Nothing short of Mother Nature can mess with a Major League Baseball game. Except soccer, I guess. The Twins’ three-game series against the Texas Rangers last week was originally set up for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That’s normal. But this series wasn’t normal. The two teams didn’t play Wednesday. Instead, they finished off their series Thursday.
The third game of a baseball series is known as the “getaway game,” but this “getaway game” was postponed because a World Cup game was scheduled for 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
This really isn’t a big deal. It just speaks to the power and glory of the soccer tournament known as the World Cup.
Full disclosure: I’m not a soccer fan. The game just hasn’t caught on for me. Nothing against the sport, I just don’t get it. If you’re reading this, Natalie, don’t be offended.
Natalie is Tara’s daughter, who loves the sport and plays it pretty well. She got legit varsity time last fall as an eighthgrader in Marshall. That’s a big deal.
A couple weekends ago, we traveled to Watertown, SD, to catch her and her Marshall summer team’s game. In essence, I’ll watch soccer … if Natalie is playing. Otherwise, probably not going to happen.
I’ll take baseball over soccer any day, but I will say this: The World Cup is bigger than the World Series. And it’s not close.
The World Series is a misnomer at best. I adore the game of baseball, but the games that determine the best of the best shouldn’t be called the World Series. When the Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991, they were the champions of baseball — in North America.
Neither the NBA, NHL or NFL champions are called world champions. Why is the champion of baseball known as world champions? Doesn’t make sense.
The World Cup actually lives up to its name. It consists of 48 teams from — you got it — all over the world. Canada, Mexico and the United States are the host teams this year, but the World Cup is a true melting pot of a tournament, with teams from Algeria and Argentina, to Uruguay and Uzbekistan.
That’s pretty cool. Will I watch the World Cup? No. Have I got caught up in the World Cup hoopla? Well, I do have a ticket for the soccer bandwagon, but I’m not on quite yet (at least now I know who Christian Polisic is). Plus, I can’t sit through a nine-inning Twins game either, so I mean no offense. But I won’t be attending a World Cup watch party anytime soon.
This is more about semantics. The Twins weren’t “world champs” in ’87 and ’91. Did they beat a team from Bosnia and Herzegovina? Nope. The champion of baseball has always been a team grounded in the United States, with the exception of 1992 and 1993 when the Toronto Blue Jays won it all. They are the only non-U.S. team in the MLB.
The World Cup is more like the Olympics, and as an American, I truly hope the USA wins the whole thing; that would make them genuine world champs.
Baseball does have something called the World Baseball Classic, which is a true global competition. It was born in 2006 and takes place every four years, much like the Olympics and the World Cup. For some reason, the WBC isn’t as popular as it should be, however.
The World Series was once referred to as the “World’s Championship Series,” and I’m not sure why. Yes, there has always been plenty of MLB players who aren’t native to the U.S. — and a lot of really good ones — but they all play on teams based in the U.S. (except the Blue Jays), so their team’s championship really has nothing to do with the “world.”
The sport of baseball is thriving all over the world but until the champion of Major League Baseball beats a team based in other country, the last team standing should not be called world beaters.
