TORONTO — Derek Jeter is taking this tournament personally.
Chipper Jones and Jake Peavy are too.
Holdovers from Team USA’s eighth-place finish at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006, all three stars are eager to make amends in the second incarnation of the 16-team event. The way they see it, it’s time to take back America’s game.
The United States worked out Friday in preparation for its tournament opener today against Canada, and Jones said new manager Davey Johnson made it clear from the outset that this U.S. squad would not accept falling short.
“He tried to instill that from the very first phone call this offseason that what we did in 2006 was substandard and embarrassing to a certain extent, and that it was going to be up to guys like me and Jete to relay that feeling that we had in ’06 so we don’t do it again,” Jones said.
Peavy, the Padres’ ace and 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner, will start today at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Italy and Venezuela, the other teams in Pool C, play tonight, with Mariners right-hander Carlos Silva scheduled to start for Venezuela.
The top two teams in pool play advance to the next round.
Despite a roster filled with major-league all-stars, the U.S. finished 3-3 at the first WBC — with losses on home soil to Canada, South Korea and Mexico — and was knocked out in the second round.
Japan beat Cuba in the championship game.
“Baseball is a big sport,” Jeter said. “It’s bigger in our country than it is here in Canada, so it means a lot to people and it means a lot to the players in our locker room.”
Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau said Canada “snuck up” on the Americans last time, but doesn’t expect it to happen again.
“They’re going to come out ready for us,” said Morneau, the 2006 AL MVP.
South Korea 9, Taiwan 0
TOKYO — Lee Jin-young hit a grand slam in a six-run first to power the Olympic champions. The Associated Press
