Dutch masters

Last night's game between the Dominican Republic and The Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic was terrific. Even though I'm not a big fan of the WBC, I watched the game from the fourth inning to its conclusion. Eugene Kingsale (in photo) -- a former Oriole and Tiger who was knighted in 2004 -- was one of the stars for the Dutch, along with the pitching staff and pitching coach Bert Blyleven. There was trouble with last night's game, particularly play-by-play man Rich Waltz, who tried too hard to be dramatic, and the fact the MLB Network crew missed both ends of the decisive play. They missed showing the batter reaching first base safely and Kingsale scoring the winning run.

Here is the best quote from last night, courtesy the New York Times and David Ortiz: "I tell you, the whole world is shocked now. Even in Japan, they’re like ‘What the heck?’ in Japanese.”