STUNNED: Venezuela OUSTS Shohei Ohtani’s Japan, and Team USA WINS Big in World Baseball Classic THRILLER

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Hey everyone, today on Lockdown MLB, we're going to take a nice long look at the World

Baseball Classic and remind you, if your pal Sully makes a pick, don't follow me because

I picked Japan to win it all.

Yikes.

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Hello baseball fans and welcome to Lockdown MLB, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network,

where it's your team every day.

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Full disclosure, I'm recording, this is going to be one of those episodes where I record

one part at one day and another part another day.

It is about five minutes to 10 on Saturday night and I just watched the Venezuela Japan game

and what, you don't want, this was fantastic, whatever you think about the WBC, oh it's

not this, it's not that, it is exactly what it is, it's fun, it's a way to break up spring

training every three or four years, I'm going to do it and you get to see some fan bases

get just unbelievably into it and you also have a clash of cultures that happen, you know,

the Tokyo dome is known for being one of the most passionate and one of the loudest and

one of the craziest places to see a baseball game, the cheers, the bang and sticks, the cheer

leaders, the bopping up and down that happens at Japanese games are is unbelievable, but

then when you take a look at some of the Caribbean series and some of the Latin American series,

it's a carnival there.

So you had two different types of fun at a baseball game colliding in Miami this afternoon

and to this evening and it was everything that you would want the world baseball classic to be,

stars, you had major league stars on both teams, you saw both teams were wanted this game

and were not holding back and you just saw really tough, you know, hard knows play from both teams

and it was fantastic. Now, here's a deal, it was an elimination game and one team had Otani and

Yamamoto. The other team had Ezekiel Tovar, the of the Colorado Rockies, they had will you

rebra you of the Boston Red Sox, they had Ronald Acunio Jr. of the Braves, they had Michael Garcia

of KC and a parade of relievers who absolutely shut down Japan's bats and you know what,

this is a guy he did not get the win, he did not get to save it on how Zerpa had a absolutely

gutty inning where one, two, three including including striking out Shohei Otani, but the big star had

to be Emmanuel DeHazus. Emmanuel DeHazus came into the game with the Japanese team up

five to two, but as well we had a two one laterally and then it just looked like it was this was

going to be Japan's day. Acunio hit the lead off Homer, Otani hit a home run, you know, Tor, it

was two to one after Tor is his double, but then Sato, is it Sato or Sato, got the double,

a Morshita got the Homer and it was five to two, Yamamoto on the mound and I'm thinking I picked

the Japanese team to win it all and this is why. Now Michael Garcia, one of Michael Garcia, I keep

on saying Michael, got the two run Homer to make it five to four, which maybe go, huh, this is

interesting. We're living in an interesting world right now. And then when you got the two runners

on starting with the Labor Taurus hit, Tobar got the hit, which got to, you know, Tobar got the

hit, Taurus got the hit, so there were two on and nobody out and the Venezuelan side would

jump it up and down and the Japanese side would jump it up and down, six in in Japan still up

and will you real brave trying to get that time run in, trying to get that time run in and then

he just absolutely clobbered it, absolute just launched right into the upper deck. And with that

hit, suddenly everyone looked around called like, whoa, they don't have the Yamamoto on the mound

anymore and they're down and you don't really want, whoa, MLB wanted to get those big Japanese

ratings and numbers and eyeballs on them for the final and the world baseball classic. Now

there was at one point when Otani swung the bat and he called for catchers interference. Again,

I'm not blaming him. We probably heard or something like that. And they looked at they had 15

different angles they were looking at and none of them none of them showed interference. If they

had called interference at that moment on Otani, I would have said, okay, it's rigged. It's rigged.

They're just trying to get Japan in there. But the fact of the matter is they called it right

and good for them. And the the the Venezuelan bullpen, I'm sorry, I got I got a little sorry,

it's late and someone criticized me saying, I'm gonna earn too much. What do you want for me?

The Venezuelan team did not allow, they allowed the two hits the rest of the game after that point.

And with that lead, they needed to get something else going on there. And Otani's on,

Tovar got a few hits today. But the biggest thing he did in the eighth inning, he got to hit

the left center field and Tovar pushed it, pushed him to second base, stretched it to a

stretch it to a double. And this is a team that Salvador Perez was the team captain for.

And remember Salvador Perez was the huge star of the Royals team that won the World Series

in 2015 and made the and came within one swing of winning the World Series in 2014. And that team

one of the reasons why they won was they always pushed. They always were send in runners.

They are always going first to third on a single. They're always making sure that the defense

was playing on their heels and that they could take advantage of that. And Tovar did that with a hit,

he could have just stopped it first. Could just stop right at first as the lead off single.

But right out of the gate, he sprinted to second base. Now, if it was a perfect throw,

he would have been out. But it wasn't a perfect throw. And he was safe. In other words, make the

other team perfect. Because if they're not, we'll beat you. And he's on second base and he's

dancing this and he's dancing that. And then a tenichi, the the pitcher for Japan basically had

him picked off. But instead of diving back the second, Tovar just kept running to third.

