Holdovers from Team USA’s eighth-place finish at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, all three stars are eager to make amends in the second incarnation of the 16-team event.
The way they see it, it’s time to take back America’s game.
The United States worked out Friday in preparation for its tournament opener today against Canada, and Jones said new manager Davey Johnson made it clear from the outset that this U.S. squad would not accept falling short.
“He tried to instill that from the very first phone call this offseason that what we did in 2006 was substandard and embarrassing to a certain extent and that it was going to be up to guys like me and Jete to relay that feeling that we had in ’06, so we don’t do it again,” Jones said.
Peavy, the San Diego Padres’ ace and 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner, will start today at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Italy and Venezuela, the other teams in Pool C, play tonight, with Seattle Mariners right-hander Carlos Silva scheduled to start for Venezuela.
The top two teams in pool play advance to the next round.
Despite a roster filled with major league All-Stars, the U.S. finished 3-3 at the first WBC - with losses on home soil to Canada, South Korea and Mexico - and was knocked out in the second round. Japan beat Cuba in the championship game.
Jeter, Jones and Peavy all played for Team USA in 2006. Los Angeles Angels reliever Scot Shields is the only other holdover.
“There’s four of us that are here this time who played on the team in ’06 and it was a huge disappointment,” Jeter said. “You hear about it throughout the year, so you definitely want to come here and play a lot better than we did the first time around. Baseball is a big sport, it’s bigger in our country than it is here in Canada, so it means a lot to people and it means a lot to the players in our locker room.”
Although players with Hall of Fame credentials such as Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Roger Clemens are no longer in the mix, Peavy likes the makeup of the U.S. roster.
“This team has a little more attitude, to be honest with you,” he said. “We’ve been having a lot of fun. When you add some scrappy players, you know, the (Dustin) Pedroias, the (Kevin) Youkilises, even David Wright and Jimmy Rollins, we have a little attitude, a little swagger, not any cockiness by any means, but a lot of fun.”
But attitude alone won’t be enough to satisfy former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. Speaking at a WBC event in New York on Thursday, the 81-year-old Hall of Famer said he didn’t like the idea of the U.S. being knocked off its mantle atop the baseball world.
“Baseball is America’s game. It doesn’t belong to the Italians or the Cubans or the Koreans or the Japanese,” Lasorda said. “It’s our game, and we’re not going to let them beat us.”
Wright said the U.S. players know how Lasorda feels.
“We understand what it means to put this jersey on,” Wright said. “We know the expectations put upon us. We’ve gelled and we think we’re going to win.”
Former Montreal and Baltimore right-hander Mike Johnson will start for Canada on Saturday, with a partisan crowd of 40,000 hoping he can help the hosts reprise their 8-6 victory over the U.S. from the 2006 tournament.
Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau said Canada “snuck up” on the Americans last time, but doesn’t expect it to happen again.
“They’re going to come out ready for us,” said Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP.
Jones, a longtime slugger with Atlanta, said he’s particularly focussed on erasing the memories of that loss to Canada.
“I had two Team Canada guys on my club, Pete Orr and Chris Reitsma,” Jones said. “They let me hear about it all year. It’s a little extra motivation for me.”
Second-round action at the WBC shifts to San Diego and Miami, and the semifinals and finals will be played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.
