Baltimore Orioles Soundoff

Picture this:

Mexico has made it far into the tournament, led by its ace pitcher Rodrigo Lopez.

Dominican stars Daniel Cabrera and Miguel Tejada are excited to be leading their star-studded team.

Panama, says New York Yankees (Geriatrics) closer Mariano Rivera, has no shot of advancing, but the smooth pitching of Bruce Chen has brought them a few victories.

Even Canada is doing well with Erik Bedard dominating the U.S.A. in a shutout victory and then Adam Loewen completing the victory against South Korea.

But now, picture this:

Cabrera unleashes a wicked 100 mph fastball at the head of the opposing hitter, he just let one get away from him. Venezuela's Ramon Hernandez tries to get out of the way of the speeding bullet but it hits him in the head causing a concussion and a delay to the start of his season.

It is one thing if a Roger Clemens fastball hits Tejada because they aren't teammates. But you don't want hardcore competition among teammates do you?

These scenarios are all highly unlikely and the truth is that nothing like this will probably happen, but, what if...

This WBC will create rivalry. But not Yankees vs. Red Sox vs. Orioles (we wish) type of rivalry. No, this is the type of rivalry that is based in pride of country.

Think about it.

Obviously Tejada and David Ortiz and Pedro and Vladimir Guerrero all think that baseball from the Dominican is tops. Bruce Chen wants to prove that Panama is no pushover. Jason Bay, Erik Bedard and company thinks even Canada can strip itself of its Olympic hockey blunders and advance in the WBC.

This isn't the pride of fans. This is pride of players. Later this season, when Baltimore takes a trip to Boston to play the hated Red Sox what will happen?

We all know that Miguel Tejada and David Ortiz are close friends. But, will they know get together with the binding spirit of triumphant Dominicans, or be separated by the hate-hate Oriole-Red Sox relationship?

I wanna see hate. Playful hate, but hate. I don't want Ortiz and Tejada laughing about Chen's Panamanian losers or Bedard's pitiful Canuck showing.

Now, I am not saying the Dominicans will win and the Canadians and Panama teams will lose, but it works both ways. I want team unity. I don't want the fact that they represented their own country to outweigh the fact that they first and foremost represent their Major League Baseball team.

That is the problem with baseball these days. It has become such a business that rivalry dies out amongst the players.

Look at College Sports. Duke and North Carolina hate each other. Maryland hates Duke. Florida and Florida State and Miami's feelings towards one another aren't much better. And these aren't the feelings of the fans, but of the players who meet face-to-face on the field of battle.

Sure, Orioles fans hate the Yankees. Hate everything about them. The fans, hate 'em. The team, hate 'em. A-Rod, a nancy boy. But, do the Orioles players hate the Yankees?

They may be frustrated by the fact that they can not seem to finish above them in the standings but I assure you, the teams do not mind each other.

If you ask a Bostonian what the worst act of treason they have ever witnessed was, they wouldn't give you some historical reference. They would point to this baseball offseason.

Johnny Damon in a Yankees uniform? Unheard of! Preposterous! Fact.

How could Yankee killer #1 join his most hated rival? Easy. He doesn't really hate them. Sure he gets caught up in the hoopla surrounding the fans about the rivalry, but, deep down, it isn't about I'm from Boston and you New York for Damon. It is about winning, and, more importantly, money.

And now, with the World Baseball Classic approaching, all players, yes, I said players, can talk about is representing and rooting for their countries. They are playing for something other than money. They are playing for pride. Pride of a nation. Pride of their upbringing. In many cases, pride of their struggle.

Pride. It used to be what Major Leaguers played for all the time.

Let's hope that all this pride makes the players realize that, once the WBC is over, they have 162 more pride-filled games to go.