Netherlands

It is so refreshing and nice for a baseball team not from the Caribbean, USA, or Japan to be doing well in the World Baseball Classic. The first time I saw that the Netherlands baseball team beat the Dominican Republic I was shocked. I talked about it with some co-workers at work for a good 20 minutes because none of us could really believe it. It was amazing that, not only did they beat the DR, they pounded them, not in score because it was only 3-2 but the first game I think the DR had like 2 hits or something like that. So, I figured this time the Dominicans would be angry about the last loss and take this game more serious and beat the pulp out of the Netherlands...nope! The game was scoreless until the 11th inning when the DR scored one run in the top of the 11th on an error by the Netherlands right fielder. And wouldn't you know it the same guy that committed the error in RF was the same guy who knocked in the tying run. After an error on a pick-off attempt the same man was sitting on 3rd base. Then, on a grounder to 1st base, he scored and the Netherlands came out victorious and showed the whole baseball world that they are a force to be reckoned with. Now that they have beaten the Dominican Republic twice they are advancing past pool play and going to Miami to play some more. Afterward, during the post game interview the Netherlands coach teared up a little when he started talking about how lucky his was to coach a team like this, and boy is he right. It would be great to be the coach of a team who was never given a chance to beat the Dominican Republic in pool play...and definitely not given the chance to do it twice, with the second game being a pool championship game. Most likely the biggest upset in WBC history, the Netherlands two wins over the dominant Dominican Republic will be remembered for a long time...and the Cinderella story isn't over yet, we still have more games to watch to see how it all plays out. As the Dutch would put it, Ga Nederlands!