World Baseball Classic: Mexico Exacts Revenge on USA, Davy Crockett Weeps

So we have our answer: were we to build a wall on the United States/Mexico border, the Mexicans would likely hit a baseball over it.

That's what Mario Valenzuela did to a Roger Clemens pitch in the third inning of the final game in Pool 2 of the World Baseball Classic. Even though it was not ruled a homer, the umpires didn't have the video evidence proving it hit the foul pole, certifying the four-bagger as such. Despite the "ground-rule double," Valenzuela scored that inning en route to a Mexican 2-1 victory over USA! USA!

Now USA! USA! players get to play a bit of spring training while Japan and Korea advance out of Pool 1 and into the semifinals. Cuba and the Dominican Republic made it out of Pool 2.

So yeah, the Americans got booted from the very Classic that their country organized. But no outrage from this guy - the best four teams made the semifinals.

Korea is the story of the tournament so far. They are the only team not to lose. I'm not sure many fans or experts weighed them in as a heavy favorite.

Japan — not a surprise to make it this far — won tiebreakers with U.S. and Mexico, as all three were 1-2 in their pool. So now they get to play Korea a third time. Oh, I bet they're thrilled.

The Dominican Republic is no shock either. They've always been known for their dangerous hitters. Come on. David Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Adrian Beltre, and Albert Pujols are in the same lineup. Not even George Steinbrenner could sell that many souls to make the 3-4-5-6 part of his lineup so potent that it instantly browns the opposing pitcher's polyester pants.

As for Cuba — well, I think a lot of Americans had a hidden pipe dream of crushing the Cubans in the finals, so that the entire history of democracy could put another notch in their belt and say "How do you like 'dem fastballs, Fidel?" But last I checked, South Korea and the D.R. are both democracies, so those folks gung-ho on a government by the people still have two flags they can proudly wave.

Article Author: Matthew T. Sussman

Sussman is the sports editor of BC Magazine and the executive editor of Technorati. He also writes for Deadspin and Toledo Free Press. He and Tuffy can be heard hosting the Treehouse Fort, Sundays at 12 noon ET. Plus, he Twitters. …

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