love this, you don't love baseball.

The last semi-final spot will be decided tonight, when the U.S. faces Mexico. As with the final games of Round 1, there are a range of possible scenarios and outcomes. The simplest outcome is a U.S. win, which would take them to the Final Four, but there are some other wonderfully convoluted routes they could take to get there, just as there are slim-but-nonetheless-possible shots for Japan and even Mexico. From MLB.com:

U.S. advances if:

It defeats Mexico

It loses to Mexico, allowing 1 run in a regulation game (8 innings in the field)

It loses to Mexico, but does not allow a 2nd run until after it has played 8 2/3 innings in the field

It loses to Mexico, but does not allow a 3rd run until after it has played 12 1/3 innings in the field

It ties with Mexico, allowing 3 runs in 14 innings

Japan advances if:

The U.S. loses to Mexico, and allows 2 runs or more before it has played 8 2/3 innings in the field

The U.S. loses to Mexico, and allows 3 runs or more before it has played 12 1/3 innings in the field

Mexico advances if:

It defeats the U.S., 3-0, in 13 innings

Does anyone know the Spanish for "minute window of opportunity"?

Still, should the unthinkable actually happen and the U.S. be eliminated from the WBC, all would not be lost, according to ESPN's Eric Neel:

And let's close with this: A USA-less final weekend could mean more coverage [...] of Big Papi. Because really, who can ever get enough of Big Papi?

Eric, we salute you.

*The dwindling enthusiasm I have for travelling for work reached an all-time low yesterday, when I managed to spend the day in Amsterdam without getting a whiff of fresh air, let alone anything else. The day went like this: apartment - parking garage - car - airport parking garage - airport lounge - plane - airport conference centre - airport lounge - plane - airport parking garage - car - parking garage - apartment. Oh, how I sometimes long for the days when I never went anywhere.