T O P
Firebitez

USA USA USA


tristpa2

If the Angels win our team wins If the Angels lose our country wins. It's a weird feeling


Firebitez

County over team, this is baseball not /r/politics


darthdope123

It’s an exhibition game in march, you are weird.


WillThatcher22

Its the OC comin out


esu24

Hey man, all of OC isn't Huntington Beach


WillThatcher22

That's true, there's also newport beach


meatintubef0rm

Don’t call it that E: Has nobody here watched Arrested Development before?


WillThatcher22

Calm down Frisco


Louisiana_sitar_club

I have lived in orange county my entire life and I hereby give everyone permission to call it whatever they want


meatintubef0rm

Good for you bud, I’m just quoting a TV show over here.


GoldenBananas21

County?


reesem03_

Shoutout to Clarendon, yall the real ones


Firebitez

Country, was on mobile. Silly me.


GoldenBananas21

Shout-out orange country Shout-out saint Louis city


Sturgill_Jennings77

Is 'St. Louis City' the name of the county? lol


GoldenBananas21

There is St. Louis City and St. Louis County. St. Louis, like Baltimore and 38 cities in Virginia, does not reside in a county and is considered an independent city The city and the county are both in the metro area and are considered st. Louis.


Firebitez

I know I was being silly 😬😂


Howtothnkofusername

Nah I’m gonna root for the team with the players I care about actually


No32

But as an Angels fan they care the most about Mike Trout


rbhindepmo

Good ol Nolan US Arenado


Galactic

Mike Trout taking a long hard look at what that Angels team looks like without him and Ohtani dragging them to near .500


Lukealloneword

Not a great look for hot new signing Tyler Anderson. Angels back on the bust train or spring training overreaction? You be the judge...judge? Aaron Judge?


Firebitez

Overruled.


Lukealloneword

Sustained.


Firebitez

Oh shit. (hes good) Carry on.


Lukealloneword

And much of the same unto youse


Firebitez

I don’t speak jive.


Lukealloneword

Love a good airplane reference. I think we should be friends.


Firebitez

<3


fps916

Not a great look for a pitcher to give up 4 runs to a literal NL AL combined All Star lineup?


Lukealloneword

Correct. No goofy I was messing around.


Lukealloneword

I would like to come back and change my mind and say yes it's a bad look now. Luis Garcia tossed 3 scoreless innings with 7 K's against a line up that included Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Raphael Devers, Jeremy Pena, and Wander Franco. So I will say it was a bad look for the Angels pitcher. Lololol ;)


Jcoch27

I'm choosing to believe that Anderson is really good and therefore team USA is winning the whole thing.


CosmicLars

I don't think he's bad, but as a guy who benefitted greatly (in fantasy) from his surprise season last year, I realistically do not expect a sub 3 ERA in 2023. I've been trying to trade him all off-season 😅 with that being said, I think it was a great signing for LAA and he will do well, I'm sure.


TheFriendlyFire

I think the Angels are also probably not expecting a sub 3 ERA from him, realistically. The good thing is that he's most likely the #4 guy in the rotation, so he doesn't have to be lights out like last year, just passable.


Jcoch27

I think Anderson is our #2 until he proves otherwise


WVS_SoShi

You don't think Sandy has done enough the past 2 years to warrant that spot?


CosmicLars

It's a sneaky good long rotation. Anderson was healthy all year until the end, if I remember correctly. This has got to be the year they make the playoffs, for everyone's sake. I think we are all rooting for Trout & Ohtani to play in October 🙏


mondaysareharam

Lol no we are not all rooting for that


IInviteYouToTheParty

Well they never specifically said Trout and Ohtani would playing for the Angels in October. I’d root for that


mondaysareharam

Fair


Buckminsterfullerine

> I realistically do not expect a sub 3 ERA in 2023. Fair to say no one but Tyler Anderson and his mom expect this


triplec787

If Anderson is really good and Team USA is gonna cruise to the WBC win… Good lord the Giants might win 162 games this year.


kirbyfaraone

I’ll wait until a month into the season to stress out if he’s bad haha


GBJoe21

He was the quintessential example of a dude who just benefitted from the Dodgers’ pitching coaching. He will more than likely return to his regular form this year without Mark Prior, but he got his money so good for him I guess.


