The Venezuelan team will take the field on Thursday, Mar. 7 as they play the first World Baseball Classic game out of Pool C. Check out who, when and where they will play their first three games of the WBC.
There is no doubt, Pool C at the WBC is the most talented and most competitive. Venezuela will have to face off against the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Spain. It's almost like they purposely stacked all the Spanish speaking countries, except for Mexico, into the same bracket.
Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are known for producing very talented players in the last couple of decades. However, many people are surprised to see all the Venezuelan talent that has entered the majors in past years.
The 2012 A.L. MVP, Miguel Cabrera might like mangu, but there's nothing Dominican about him. He's a Venezuelan product and speaking of Dominicans, on Mar. 7, they will face the Dominican Republic in their first game of the World Baseball Classic. Here's their first round schedule.
Mar. 7 vs. Dominican Republic - 7:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. Local Time (Puerto Rico)
Mar. 9 vs. Puerto Rico- 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. Local Time
Mar. 10 vs. Spain- 12:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. Local Time
It should be a very tough schedule for the Venezuelans, but Spain might be the easier of the three opponents faced. There is practically no room for error. The only guarantee to advancing to the second round is a sweep in all three games.
Venezuelan will receive help from major league players like Anibal Sanchez, Miguel Montero, Cabrera, Asdrubal Cabrera, Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, Elvis Andrus, Carlos Gonzalez and Martin Prado. Now that's one hell of a talented crew. Let's see how far they could get in the competition.
This could be a fairy tale performance for Venezuela as the country officially lost their long time and controversial leader Hugo Chavez. Players will likely stay away from commenting on the loss, but it could be the beginning of a period of recovery the country is set to face.
Right now they need hope and the Venezuelan team can provide just that.