And tenichi's throw went over the second baseman's head and Tovar came around to score.

And that extra run, that extra run made taking it from a a bloop and a blast away from

being tied to you need a bloop and a bloop and a blast in order to tie this game up.

It was huge. It was absolutely huge. It meant the threat of someone getting on base ahead of Otani

was not there. And that was all because of Tovar's aggressiveness pushing them,

making sure you have to throw a perfect throw to second base. You didn't. I'm on second.

You have to throw a perfect throw to pick me off. You didn't. I scored.

So a brave his home run was the was the great turnaround moment. They were losing. Now they're

winning. But Tovar in many ways and who was on base for the homer, he was the spark plug.

And Rockins, you got yourself a hell of a player in your team that he kept it. And I want,

he kept the pressure on Japan and I want other teams to go by this example. Play that

brand of baseball. Force the other team to make the right play. Get speed on the base pass.

That's so much more fun than ball four, station, station, station. Go first to third. If you got

thrown out fine, you forced them to be perfect. And now Venezuela is going to be playing Italy.

And the winner that goes to the final. And that to me is unbelievable. Because now look at,

I think Venezuela looks like I would pick them against Italy, but the way Italy is

with playing who knows they be the USA. And so you're taking a look at this team and thinking wow,

the team Venezuela has a real shot to getting to the final right now. And with that, would you

pick against them? How do you beat big sluggers? How do you beat big, huge stars? You beat them

by forcing them to be perfect. And Japan was not perfect. And now they are done.

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this is the right time. This is the right time to do it. And let me tell you something. If you

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mlb.supercast.com. So Japan is out. Otani is out. Those big ratings are out. And the team

Venezuela has to beat Italy then they'll be in the finals and we'll see what happens with the

Dominican Republic and the United States. I do think the Dominican Republic is going to win.

I mean, this is not me being a bad American. This is me thinking it's going to be tough to

have a slug fest with that team. And we could very well have a Dominican Republic, Venezuela,

World Baseball Classic Final, could be America Italy, could be America, Venezuela, could be Italy,

Dominican Republic. We will see what happens and we will talk about that for the rest of this segment

in the end. But I just want to say, I got to give credit what credit is due and I got to admit when

I'm wrong. I did not think Venezuela was going to win. Do you know who did think Venezuela was

going to win? Justin Lada, the host of locked on guardians. We did a show just a couple of days ago

and we talked about some of our picks. And so Justin got this one right. And if you need proof,

I got it right here. And Japan is playing, they're playing Venezuela, right?

Correct. Venezuela is real good. That was your pick to be the final, correct?

My final was Dominican Republic in Venezuela. I had Japan winning pool C and I had Venezuela being

the runner up in pool D. So that matchup is coming up and I'll stick with Venezuela. I know

I think Japan probably is going to win, but I'm not going to flake on my pick now. I'm going to

stick with Venezuela. They've got a fiery line. I think it could be interesting. I think Japan

didn't do all that great. Like you said, they were down early against Chachaya and then

Team Australia had them on the ropes for a little bit too. So I think Japan's going to win.

So he was right and I was wrong. And I also just want to point something out. Andrew

AJT said Chachaya is not Chachaya as you kept referring to him. Chachaya is a place in Russian

and Russia as they're definitely not part of the WBC. Yeah, you're right. I was I mistakenly said

Chachaya a few episodes ago and forgive me. It just it happens. I make mistakes and there

there I'm honest about two of my mistakes. I I call the team Chachaya when they're not Chachaya

and I picked Japan and I guess you got to admit when you're wrong, but we're going to find out

what happens in the final segment of the show. We're going to find out what happens with Team USA

and the Dominican Republic because I got news to you. I don't know, but you do.

All right, let's hear from our good friends over at Fan Duel and do yourself a favor. When

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your appointment at TurboTax. I don't think I did the trivia question. I'm recording the final

part of the episode right now. The trivia question I had come in was how many home runs to show

you, oh, time you have to hit to become the all-time queer leader in Dodger history. And big John,

0865 got it correct. Currently there's 109 home runs as a Dodger. You would need 281 more to pass

Duke Snyder for first. I think he's capable of doing that if he's good for 40 or 50 homeers

a year. You know, in six years he'll be the all-time Dodger home run leader. The Dodgers don't have

a lot of great offensive players in their history. They would have if they kept Mike Piazza.

Hey, by the way, Team USA won and let's give them a lot of credit. I picked the Dominican Republic

to win the whole kit and also the caboodle. And if you told me going into the game on Sunday while

the Oscars were going on that team Dominican's pitching would hold Team USA's bats to two solo home

runs and pretty much that's it. I would have thought the final score was going to be seven or two

even with Paul schemes on the mound. I thought the Dominican Republic's bats are just too

strongly. I've been pummeling everybody. And Team USA held on to the two to one win. And Mason

Miller wiggled out of trouble again. Got a call for a strike to get to finish the game out. And

you know what? A lot of guff was thrown to Team USA's way. A lot of guff was thrown their way

based on losing the game to Italy and being on the verge of elimination while sitting in their

hotel room. You know, again, if Mexico won the game three to two, the USA would have been made to

the quarterfinals. And they had to play tight games with both Cleveland and Cleveland. She's with

Canada, with Canada. And with the Dominican Republic, the team that I thought was going to win it

all and give Team USA credit, give the Romantic and Company, give them credit. They pulled it off.

