It's WBC time! Pass out the whiffle bats!

The World Baseball Classic got rolling in earnest this afternoon with Venezuela and the Dominican Republic matching up this afternoon. It was a fun game to watch, but the competition levels seem kind of askew, with no one wanting to get hurt in what amount to exhibition games on an international stage.

The Venezuelans and Dominicans met up in the Carribean series (with the winning run scoring when a ball ricocheted off the shortstop's head) and fought to the finish, with the incredibly strong Dominican team falling on that fluke play.

Johan Santana stood up and wanted the ball in the rematch... then left after 60-something pitches. Carlos Zambrano came in as the long relief, but the whole thing left me scratching my head.

Then I found this.

A pitcher must:
Throw no more than:
65 pitches per game in Round One of the tournament;
80 pitches per game in Round Two of the tournament; and
95 pitches per game in the Semifinals and Final of the tournament.
Note: A pitcher may exceed the maximum per-game limits in order to complete a batter's plate appearance.

This was a little-publicized facet of these games. Mandatory pitch counts and the league office is still trying to sell this thing as a serious competition? And why is this happening before the season again?

(God bless the Baseball Tonight broadcast crew trying to put a happy face on this mess, but look at these numbers in what MLB is pimping as the Baseball Olympics:
Santana - 3.1 IP; Carlos Zambrano 2.2 IP; Victor Zambrano 2.1 IP.
Not good. I'm all for protecting the arms, especially before the season starts, but then don't build this up to be such a showcase of talent. I just hope it gets better in the next few rounds.

That said, look at the Dominican and Venezuelan rosters. Hell, throw Puerto Rico in there, too. Damn, those are some stacked teams. There's an old saying in Caribbean ball accounting for their prolific slugger production that goes, "you don't walk off the island." With Pujols, Tejada, Ortiz, Alou and Soriano all on the Dominican team, I'd say so.

ESPN did a nice job on their History of Latin Baseball piece and that seems to be the focus of the WBC (no lie, the United States/Mexico tilt was sponsored by Taco Bell). John Kruk did a good job Tuesday during the Dominican game, hitting many of the talking points ESPN had laid out.

Taking a different perspective, Kruk was telling stories of playing winter ball, where American players are outnumbered by their Latin counterparts. He remembered playing in Mexico and seeking out the Americans to joke around with on the field and grab dinner with afterwards. His point was that many of the players are friends in the offseason and go out of their way to hang out during the season as well, regardless of the major league teams they play for.

Whether this exercise flops or not remains to be seen, but it's already not impressing me. While it's a cool idea in theory, I think the timing is off and I question the commitment to winning when Ken Griffey Jr. is not only starting, not only pushing Johnny Damon to left field, but is also batting third in the lineup.

I guess it doesn't matter who starts, where or the team's collective BAC when you play South Africa, though.

Is this a bigger deal in some of the Caribbean countries? I think so. Will it ever come close to being mentioned in the same breath as the World Cup? Not in a million years. Despite all of that, it'll still be a fun exhibition - I just wish Bud Selig would quit trying to promote these Wargames as World War III.

(Preston C. Mack / MLB.com)