Win three games against three different opponents in three days. That's what eight teams are shooting to do in order to emerge as champion of the Baseball World Cup on Sunday.
The quarterfinals are today at Tienmu Stadium in Taipei City and Shinchuan Stadium in Taipei County, matching teams that qualified through the two groups in round robin play.
Seven teams are looking to dethrone Cuba, the six-time defending champion whose dominance of the tournament may very well end this year due to the introduction of professional players.
With no off days to rest and every game a must-win, the crown may go to which team has the deepest pitching staff. Still, in the quick format of tournament, any team could get the breaks and end up a winner.
A look at the matchups:
Cuba vs. Dominican Republic
Cuba finished second in Group B, their only loss coming against Japan. Still a favorite, the group of veteran stars know how to play and win in the tournament format. Plus, their years of playing together as a unit gives them an enormous advantage. By contrast, most of the other teams were assembled in the weeks prior to the tournament without much time to practice or gel.
The Dominicans finished 5-2 in Group A, placing third. Expectations were not high for the team after ex-big leaguer Tony Pena withdrew as manager late last month. But manager Alex Taveras has regrouped his squad and proved the skeptics wrong, upsetting the US in their first game. But the Dominicans did not finish pool play well. Possibly distracted by the crash of the Dominican Republic-bound plane in New York, they lost to Taiwan 5-1 and then fell behind 5-2 to a weak South Africa team before rallying for a win.
If the young Dominican players loose their concentration, they may not be able to launch a comeback against the veteran Cuban stars.
As Taveras commented about the game against South African: "We got down in the beginning. When things start going bad, everything is very ugly."
Cuba defeated the Dominican Republic 9-2 in their last meeting at the 1998 World Cup.
Panama vs. the United States
The US team of minor league professionals overcame a shaky 2-2 start to win their final three games and finish second in Group A. Panama placed third in Group B at 5-2.
While it was the offense that was expected to carry the American team, the pitching has been their strength -- shutting out both South Korea and Taiwan in key games and compiling a 0.90 team ERA.
"They have a good team, but in our history, we have always played well against them. We will go after them and try to get into the final four," said Panama manager Karl Heron.
Neither team made the medal round at the 1998 World Cup. The US won the last meeting of the two squads, a 5-4 victory at last year's Pan Am Cup when the American team was comprised generally of players from independent leagues.
Taiwan vs. the Netherlands
Taiwan earned the top stop in Group A with a 6-1 record, losing only 6-0 to the US, while the Netherlands finished fourth in Group B at 4-3.
Taiwan pitching has been excellent. The staff did not give up an earned run to the Americans and virtually shut down all other opponents, having given up only six earned runs in their seven games for a team ERA of 0.90.
With the exception of third baseman Chang Tai-shan (
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