Harden out of WBC with shoulder injury

because I know why it was created. It still doesn’t change my opinion on the matter.

1 — The Olympics don’t “need” replacing. Nor does baseball “need” a World Cup. Baseball is just not a global sport, it already has a world championship for everybody but Cubans who can’t swim, and several of the current teams are utter make-weights. To make the Italian team, apparently your name simply needs to end in a vowel or two (e.g. Chris Denorfia, of the Connecticut Denorfias). The Netherlands — that hotbed of diamond frenzy, consists of Sidney Ponson and eight guys named Dieter. And why isn’t South Africa, where at least it’s summer, hosting any games on one of their several venues — oh, they’re busy playing cricket and rugby on them?
      
2 — If baseball really did “need” another, country-based world championships, they could shorten the season — but wait, that would cost money.
  
3 — the weather? First round games are played in warm weather cities or big cities with domes. Later rounds are played in FL and CA, where college bowl games are played because of good weather. The weather’s always pretty good in Havana, Santo Domingo and Caracas — why no games there? Oh yeah — not as much money to be made there.

4 — There aren’t that many free agents/year. Who is playing this year that was a free agent this season? Not Sabathia or Teixeira (both of whom should play for Italy, of course) nor Penny or Furcal.

5 — I might tune into a team-based tournament, but not one that interferes with ST, that may well cause more injuries from under-conditioning than a late-year tournament would cause by fatigue, and that really has no relevance or purpose beyond spectacle. And the making of money.

BTW — who does profit? And why isn’t it a good cause?