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What the heck is going on at the World Baseball Classic?

I haven’t really been paying attention to this year’s World Baseball Classic, but my interest was piqued when I saw that the Dominican Republic, which supplies 10 percent of Major League players and which — despite being A-Rod-less — sports by far the WBC’s scariest roster, was knocked out of competition after being defeated twice ...

By , a former associate editor at Foreign Policy.
587804_090312_dominican2.jpg
587804_090312_dominican2.jpg
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - MARCH 10: Jose Guillen #11, Damaso Marte #43, Jose Reyes #7 and Robinson Cano #24 of the Dominican Republic react after losing 3-2 against the Netherlands during the 2009 World Baseball Classic Pool D match at Hiram Bithorn Stadium March 10, 2009 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

I haven’t really been paying attention to this year’s World Baseball Classic, but my interest was piqued when I saw that the Dominican Republic, which supplies 10 percent of Major League players and which — despite being A-Rod-less — sports by far the WBC’s scariest roster, was knocked out of competition after being defeated twice by the Netherlands, whose big league stars consist of…um…Sidney Ponson. (He’s from Aruba.) I know that playoffs are a crapshoot and weird upsets can happen (Australia beat Mexico too!) but honestly, what’s up with the DR?

Another thought: It’s a rare event when a wealthy country like the Netherlands beating the tar out the Dominican Republic is covered as a feel-good Cinderella story. What does Parag Khanna think about all of this?

Al Bello/Getty Images

Joshua Keating is a former associate editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @joshuakeating

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