PHOENIX – The flaws in the World Baseball Classic’s format that led to the chaotic brawl between Canada and Mexico extend from the tiebreaker rules that encourage teams to run up the score to an inability to effectively punish players who badly misbehave.
Neither country will face any sanctions for their role in Saturday’s melee because World Baseball Classic International officials decided issuing suspensions "would not have a meaningful corrective impact," they said in a statement issued early Sunday morning.
That was a break for Canada, which could have lost at least three players if not more before its do-or-die Pool D finale Sunday against the United States, and the only fair thing to do since it didn’t matter for Mexico, which was already eliminated.
Still, the bigger picture concerns were how to keep prideful players from taking things personally when their opponents piled on in games already out of hand, and how to create some deterrence for dangerous acts of retribution in elimination games when suspensions are either pointless or too detrimental to rosters already operating under spring training restrictions.
"Fines, when you get emotional like that, nobody really cares about what this is going to cost me. I think taking them off the field is the thing that makes an impact," U.S. manager Joe Torre, a Major League Baseball’s executive vice-president, said Sunday. "But if that’s at the price of hurting somebody else, then there’s an issue. So I don’t know what that answer is.
"I think the first thing that we should do a better job at is making sure the players understand. Even though it may rub them the wrong way, those are the rules of the game."
Mexican manager Rick Renteria described his team’s motivations in the brawl triggered after Chris Robinson’s leadoff bunt in the ninth inning of a one-sided affair as a big misunderstanding. His players – particularly third baseman Luis Cruz, who ordered reliever Arnold Leon to hit Rene Tosoni after the bunt – took exception and Renteria suggested he didn’t properly inform them of the rules.
Judging by what some of the Mexicans said on Twitter, however, it may not have mattered.
Leon tweeted in Spanish that baseball is the same everywhere and that opponents should be respected no matter the score, while teammate Dany Rodriguez wrote that every professional knows there are consequences when the game is disrespected.
Under tournament rules, a formula involving runs for and runs against is used to break three-way ties, a format that led to Canada’s ouster from the 2006 Classic when it finished tied at 2-1 with Mexico and the United States. In ’09, the tournament switched to a double-knockout system but that meant not every team was guaranteed three games and made ticket sales more difficult because fans of a specific country couldn’t be sure which game their team was playing, and the rules reverted back this time.
"They need to make some changes to this format," Canadian manager Ernie Whitt said Sunday. "If they do that, then I don’t think you’ll have that type of incident that happened last night. There’s always going to be emotions involved when you play the game and you’re representing your country. You can’t get away from that and I don’t want to get away from that.
"But they need to make some changes to the format."
Regardless, while the Canadians may have broken one of baseball’s unwritten rules on Robinson’s bunt, the Mexicans returned the favour in kind when Leon took three tries to hit Tosoni. The rule of thumb is take your shot, and if you miss, too bad, and that’s what left Whitt really mad.
"You get hit on the first pitch," he said. "If you miss, then you know what? Shame on you."
Tosoni said the same thing. He saw Cruz’s gesture and Leon and came up to the plate expecting to get plunked. He even understood. But it’s the multiple attempts that prompted him to take a few steps toward the mound, leading both dugouts to empty.
"Honestly if I was in their situation I probably would have felt the same way," said Tosoni. "I wouldn’t gesture to our pitcher to hit somebody, but I understand that’s what was going to happen. If they would have hit me right away, whatever. I might have said a couple of words, but I understand baseball. Once you miss me, I feel like you had your chance."
After that, Tosoni admitted that he "egged it on a little bit. After (Gorman) gave the warnings, I kind of gestured to the pitcher, ‘If you’re going to hit me, hit me.’ I even got closer to the plate to make sure if he wants to hit me he can hit me. We get on base. I was pissed off at that point, I was trying to egg him on and I got fired up."
The Canadian bench right alongside him, and if the Mexicans were looking for a fight, they were ready.
"We weren’t mad, we understood, but a fight like that got out of control a little bit and us hockey boys, we enjoy something rough and we don’t see it a lot on the ball field," said Tosoni. "I’m not saying we’re a bunch of fighters, but we like playing this game tough, and that’s how we play it."
Tosoni and Leon were among seven players ejected.
Tournament disciplinarians, made up of members of Major League Baseball and the players association, met with Canadian officials late Saturday and informed them of their ruling. Later they asked for private recommendations on how to avoid similar situations in the future.
A coach from a neutral team said he thought the code of conduct players signed before the tournament meant any discipline during the tournament would carry over into the regular season, but a league source said that’s not the case.
Perhaps costing a player regular season games is the deterrent needed.
“We are extremely disappointed in the bench-clearing incident," the WBCI said in a statement. "The episode runs counter to the spirit of sportsmanship and respectful competition for which the World Baseball Classic has stood throughout its history. …
"We are aware of the perspectives held by both sides in a competitive environment. Nevertheless, we relayed to both teams that such an altercation is inappropriate under any circumstances and has no place in baseball."
No disagreement there, but it’s given organizers plenty to think about.
