Honkbal !!!

(Henricus VandenHurk learns it is better to be on the outside of a celebratory dogpile, rather than being the foundation.)

Note to Dominican Republic: This is what you get for wanting and getting A-Rod on your team (even if he didn't get a single at-bat). Now that's two prohibitive favorites he has ruined with his bad karma in two World Baseball Classics.

On to the Netherlands, I find it rather remarkable they can win any game when their most feared hitter is the legendary Randall Simon. We Marlins fans probably remember Simon mostly from his 2-run homer in the 2003 NLCS that helped the Cubs win game three, but thankfully not the series. Other people will remember him from Sausage-gate. I've actually warmed up to him while watching these few games because he looks like the goofy clubhouse character of the team and also playing the role of veteran leader. Also, i just love his swing. It is the most violent hack you can imagine which looks downright ugly when he's striking out (which happens often with free swingers like himself), but when he connects, it has a violent beauty to it which is amusing.

The Dutch pitching has been phenomenal though. After VandenHurk's 3 2/3 scoreless on Monday, I thought there would be a significant dropoff, but there hasn't. They have only allowed 6 runs in 29 innings of play. Hopefully VandenHurk is recruiting some of the pitchers in the Dutch league to come to South Florida. Pittsburgh is starting to dominate the market for Indian (And I mean, India, not Cleveland) pitchers so we should be locking down the Netherlands hurlers.