Olympic Finals, Saturday Aug. 23

Before we get to the game, I want to just mention something that struck me as I was watching the Gold Medal Game (yup, I was up at 5 AM to hit record--no tivo for this luddite).

When Korea advanced to the Gold Medal Game, fourteen of their players became automatically exempt from military service. (Korea requires two years in the military from all males, unless they medal in the Olympics or win Gold in the Asian Games.) An unnamed player was quoted as saying, "It's good news, because now it means I can just play the rest of my life." Across the diamond, you had the boys from Cuba, who not only play in their country under "amateur status" but also play perpetually in the shadow of Fidel Castro, who reportedly scrutinizes each game. And then there was Japan, who sent professional players to the Olympics for the first time this year, taking a break from the regular season play.

So when we look at the team from the USA, Matt LaPorta, for example (he of the $2.3m signing bonus), it's hard not to believe that the other three semi-final teams were in fact playing for something more--the chance not to have to enlist, their very livelihoods, or absolute national pride. Not to make too much of this, but considering the stakes for the Korean players, or the Japanese players, adds a deeper meaning to the sport that is more or less completely absent from the salary-driven play of the major leagues. Are major leaguers, as a whole, the best in the world? The better trained? As a group, more physically gifted? Probably so. But even talent can't always overcome the unsettling reality that many of these baseball players from other countries labor beneath. Major leaguers are guaranteed a life of "play." And that shouldn't be taken forgranted, by them or by us.


Korea 3, Cuba 2
What a finish for what may be the last baseball game ever played in the Olympics. The star of this game had to be Korean starting pitcher Hyunjin Ryu, who worked with Mark Burhlesque swiftness and mixed speeds behind a fairly deceptive delivery. Both teams scored in the first--Korea on a two-run, opposite field homer from Seungyuop Lee, Cuba on a monstrous solo shot by Michel Enriquez, and the score held 2-1 until the seventh, when Korea scored on a double by Yongkyu Lee. But with men on second and third and two outs, Hyunsoo Kim flew out to end the threat. In the bottom half, Cuban rightfielder Alexei Belle lasered a solo homerun to right-center, and the score remained 3-2 heading into the ninth.

Cuban reliever Norberto Rodriguez dispatched the Koreans in the top of the ninth. Ryu, cruising past the 100 pitch mark, allowed a basehit in the bottom half of the inning to the leadoff batter Hector Olivera. Enriquez, who had homered earlier, laid down an effective slug bunt and advanced Olivera to second. (Strategically, this struck me as odd. Would anyone ask the New York Mets' David Wright to bunt with no outs and a man on first in the bottom of the ninth?) But it seemed to pay off, as Ryu promptly walked both Freddy Cepeda and Alexei Belle to load the bases. And here's where things got interesting.

It was something neither I nor the announcers (apparently) had ever seen before in a baseball game. After the walk to Belle, the Korean catcher, Minho Kang, went ballistic and jumped in the homeplate umpire's face. That sent both the first and third base umpires running in to break it up, along with three or four Korean coaches. The announcers seemed to think the ump was squeezing Ryu a little bit, although ball four to Belle was questionable at best. In my opinion, the Cubans finally stopped flailing at the low and outside breaking stuff, and learned by some miracle how to take a walk. Needless to say, apparently Kang disagreed. Kang was promptly ejected, causing the Koreans to have to substitute catchers in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and one out--in a championship game! That would be like Boston Red Sox' Jason Varitek getting tossed in the bottom of the ninth, Game 7 of the World Series. It was something I'd truly never seen. I have to think that Kang must have really said some nasty things to get himself thrown out. Or, maybe Puerto Rican homeplate umpire Rey Cotto Carlos was chaffing in all that Beijing heat, and, feeling testy, gave the kid the thumb.

No doubt because Ryu had been frozen then for a good five minutes, and because no doubt his arm was locking up after 120 pitches, the Koreans brought in relief pitcher Taehwon Chong, who quickly dealt two strikes to second baseman Yuliesky Gourriel before coaxing a game-ending, Gold Medal-snaring double play.

Like I said, quite a finish. Quite a start by Ryu, who as a twenty-one-year-old lefty might project ok in the bigs if he ever decides to make the jump.

A couple impressions: The Cubans were absolutely done in by atrocious fielding. The final boxscore shows one error, but in the top of the first three Cuban players let a ball drop into centerfield for a single; Lee's homer came after what should have been the third out. Enriquez let a ball go between his legs (the error); in the eighth, Belle had a flyball fall out of his glove that allowed the runner to reach. Y. Lee then doubled to put the Koreans up by two. In each of the innings the Koreans scored, they were basically handed four outs. And good teams will make you pay for that.

Korean fans were as loud as advertised, blowing whistles, singing, chanting, and beating on drums. The television camera even caught Cuban catcher Ariel Pestano dancing to the rhythm of the drums between pitches; enough so the announcers felt obligated to comment on it. Hey, at least Pestano, a veteran of three Olympics, was feeling loose.

I was also impressed with every at-bat from Korean rightfielder Yongkyu Lee. He seemed to foul off pitches at will, like a modern-day Eddie Collins. He alone was responsible for maybe twenty to thirty of Cuban starter Norbetro Gonzalez' final pitch count--an entire (long) inning of work. Gonzalez pitched a good game otherwise. He just made a mistake pitch to S. Lee and was worn down early by the quality and peskiness of the Koreans' at-bats.

But the real story here is the Koreans. They run the table en route to their first baseball Gold Medal ever. A combination of dominant pitching, blinding speed, and timely hitting (plus the threat of military service, perhaps) will win out nine times out of ten. Hyunjin Ryu was unflappable, allowing five hits and two walks over 8 1/3. striking out seven. Is Korea the favorite heading into the 2009 World Baseball Classic? Perhaps. Although I'm sure both Cuba and Japan are anxious for another matchup. Boxscore.


United States 8, Japan 4
The USA takes home the Bronze Medal, which is some consolation for failing to qualify for the Olympics in 2004. Japan touched US starter Brett Anderson early, but he settled down to go seven innings in which he allowed four runs and struck out six. Third baseman Matt Brown capped a stellar Olympic performance by going 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI and a homer; Matt LaPorta also went yard. But the game-winner came on catcher Taylor Teagarden's two-run double in the fifth, which put the United States up for good.

This game wraps up a disappointing Olympics for Japan, who loses four of the nine games despite fielding a team of professionals. They never seemed to gel. Like I predicted, over-engineered. Boxscore.