Bobby V's Day To Shine

Japan beat Cuba 10-6 last night to win the inaugural World Baseball Classic, a tournament that — save for the Jay Mariottis of the world — was an unmitigated success for everyone involved, save for maybe Al Leiter and Buck Martinez. Japan's victory assures even more players to migrate over to the major leagues from Asia, which is the good news; it also makes it extremely likely that Bobby Valentine is going to be all over our television screens for the next month.

Since leaving Major League Baseball to manage in Japan, Bobby V has become sort of our unofficial Japanese baseball ambassador ... to the detriment of everyone, including himself. Valentine's protestations that American baseball does everything wrong that Japanese baseball does right, that he appreciates managing "devoted team players," that the sun shines brighter over there, that everybody in Japan just toots rainbows. Valentine notoriously protests too much; no matter how much fun he's having in Japan, the famed self-promoter still nurses a seriously bruised ego after being run off from Major League Baseball. Therefore, everything they do in MLB is wrong, and everything they do in Japanese baseball is right (including — primarily — worshipping Bobby Valentine). Because hey, if they love Bobby, they must play baseball the right way!

Congratulations, Japan [Off Wing Opinion]