Team Canada’s WBC performance no classic: Griffin | Toronto Star

MIAMI—Checking out opposing lineups prior to Canada’s do-or-die 8-0 defeat to Team USA at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night, there was nary a position on the field where you would take the Canadian starter over his American counterpart....

Team Canada’s WBC performance no classic: Griffin | Toronto Star

MIAMI—Checking out opposing lineups prior to Canada’s do-or-die 8-0 defeat to Team USA at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night, there was nary a position on the field where you would take the Canadian starter over his American counterpart. That included starting pitcher Ryan Dempster facing off against lefty Danny Duffy.

It’s not that baseball in Canada is getting worse. But established Canadian players such as Joey Votto, Michael Saunders and Brett Lawrie, plus pitchers including James Paxton and Jameson Taillon, have to remember their roots and step up if asked.

This was a Canadian roster with some players at their final rodeo and others in the youth movement that will form the future of the senior men’s program. But you can’t transition to youth unless there are players in their prime to pass the torch. The results showed in what was the toughest pool of the tourney.

“To be quite honest with you, for us to compete at this level at the WBC, we have to have all of our professional players,” manager Ernie Whitt said.

“We just can’t put our roster up against teams like the Dominican Republic and United States if we don’t have all of our big-league players. And until they make a commitment that they’re going to do that, we’re going to struggle in the WBC. We can win a game every now and then, but it’s just not the same type of roster that you would have if you had all of your players.”

Heading into the U.S. romp, the huge disparity of talent made Whitt’s task of winning by three or more runs in order to keep playing a daunting one. Many of Canada’s veteran players are no longer in the majors, including second baseman Pete Orr, who has played for his country in all four editions. He also had a word for some of the current major leaguers who walked away from the table.

“You look at the other countries . . . it’s hard for me to say,” Orr said with emotion in his voice. “I don’t want to call people out, but Ernie’s right. For us to take the next step, that is what has to happen.”

And then there was Dempster, starting his second game in four days. The 39-year-old had not been on a major-league mound since Oct. 23, 2013 in the World Series for Boston — and that was in relief. His 49 pitches against the Dominican were the most he had thrown in a game since Sept. 18, 2013. So, after not doing it for 1,271 days, he was being asked to start again on just two days’ rest.

The result was predictable. Dempster threw four straight balls to American leadoff man Ian Kinsler and then, after one out, yielded a single, a walk, a double and another walk. Then he was gone. His two start WBC totals: 2 1/3 innings, 83 pitches, nine hits, seven earned runs, three walks and a 27.00 ERA.

“I was super honoured to be able to start two games against the Dominican and the U.S.,” Dempster said. “Unfortunately tonight, I don’t know if it was fatigue and I didn’t realize it. I was joking around in there that my mind was telling me yes and my body was telling me no. It gives me so much respect for how incredibly tough this game is. It also makes me appreciate what I was able to do for so many years, to compete against some of the best players in the world.”

Dempster said Whitt and the coaching staff asked him if he could start. How could he possibly say no? He should not have been approached. Whitt talks about a transition year, about learning what the national program has for the future, yet in a game they needed to win the manager bypassed the future for a blast from the past. What did Baseball Canada learn from watching Dempster?

Heading into Sunday’s round-robin finale, Whitt had Andrew Albers available to start after he had done well in relief vs. the Dominicans. Plus, he had promising youngsters he might have wanted to hold back to pitch in this game — see if they can breathe, learn something about the program’s future.

Dempster was another realist who understood the need for an “all hands on deck” attitude when it comes to the Canadian major-leaguers who chose not to play.

“You do need those players,” Dempster said. “Seems like spring training, the guys are more and more ready than they used to be, and maybe that’s an opportunity the next time the WBC’s around for all those guys to play, because it does make a difference when you have those all-star calibre players. But at the same time, to each their own and everybody’s got their own reasons. I’ve been there before.”

Some of the most exciting baseball imaginable has been played at Marlins Park this past week in Pool C. Unfortunately, none of it was played by Team Canada.

The Dominican Republic and its enthusiastic fans provided most of the highlights. The best game from start to finish was the Dominican’s dramatic 7-5 comeback win against the U.S. on Saturday night.

Just about 13 hours later, the powerful Dominicans were asked to strap it on again, going up against upstart Colombia, which tied the game 3-3 in the seventh on a Jorge Alfaro homer. In the bottom of the ninth, with runners on second and third and one out, left fielder Jose Bautista, playing in to cut off the run, caught a line drive and threw a one-hopper to the plate to end the threat and keep Canada’s hopes flickering. In the 11th inning the game went to the international rule, starting with runners on first and second. The Dominicans broke the game open to win 10-3.

The third exciting game in Pool C was the Friday opener for Team USA, taken to extra innings by the first-time qualifier Colombia.

As for the excitement level with Team Canada, it was minimal. Their three games were the least interesting in the pool — losing 9-2 to the Dominican and 4-1 to Colombia, plus the pasting by the Americans. In 27 innings, Canada led for just two innings, trailed for 22 and was tied for three.

It’s not only that the U.S. has a deeper pool of talent. Other teams with few major-league players have been competitive in this version of the WBC —like Israel, Colombia and Italy. Yes, the Canadians can compete. They just didn’t.

Canada vs. the U.S.? Recall in 2006 the energizing Canadian victory in Phoenix, with Adam Stern crashing the wall to haul in Chase Utley’s bid for the win. Then in 2009 at the Rogers Centre, Canada lost 6-5 with Votto and Russ Martin combining for six hits including two homers. Finally in 2013, Canada held a 3-2 lead into the eighth with Jim Henderson and John Axford set up to close it out. But Team USA scored seven times in the final two innings. This time, it was nolo contendere.

The bottom line is that the format and the tournament remain good, but Canada was bad. They now need to qualify for the 2021 event.

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