It was a simple request - we asked long-time friend of WebBall, Pete Caliendo, to gives us his insights on the just finished World Baseball Classic. As a member of the International Baseball Federation Technical and Steering Committee, Pete was involved throughout the event. At the time, he was limited in what he could say. Afterwards, who let the dogs out? The following is his wide-ranging, far-reaching, multi-topic report on what he saw and why it mattered to him. Note: Pete was also an IBAF rep at the Olympics.

by Pete Caliendo, IBAf Technical Commission, at the 09 WBC

I just returned from the World Baseball Classic finals in Los Angeles. It was by far the best international baseball finals I have ever seen. As you know Japan won the game 5-3 against a strong Korean baseball team. The Korean professional baseball league started in the 80’s, it’s amazing the strides they made in the development of the game. Keep in mind they won the 18 yr old IBAF world championships last year, won the Olympics and now second in the World Baseball Classic. In two World baseball classics’ the Koreans only made 2 errors and only one error in the Olympics where they went undefeated 9-0 to win the Gold against a powerhouse Cuban team.

For all you who think the American team was not a good one, think again of the players they had on that team, an all-star squad of tough players who wanted to be there and had pride in their country. If you think they did not want to win, all you had to do was take a look at the excitement after the come-from-behind win against Puerto Rico. It looked like they had won the world series.

• The US lacked pitching depth;
• Their pitchers were not in game shape;
• Managers hands were tied because of parent clubs;
• They had injuries that hurt them. (Perhaps they did not prepare themselves early enough, not sure how millionaires with nothing to do but work out are not ready physically.)

This is not hindsight but prior analysis. The team could have been selected slightly different, so you did not have to play to top shortstops but maybe one top guy and another utility guy, you might have more consistency. Again, they know their selection process better than us, they know who accepted and who would not, it’s just an observation.
 
For all of you who say we did not have our best players, maybe not all, but neither did some other teams. The Japanese did not have their best hitter in the finals, got hurt, top left-handed pitcher for Boston did not participate. Their season is the same as our with the exception of them starting spring training in January. They stop their season to prepare for the World Baseball Classic ...something we do not do due to the almighty dollar. The Japanese had 13 pitchers and 10 were starters, they pitch when they are called upon to pitch and not when their agents tell them too, or only to certain hitters.

The two teams in the WBC final showed the world how the game should be played...

• by preparing for the event,
• having pride in representing your country,
• professional,
• selflessness (shown by 3 and 4 hitters bunting to move the runners over),
• strategy and over all hustle on every play.

There was a demonstration of great pitching by both teams, great defense and electricity in the 55 thousand fans who attended the game, probably 30 thousand Koreas, 20 thousand Japanese and 5 thousand Americans.
 
Key moment... 

The game went back and forth with managers pitching and pinch hitting strategies, No one gave up, they kept battling till someone ran out of innings. The game-winning hit came on the bat of one of the greatest players in the game, Ichiro Suzuki, on at bat that the Koreans might want to take back. With Runners on 1st and third and a right handed hitter on the mound for Korea, the Koreans let the guy on first steal and then chose to pitch to Ichiro with first base open. If their strategy was to get Ichiro to chase a bad pitch, that did not work and it did not look like that from the stands. Ichiro had a great at-bat fouling off pitch after pitch, even one that almost hit the ground. Then the Korea pitcher threw a fast ball down the middle, Ichiro hit a liner up the middle that scored two runs. Those runs proved to be the winning runs.

...and what we can learn from it

The Asians have great hand control, something they train for and we can learn a lot from this, I know players I work with see this as an advantage. The ability to understand how you use your hands is what helps players keep their head in longer and rotate it further back toward the plate. Realistically, they can see the ball longer out front because we know most hitters lose the ball 10 feet in front of home plate (Biokinetics study done a long time ago), but if they can see it 9 feet 6 inches by tracking it better then that is an advantage.

If you know how to use your hands, your shoulders will rotate later and not start the swing. When coaches yell, “watch the ball”, it is not because the player does not watch it, they want to, it is because they are unable because their shoulders start the swing.

The two things that cause the shoulders to start are the inability to understand how my hands work, the hands control the bat, so the hands and eyes work together (hand-and-eye coordination). Also most kids start loading late ...loading, slight weight shift back before going back to center. Hitters have to get started, which usually starts from the balance point to release, (depends on velocity of the pitcher). A late start causes their front foot to fully land late which causes the shoulders to start the swing. (A biokinetics study showed most MLB pitchers front foot lands before the ball is half way or at half way.)


We overdo bad traditions in the USA game, such as retaliations for hitting batters, and yelling at umpires for balls and strikes. It looks bad, and is a bad example for kids.