VStarffin

Guys, I think Team USA, with Mike Trout, might be better than the Angels, without Trout or Ohtani. Like, just maybe.


workinkindofhard

That's just like, your opinion man


KeithGribblesheimer

While I am not arguing with you, is there any measurable statistical confirmation that supports your assertion?


Itwasthebestsong-er

👼 - 🐟🙋‍♂️ <= 🇺🇸


KeithGribblesheimer

Proven with geometric logic!


Clarice_Ferguson

Not sure if you want to go down that route, since the Giants beat Team USA with Mike Trout.


TheYardFlamingos

USA early World Series favorite???


SayNoMorty

Big if true


RedAnthony

29/30 chance


dankeykanng

Mike Trout robs that shit if he's not sitting in the other dugout


mysterysackerfice

I misread the last part as "if he's not shitting in the other dugout" 🤦‍♂️


kylexy2

Which is also technically the truth


Clarice_Ferguson

God, you can’t take Mike Trout anywhere these days. He’s always shitting.


Weaponized_Goose

America’s third basemen


SdBolts4

> base**men** Arenado 3 people in a baseball jersey trenchcoat confirmed


ATLjoe93

Nolan Adultman


spreerod1538

:( I always associated America's 3B with David Wright, Captain America... Those were the days.


Darkforces134

David Wright had that dawg in him.


Mpuls37

His BH/9 (bare-hand plays per 9 defensive innings) were unrivaled


eiileenie

God I love that man


pirated_vhsvendor

I actually don't hate the blue jersey that much


NakedGoose

They are better than the white imo


fromthepacific

100%


high_changeup

Arenado's career .312/.384/.602 line against LHP (1482 PA) makes me absolutely jizz. .281/.333/.513 is his career line vs RHP, btw.


DasFunke

For me, his defense makes me reach into my pants… …and pull out my wallet to buy another Arenado jersey. He’s easily my second favorite Nolan of all time and getting close to #1.


Not-Jesus666

Is your favourite Nolan Nolan Ryan then?


Thissite1s

Yeah a soft tossing lefty is pretty much dinner and dessert for arenado. Anderson didn’t stand a chance


snorlaxatives_69

Nolan Arenado is a Cardinal


Clarice_Ferguson

Well, today he’s an American.


seeking_horizon

America = the real BFIB? 🤔


apiratewithadd

You know what, maybe


slothlikeagility

so i’m pretty new to baseball, forgive my naivety. how’s does the WBC work? i figured it would just be like USA vs Canada for example. why is team USA playing the Angels?


ContinuumGuy

This is an exhibition game. A warm-up. Not technically part of the WBC, just a way to give the team some time to practice in a game setting. Compare it to like a pre-World Cup friendly or something like that.


slothlikeagility

awesome thank you!


CoofBone

I remember a few years ago, for FIBA I think, the US women's basketball team played a few college teams.


Thedurtysanchez

We talkin' bout PRACTICE


slothlikeagility

oh, okay! so they play MLB teams for practice? i believe i seen someone else play the giants so is it just random teams, or only certain teams that play against the country teams?


pwnd32

Only certain teams are playing against Team US, I think it’s literally just the Angels and Giants before they go to play in the actual Classic. Not sure how it was decided, but the Captain of Team USA Mike Trout is on the Angels so he might’ve requested it or had some influence over the matchup


[deleted]

Probably has to do with Team USA's pool games being in Phoenix, so they're playing teams who are in Phoenix for spring training


TetsuoNYouth

Yep. Braves are in Florida and we played Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico the past two days.


slothlikeagility

cool! thanks for taking the time to respond, i appreciate it


pwnd32

No problem and welcome to baseball - it’s a wonderful game!


slothlikeagility

i fell in love around april last year, such a great game. cheers my friend, thank you


