Although the regular season doesn’t start up for about a month now (hey! that’s not too bad), there is already competitive baseball happening around the globe.
I am, of course, talking about the World Baseball Classic! *fireworks*
And this year’s WBCs feature a true-underdog team, Israel, whose rise through the ranks was completely unexpected. Of team Israel, Eddie Matz (ESPN)Â had this to say:
“Of the 16 nations represented in this year’s WBC, Israel was the very last one in and is the only participant not currently among the top 20 in the world rankings. (It’s No. 41, just behind baseball powerhouses such as Poland and the Ukraine.)”
So, yeah, they’re not exactly the Yankees. BUT, if you can believe it, they have already won their first two games (which is the most wins in the contest so far).
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Their first game, yesterday, was an extra innings, nail-biting, 2-1 victory over South Korea and today they gave Chinese Taipei a whooping.
Final:
Israel: 15
Chinese Taipei: 7
But it was what they did with the bases loaded in the 7th inning that brings us here right now.
With three men on and one out, Israel laid down a bunt that, well, let’s just say it worked out better than expected:
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When the first basemen, catcher, and pitcher all crash on a bunt, there’s not always someone to cover the base.
HOWEVA, Chinese Taipei’s pitcher decided to throw the ball to the ghost covering first, to see what would happen.
Turns out, THREE runs scoring is what happened.
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But seriously, how funny is that?
Take a look again (as a gif), it’s not as though he throws the ball without looking … he just sorta fields it and lets his instincts take over from there – which is not always a bad move …
They just so happened to be really, really wrong:
Uhm … who was that to? pic.twitter.com/MYzQODHxh5
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) March 7, 2017
I guess you shouldn’t always trust your gut, eh?
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Israel will have a day off tomorrow, and resume action on the 10th against the Netherlands.
You can keep up with their progress and the schedule/results of the tournament here at CBS Sports.
I’m still pulling for America, but I think we all just found our second-favorite team.
How I press conference….@WBCBaseball @MLBNetwork #TeamIsrael pic.twitter.com/ont2O5pkpl
— Cody Decker (@Decker6) March 5, 2017