To the Editor:
After reading Tim Mosso's op-ed, ("World Baseball Classic," Jan. 9), it did not take me long to notice the flaws in his argument. I must first admit I agree with Mosso that it is unfortunate that Cuba is not allowed to play in the United States, but I must firmly disagree with his assertion that "the result will be rosters populated by has-beens and never-beens."
As of Jan. 10, players committed to playing for the Dominican team (if chosen) include Adrian Beltre, Bartolo Colon, Vladimir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, David Ortiz, Albert Pujols, Manny Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and Miguel Tejada. Players committed to the U.S. team (again, if chosen) include Lance Berkman, Barry Bonds, Roy Halladay, Derek Jeter, Derrek Lee, Jake Peavy, Ben Sheets, John Smoltz, Mart Teixeira, Jason Varitek, Dontrelle Willis and David Wright. If those players are "has-beens," I clearly have not been watching baseball lately. I could also talk about how 2004 Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana has committed to play for Venezuela, or how Ichiro Suzuki has committed to play for Japan, but it is clear Mosso comes into his article with an agenda.
I would also like to add that it took me five minutes to find these names on the World Baseball Classic website, so if Mosso had done his homework, he probably could have figured out all these players cannot possibly pull out of the WBC over the next two months. I know I will be watching this tournament, and if Mosso is actually a baseball fan, he will be watching too.