In contrast: the Japanese professional big league guy hit a batter and tipped his cap as to say "I am sorry". In the USA and other countries that is a sign of weakness which would put your team in a physiological disadvantage. I guess someone forgot to tell the Japanese that. They play the game with respect and professionalism, and guess what? They won the WBC twice.

Their intimidation is getting players on the other team to say "wow, they can pitch and play defense, throw you off-speed pitches in fast ball counts, start you off with breaking pitches." They do this because they have a great deal of confidence in their ability to throw off-speed pitches for strikes because they practice, practice and practice.

Their respect for the game and its officials is second to none which the example of the catcher being tossed out of the game for leaving his bat at home plate after a strike out and less than two outs, he apologized in the media and said it was his fault and not the umpires. Ichiro after popping up a bunt and failing to move the runners over apologized in the paper for his failure.
 
Let’s just play the game and if you’re always on the umpires, my question to you, “ Is your team so bad that you need all those calls?” Maybe you need to spend more time teaching your kids the basic skills and perfect them to the best of their abilities.


Japanese professional pitchers are used to throwing 100 pitches a day, even the day after a game. They can do this because they have tremendous strength in the right areas, flexibility and very good mechanics. They may take it to the extreme but we do not work hard enough. Fouling balls off time and again until a pitcher gets frustrated and makes a mistake ...we can learn a lot from the Japanese. I know I have and it has helped my teaching and coaching tremendously.
 
The Japanese got a great performance from their starting pitcher, a young RHP who throws 4 pitches for strikes and can control all his pitches. About 90 pitches in 8 innings, it was masterful, Greg Maddux like. This young man has great presence on the mound and looks like he is just playing catch to locations, no great force to his throws, just nice and easy catch. I felt he threw better then Matzusaka (who got the MVP for the second time) and the young phenom Darvish, 6 foot 5, over 200 pounds with a 97 mph fastball and nasty slider.

Even the young Darvish made some mistakes in the 9th inning, with a two-run lead he threw a lot of sliders early and walked the first two hitters which came in to score and tie the game. He should of established his fastball till they showed they could hit it, not easy hitting a 97 mph fastball which he can locate.


The Asian teams are unpredictable. Example: in the Olympics they pinch hit a left-hander hitter after the other team brought in a left-handed pitcher, the guy got a double in the gap and scored two runs.

They also allow their players to make decisions. The Koreans in one game had a bunt on and when the 3rd baseman crashed the hitter decided to fake the bunt and hit, he chopped it over the 3rd baseman’s head for a hit.

We should have kids make their own decisions at very young ages, such as taking the next base if the ball is in front, they will fail but will also learn to make decisions. Also, how about asking players the outs when they are on base instead of telling them, make them think more. Most of us do not do these things because our ultimate goal is winning and not developing players skills.

Different management style. Sometimes we need to manage from our gut rather by some book someone wrote. Example: in the WBC, Korea in the 3rd inning brought in a defensive replacement and he made a great play to save a run and got two hits. [Edior's note: Youth coaches sub players because we have to let everyone play, but not often a strategic sub that early in a game.]

Not conceding a run, not always thinking long ball. Example: with one out and the score 5-3, 9th inning, man on third the Japanese played their infield in. Most managers in the USA would have played the defense back, conceded the run for an out. The USA in this situations with a right-handed pitcher had Victorino on deck getting ready to pinch hit but switched and went with Longoria. This could be questioned because the USA is always depending on the long ball. Longoria has a longer swing but Victorino makes contact, battles you, with the infield in, a better choice to drive that run in. (Longoria struck out.) The Japanese used a mind game forcing the USA team to hit the ball past them and they had a pretty good pitcher on the mound.
 
Everybody bunts. Several times early in the game, man on first and second no one out, the Japanese with their 3 and 4 hitter bunted the runners over. One time they had a man on first one out and bunted the runner over. Why, because they are great contact hitters, because they train their hands, they know they can get a hit.
 
Discipline and training methods. Their hitters are the best at pitches-per-at-bat, because they train so much that they are able to stay through a pitch longer. Like a Samurai with a sword cutting through a piece a paper. They stay through the ball so well this causes them to step over the plate after the swing on the finish on an outside pitch. With a pitch down the middle they finish more toward the pitching mound. The result the bat stays flat through the zone longer, accounts for more contact where a ball just goes over the infielder. Also because the bat stays flat longer the ball either hits solid, hits on top for a 2-3 hopper and not a roller, and then the ball has a better chance to foul straight back because the ball hits the top of a flat bat. This give them a better and another chance to hit, not to mention it raises the pitches-per-at-bat and the pitchers pitch count. This also frustrated pitchers mentally and causes them to make a mistake in the zone which they will hammer. Example game winning run by Ichiro.

Extremely good self discipline. They know how internalize their emotions so that they can stay focused on the game at hand. They do not worry about the opposing players if they are trying to hit.