#46---Dominican Republic v. Venezuela, 3/7/2006 (World Baseball Classic)

This may have been the most anticipated game of the first round of the WBC as it matched two top powers. Of course, in the end neither of these teams would make it to the championship round, but this game didn't really disappoint.

Neither Bartolo Colon (DR) or Johan Santana (Ven) were able to get deep into the game (nor were they expected to), but Colon got the better of it with 3 shutout innings versus Santana's two runs allowed in 3 1/3. Adrian Beltre's three-run homer in the fifth off Carlos Zambrano seemed to put the DR in charge at 6-1, but Venezuela got four runs over the next three frames, highlighted by Miguel Cabrera and Edgardo Alfonzo circuit clouts.

In the top of the ninth, though, both David Ortiz and Beltre hit their second homers of the game, each two-run shots, to put Venezuela away.

#45--China v. Korea, 3/3/2006 (World Baseball Classic)

This was the first World Baseball Classic game I had the opportunity to score (this was on the second day of the tournament); it was actually played on March 4 but I put it down as March 3 as the time zone situation slipped my mind.

It was no contest as Korea pounded China. Seung Yeop Lee continued his WBC of terror by going 4-4 with two homers and five RBI.

I don't mean to sound flippant at all, but it is a real pain to write down the lineup for a 100% Korean team. There were five Lees, three Kims, and two Parks. I think next time I might try using first names. Westerners reverse the Korean naming convention, but there's something to be said for Park Chan-ho.

#44---HOU @ CLE, 3/2/2008

This was the first game I scored in 2008, which is always an exciting occasion (mostly because it also by definition is the first game I had an opportunity to watch/listen to/attend, not so much because of the scoring). There isn’t too much of interest here other than that the Astros did not get a hit until the sixth and the Indians battered them in the late innings.

#43---CHN v. SEA, 3/30/2007

I am going to go with a Spring Training theme for the next two weeks before turning my attention to the World Baseball Classic. This game was played in Las Vegas between the Cubs and the Mariners, and I kept this sheet on a dot scoresheet I use. It looks a lot cleaner from a zoomed out view than it does up close or when it is on the page in front of you.

One note is that I did not specify which Chicago team it was. This was an oversight on my part; I have a protocol for the two team cities which I simply did not follow in this case. A game between Chicago and Seattle would usually not have any specification, because I would assume that it was the White Sox since they are in the AL. If it was the Cubs, I would usually identify them as “Chicago N”. However, if it was a World Series game between those two teams, I would just use “Chicago” as the note that it was a World Series game would indicate that it must be the Cubs.

If the Dodgers played the Mets, I would call them “Los Angeles N” and “New York N” because one could just as easily assume that it was the Angels and the Yankees.