SayNoMorty

We sittin here, I’m supposed to be a franchise player and we in here talmbout practice. Not a game, but practice???


spoonfedsam

These are exhibition games to warm up the squad before they begin competition this weekend


slothlikeagility

thank you!


seeking_horizon

A big obstacle for an international baseball World Cup-style competition is that the MLB season is Spring Training (pre-season) in March, regular season every single day for all of April through September, then the post-season in October. MLB regulars get all of four months off if they go to the championship. So the only way to really pull this off is to make it like a substitute Spring Training. So some guys are just getting work with their regular MLB organization, but others are playing in the WBC. Spring Training is traditionally broken up into two leagues, the Cactus League (Arizona) and the Grapefruit League (Florida). Those two states have reliably good weather this time of year compared to most of the rest of the country. So WBC teams that are in Pool C (Phoenix) can face Cactus League MLB teams, Pool D teams (Miami) can face Grapefruit League MLB teams, with minimal travel for exhibition games ahead of the actual WBC tournament. And then the MLB '23 season will kick off very shortly after that.


hamburgers666

Lol imagine not being able to beat team USA


IONTOP

Imagine being an American at a Team USA game and wearing the jersey of the other team... SMH


ech0es13

I'm enjoying the front page of /r/baseball today


Evownz

We have something like 19 players from the 40 man playing. Potential for a shit ton of cool clips from our guys in the next 2 weeks.


carter_00

That’s my 3B :’)


tasimm

You love to see it…you really do.


Errorterm

I hope he has a great tournament. I think I remember him slumping and being a bit of a non-factor last time.


StereophonicWine

that dude draping the flag on his friends face


djc8

Shameful performance by the fans on the hill, that was a cookie


CubonesDeadMom

Giants beat USA, USA beats Angels. Ohtani is a giant now by the rule of law I think


Educational_Big1406

I think this kind of thinking process is what's got San Francisco, the city, to where it is today...


BillyNoMates12

I miss him. Goddamn you Bridich and Monfort


Boros-Reckoner

The Rockies getting absolutely fleeced for Nolan a couple of years after the Dbacks got absolutely fleeced for Goldscmidt was completely wild.


IONTOP

> The Rockies getting absolutely fleeced for Nolan a couple of years after the Dbacks got absolutely fleeced for Goldscmidt was completely wild. A couple years after the Dbacks got absolutely fleeced for Dansby and Ender Inciarte..


Itwasthebestsong-er

I love being a Cradinals fan but every other team must look at us like this: [https://i.imgur.com/pHVFykS.gif](https://i.imgur.com/pHVFykS.gif)


waste0ammo

it's ok. No more tears, he's safe now.


appleavocado

Sorry, TA :(


iggyfenton

Giants>>Angels


ContinuumGuy

TOURNEY FUCKED.


rollo2masi

Now we’re talkin


throw-away3105

Ok, I'm not paying much attention to the World Baseball Classic. Why are countries playing against MLB teams? Last time, Canada faced the Cubs or something.


DasFunke

They are tune up games before the main games start.


_cacho6L

Only the pools that play un asia have started. Everyone else is still doing tune up games


KeithGribblesheimer

Fuck Angel Country. Can't stand Angelicanians.


TraderJerry69

America hates the angels!


HelpMeWithMyHWpls

The only time I’m rooting for Nolan Arenado


zigmus64

You should do it more often… it’s liberating.


Swoose

The Rockies liked him so much they paid to send him to a winning team.


Bad_RabbitS

This is the dude our front office barely even tried to keep. What the fuck.


GameSmashing13

I don’t know anything but I know I miss yoooooouuuu


BoSocks91

What a beaut


GoatPaco

I pride myself and think of myself as, a man of faith, as there's a drive into deep left field by Arenado and that'll be a homerun. And so that'll make it a 4-0 ballgame.


Olthoi_Eviscerator

Wait what? Why is a national team playing the Angels?


Reignado

It's an exhibition/warm-up game as preparation for this year's World Baseball Classic.