Members of Team USA were bewildered on Thursday, not because they sustained a shocking loss to Canada a day earlier but because they were still trying to understand the international tiebreaking system of the World Baseball Classic.
When they held their off-day workout at Scottsdale Stadium at noon Thursday, the Americans faced elimination even before playing South Africa on Friday.
But Mexico's four-run first inning in a 9-1 victory Thursday night against Canada eliminated the possibility that a 1-0, 2-0 or 2-1 victory by Mexico would bump Team USA based on the runs-allowed formula for breaking three-way ties.
"We were shown all the scenarios after the game and we were kind of in awe," Johnny Damon of the Yankees said before the workout. "A lot of guys thought it was runs scored, so we thought maybe we'd have to go out and try and beat South Africa by a lot of runs. But it's runs allowed, and the South Africa score does not count. That's strange, too."
But that's international baseball, and it's the American major leaguers' first experience with it.
"I'm just a baseball player; I'm not a math major," Michael Barrett of the Chicago Cubs said, adding: "I'm still not real clear on it. In the event of a three-way tie, it comes down to runs scored, I believe."
No, he was told, runs allowed.
"See how confusing it is?" he said. "One of the guys asked me and I tried to regurgitate it. That was a circus."
None of the US players knew anything about tiebreakers when they played Canada. Why should they? They had been expected to win all three of their games in their pool in the first round and would not be part of any tie, two-way or three-way.
But the 8-6 loss to Canada changed that. They suddenly had to be educated about a foreign system.
"We thought somehow there was going to be a clear-cut winner and a clear-cut loser," Damon said. "I think we're still finding out all the scenarios."
When Damon learned on Wednesday night that Team USA could be eliminated without playing its third game, he said his reaction was "wow."
There were likely more than a few players who were saying "wow."
"It's definitely a weird feeling," Damon said. "There are so many scenarios. The good thing is we'll know by tonight. Hopefully it will be positive for us because we feel we can go on and win this thing."
The players learned early in the evening Thursday that they were alive and knew that a victory over South Africa would advance them to the second round in Anaheim, California.
South Africa will face Roger Clemens in what could be the last game of his career.
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