Post: Goosebumps in March

It happened around 6:50 p.m. yesterday when Chase Utley came to the plate with two on and two out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Team USA was trailing Team Canada 8-6.

A.F.O.M.G. was on the treadmill. My daily 25-minute jog was in minute 33. I wasn't trying to work off the previous night's chocolate soufflé, I was hooked on the screen several feet away.

When Utley unloaded on that offering from the Canadian pitcher, my arms rose instinctively above my head. I was set for a celebration.

It didn’t come. Utley’s ball traveled some 400 feet before landing safely in the centerfielder’s glove. But as my arms came down and the beating of my heart slowed, I felt a familiar feeling.

It’s the feeling you get when you’re watching something dramatic unfold in a game you actually care about.

Goosebumps. In March. A damn good feeling.

Now it wasn’t as good as the feeling I get when a packed house at Shea is going crazy because Pedro just struck out the side. Or because David Wright just hit a game-winning home run. Or because the Mets just beat the Braves in the heat of a playoff race.

But it’s still fun and exciting and decidedly more enjoyable than a run of the mill spring training game. Those are enjoyable enough on some level. I was thrilled to watch Mike Pelfrey take on Team Puerto Rico this past weekend, or to finally see Lastings Milledge dig in at the plate. Spring Training gives you a little glimpse at the future you’re so accustomed to reading about, and that’s fun enough.

But for all their merits, spring training games are decidedly devoid of goosebump-inducing moments. And like so many other sports fans out there, I live for those goosebumps.

And so it is that after a healthy initial dose of skepticism, I am officially on board with the World Baseball Classic. I saw Team USA’s opener against Mexico and found it genuinely exciting, and then it all carried over into yesterday’s thriller, an 8-6 loss against Canada.

Is it perfect? No. After the game was over, I considered how unsatisfying it would have been if the US had tied the game, sent it into extra innings only to have it all end in a tie.

I find the idea of pitch counts a bit unsavory. The fear of injury looms over this thing like a nasty shadow. And the truth is that there just may be no good time in the calendar year in which to hold this event.

(Note: It’s worth mentioning that I am in no way a college basketball fan. Other people live and die by March Madness, I just can’t get into it. All of which is to say that where for other people the WBC interferes with their usual sports routine and they’re not about to make the change, that’s not an issue for me.)

So there are kinks that need to be worked out, some of which it may not be possible to resolve (i.e., the timing of the event and the threat of injury).

One kink that it won’t be possible to resolve is the unfortunate and uncomfortable situation where loyalty to Team USA requires you to root for someone on one of the Mets’ archenemies, a Yankee or a Brave.

It’s a tough spot, and the truth is that I haven’t quite resolved my feelings on the matter yet. When Chipper slugged that home run to give Team USA a critical insurance run against Mexico in the opener, I’m not gonna lie, I really wished someone else had hit it.

And that’s sort of the way I feel about everything good that A-Rod, Derek Jeter, or Jonathon Damon does. It’s like, I’ll take it, but next time let’s be sure to have someone else provide the fireworks, shall we?

But should I hate the WBC for putting me in this conflicted position? I think that’s silly, and a little petty. I get a little feeling of pride when Team USA wins, and for me, Yankee hater that I am, it doesn’t ruin it for me that there are some Yankees on the team. Better if they were Mets, but needless to say all the Mets’ players are on non-US teams (we kid because we love).

At the end of the day, the WBC is offering up some pretty damn exciting baseball. Yesterday’s USA-Canada game didn’t quite reach thriller proportions, but it had the makings of a thriller, and if Utley’s ball had sailed over the centerfield wall at the BOB (or whatever it’s called now), I defy anyone who was watching to honestly say they wouldn’t have been excited.

That was just one game. So far I’ve seen two. I sincerely believe that the Classic’s only going to get better if baseball decides to stick with this thing. I’m confident that the next time around there will be still more star players participating, and that alone will improve the product on the field.

I’m willing to bet that players who aren’t participating are watching, and they’re hearing the excitement and enthusiasm in the crowds, and they’ll want to be a part of it.

In future iterations the novelty will be gone, yes, but it will be replaced by feelings of regret and resolve carried over from previous Classics. Say the Dominicans lose to the Venezuelans in the final (this might not even be possible, but go with me), next time around the DR-Venezuela games would be must-watch games for any follower.

Neither team would want to give an inch. Players on the teams would talk about it constantly in the months leading up to the next tournament. It could be bigger than Yankees-Red Sox, different, but very possibly bigger.

It's easy to forget it now but the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry ebbs and flows depending on the talents of the teams (it's like Mets-Braves in that way). The underlying disdain is there, but the drama depends on the quality of the teams. In the WBC, quality is pretty much assured (at least for countries with established interest in baseball), so between that constant and national pride, I doubt whether the intensity would ebb and flow in the same manner.

The fans waving flags in the stands, the crowds gathered around the one available radio in dirt-poor Latin American villages (Los Conucos, what what!), all of them would eat it up. Hell, I’m loving it already and Team USA is 1-1.

So I’m on board. I’m officially into this WBC. I won’t ask our readers to fall in love with it like I have, but I’m willing to bet that a majority of you out there haven’t even given it a shot yet. Try it. Team USA’s next game is tomorrow at 1 p.m. against South Africa, so set those DVRs and watch it next time you’re free.

One game may make you excited to see another. And if you’re like me, two games will make you excited to see a World Baseball Classic come 2010.

- A.F.O.M.G.