Everybody knows the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. A rag-tag bunch of college hockey players who take on and upset a juggernaut team from Russia on their way to the goal medal. It was the kind of stuff perfect for Disney films.
Now picture the Americans beating the Russians twice in four days. That's the baseball equivalent of what happened Tuesday night in Puerto Rico.
The Netherlands, with a few practically anonymous major leaguers, knocked the Dominican Republic out of the World Baseball Classic with another shocking one-run victory, 2-1 in 11 innings.
It didn't happen in the Cold War, and the (flawed) World Baseball Classic is no Olympics. But still, this is an upset that comes way out of left field.
“This is a miracle. The Dominican Republic is one of the best teams in the world,” Netherlands manager Rod Delmonico told the AP. “It is difficult to describe what took place. These kids have fought for three days. I have never had a team with this much passion."
The Dominican team is making more than $80 million in big-league salary this season. The Netherlands team is making less than $500,000. The Dominicans had Jose Reyes, Robinson Cano, David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Miguel Tejada, Pedro Martinez... and on and on. The Netherlands had former big-leaguers Eugene Kingsale and Randall Simon in their lineup and a starting pitcher named Tom Stuifbergen (a Twins prospect), who shut out the Dominicans for 4 2/3 innings.
He took on Dominican starter Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies, who set a tournament record with 10 strikeouts in four innings. Didn't matter.
“They played practically perfect baseball, as a result of which I have to congratulate them and their coaching staff,” Dominican manager Felipe Alou said.
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