They didn't bludgeon the team, but they won. They took the games and they pitched well,

and they got the right hit when they needed. They wiggled out of trouble when they needed wiggling

out of trouble. And the bullpen got them out of some big, big jams against Team Canada and against

Team Dominican Republic. And they have earned that spot in the championship game. So you know what?

A lot of people were saying it's a disgrace what happened before. Oh no, the duroza, this duroza,

that you know what? Sometimes you see who you are when you face that kind of adversity and your back

as to the wall and all those other cliches that I can say right now and team USA pulled it off

and they're in the championship. If you had told me when Italy smacked them around the other day,

the team USA was going to make the finals. I thought you were a bad man. Because Japan looked

unstoppable. They're in the last game. And the Dominican Republic looked like could swing

their bats with anybody. And so now they're going to face off on on Monday, my mom's birthday,

on happy birthday, ma. I'm going to treat, I'm going to say happy birthday, my mom, you know,

live. I'm not just counting the podcasts. It's my happy birthday to my mom. But there you go.

They're going to be seeing Italy play team Venezuela. And do you know what? Bet against Italy at

your own peril. But if you know, if it's going to be USA versus Italy or USA versus Venezuela,

we've seen that Italy could beat team USA. And of course, Venezuela, they beat team Japan.

And they're obviously counting. They have that, they have a pain in the neck lineup.

So whoever plays team USA in the finals gives me a lot of fun. But it was fashionable to pick

on team USA after they're after allowing team Italy to bomb them and to see how they,

you know, it was kind of like a daisicle at that point. But do you what? You got to give them credit,

what credit is to and they did what they had to do. They won the game. They had to win. And there you

go. And now you're seeing all the stars with Dominican Republic are gone. All the stars from

Japan are gone. The talented team from Cuba gone. Talent team from Puerto Rico is gone. So

America is right now team USA has to be considered the favorite to win this. Whether they face Italy

or whether they feed that face Venezuela. I think both teams are going to be paying the neck.

And man, that Venezuelan lineup is just it's like a nat in the ear. It's now they can obviously

they get at home runs. If you don't believe me, watch William or Brio swing the other day.

But it's more of a pain in the neck lineup and those can be kind of dangerous. But either way,

I think we have set up a really good semi final tomorrow Italy versus Venezuela just like we all

thought it was going to be. And team USA will play the winner of that on Saint Patrick's Day.

And that's going to be fun. That's going to be a lot of fun. And and then next thing you know,

we're going to start the season and I'm working on the in-memoring video. By the way, the in-memoring,

they did the Academy Awards. I'm a huge Oscar buff, by the way. And so that's my other

obsession is the Oscars. They did a great in-memorium at the Oscars. So I'm going to be doing my in-memorium.

I'm putting mine together which should be ready before opening day. So I'm going to try to get it done

the Monday or Tuesday before opening day. Knock on the glass on my table. And by the way, I just want

to thank you all for listening to Lockdown MLB and making us the number one sports podcast

network. Now we're going to be doing, we're going to be covering tomorrow's show. We're going to

be covering the results of team Italy versus team Venezuela. And then on Saint Patrick's Day,

we're going to be dropping a show talking about the title is whoever wins it. And then later,

I'm going to be talking with Paul Holden from Lockdown Rockies to be talking about your

2026 World Series Champion Colorado Rockies. And follows that Lockdown MLB pods on Twitter,

whatever they call it these days. And I'm at Sully Baseball Podcast on Instagram. If you've never

been to an episode, the everyday club is built for you. Get Lockdown MLB, add free plus members

only discord and more head to Lockdown MLB dot supercast dot com join the club. For those of you

on video, check out the first 24 seven National Lockdown podcast and YouTube channel. And also,

for your second listen, please check out Lockdown A's, which is the show that I am a guest host on,

at least for one more week. Who knows? I'll probably be there for the rest of the year. And also,

let's do the trivia question. We talked about Dale Murphy, who finished his career with 398

home runs. If you get two more home runs, would you be in the Hall of Fame? I don't know.

Well, Andres Galraga was the all-time home run leader for anyone from Venezuela before Mr.

Cabrera showed up with the Marlins and the Tigers. Cabrera had a very, very long story career.

And my trivia question is, what team did Andres Galraga finish his brilliant career with?

Played a lot of years of Montreal, a lot of years with the Rocks, played with the Braves,

played all over the map. What team did he finish his career with? Put the answer right down here below.

Talking about Japan out, Dominican Republic out. Team USA in, team Italy in, team Venezuela in,

and we're going to see who is going to get to the final game tomorrow. This has been Lockdown MLB.

I am your spot friends to solve them. Please call me Sally.