Tommy Lasorda's act is getting old and embarrassing

I was disappointed by the U.S. team's loss to Japan last night in the semi-final round of the WBC played at Dodger Stadium by the score of 9-4.

It matters not to me how we lost or why we lost, we just did. Some of our solid players went down to injury during the tournament and as we know, there were many stars who chose not to participate at all.

But we did get through to the penultimate game and with the team we assembled I thought that was pretty darn good. Tommy Lasorda disagrees with me.

Here is his quote, uttered from the stands last night:

"Can you believe this? Look at the score. I feel so bad about this, I'm very, very disappointed. We had high hopes. This is the second time we were supposed to win. We taught these people the game."

We could start critiquing what he said by focusing on his use of "these people" but what would be the point? The guy is old and politically incorrect.

What has got to stop is the disrespect for the maturation of the international organizations that cultivate and operate the leagues in which "these people" play.

Tommy might also want to check into the suggestions many of you have given for making the WBC more U.S. friendly. With Dice K on the mound for his country and our starter being Roy Oswalt, not Roy Halladay or Tim Lincecum, Tommy had to know this wasn't gonna end well.

I'm embarrassed by Lasorda when he goes on like this. His official title is WBC Global Ambassador, but I don't think he deserves that any longer. It's sad for me to say that but it's got to be said.

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

"With Dice K on the mound for his country and our starter being Roy Oswalt, not Roy Halladay or Tim Lincecum, Tommy had to know this wasn't gonna end well."

Oh really? And what are Friday's winning lottery numbers? As it turned out, Matsuzaka struggled in that game and got pulled in the fifth, oh wise seer. And no, he didn't deserve that MVP, which should have gone either to Hisashi Iwakuma or Norichika Aoki.

Roy Oswalt is a stud. This isn't some washed up fifth starter for the Royals. To denigrate Oswalt like that is to display incredible ignorance for what he has done for his career. In 2008, Roy was 17-10 with a 3.54 ERA for a not very good ballclub.

As for Lasorda's remark, well, he's right. We did teach the Japanese the game. In fact, the Yomiuri Giants, when Sadaharu Oh and Japan's Mr. Baseball, third baseman Shigeo Nagashima, were still with them, they used to do part of their spring training with the Dodgers and they played exhibition games against each other.

Look, Lasorda is a blowhard. We all know that. But wanting to see the U.S. win isn't a sin. Relax.

[SamEllison]

Congrats to the Japanese team, they were great.
Never let the star beat you when there is a base open, nice piece of hitting Ichiro.
I thought Korea was the better team, with Venezuela and Puerto Rico the most talented.

[GreatNews27]

Big money sports is disgusting. They should all join the army if they had an ounce of patriotism.

[sportsd]

Well that sure would be patriotism. Thanks for your comment

Paula Duffy