Have the most dominating force in the history of baseball taken a step back?
Can the Aussies matchup with the Cubans when the games really count?

These and other questions will be answered after the 37th IBAF Baseball World Cup gets underway on November 6 when host Taiwan meets Italy in the tournament opener

For the first time since Major Leaguers competed in the Olympics, Cuba will enter a major international tournament with numerous question marks
And, the invincibility that the Omar Linares-led Cuban teams of the past enjoyed seems to have vanished

“We’ve proven again that we can match it with the Cubans” said Australia National Team skipper John Deeble after a 5-0 win recently

Indeed, of all the teams heading into the tournament Australia has looked the most impressive

While the meaningless exhibition games are just that - irrelevant - the Aussies have backed up their strong predictions that they believe they have what it takes to win this year’s World Cup
“We’re going there to become World Champions” said the Australian Manager a few weeks ago
“Twenty years ago you’d never think of it
But it is a reality because we’ve gotten a lot better and I think the Cubans are very vulnerable" he added
“Our first aim will be to finish in the top eight to qualify for the next round and from there hopefully get through to the medal rounds”

Pitching will be the major strength of Australia led by the Blackley brothers, Travis and Adam, who both were impressive in pre-tournament action

But the Aussies can hit the ball as well
The squad includes Major Leaguers Brad Thomas, Justin Huber, and Richard Thompson

But the favorites remain the Cubans and while the roster boasts numerous new faces, opponents will have to bring their “A” game to beat skipper Rey Anglada’s squad

Veteran pitcher Pedro Lazo (7-0) headlines a staff in transition as several hard-throwing prospects led by Vladimir Banos and Jonder Martinez hope to extend Cuba’s dominance at the World Cup

Offensively, power hitters Yuliesky Gourriel, Alex Mayeta direct a hitting attack that has lacked consistentcy in recent weeks

Cuban batting champion Osmani Urruthia, outfielder Freddie Cepeda, shortstop Eduardo Paret, and slugging catching prospect Yosvany Peraza will have to get rolling if Cuba is to defend their world title

Click on this logo to watch a complete video of the game NOTE #1 - this video is in Windows Media Player 'wmv' format NOTE #2 - the first two minutes and fifteen seconds show a shot of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, with the station and commentators "getting organised" on the audio track - and then the game gets underway!!! NOTE #3 - link active as at Friday 9th November 2007 I have no idea how long it will remain available

Playing first base
Batting #5

First plate appearance - second innings
----------Lefthanded pitcher
----------Led off the innings
----------Ball - outside
----------Ball - outside
----------Ball - inside
----------Ball - high
----------Walk
----------Advanced to second base on a wild pitch
----------Out at home plate on a close 9-to-2 play
Second plate appearance - fourth innings
----------Lefthanded pitcher
----------Led off the innings
----------First pitch swinging
----------Ground ball to second base and out 4-to-3
Third plate appearance - sixth innings
----------Righthanded pitcher
----------Bases empty - one down
----------Hit by pitch and awarded first base
----------Attempted to steal to second base but out on a close play
Fourth plate appearance - eighth innings
----------??handed pitcher
----------Bases empty - two down
----------Ball - outside
----------Foul ball
----------Foul ball
----------Ball - low
----------Ground ball to second base and out 4-to-3
Fifth plate appearance - tenth innings
----------Lefthanded pitcher
----------Runner at first base - two down
----------Called strike
----------Ball - low
----------Swing and a miss
----------Ball - outside
----------Ball - outside
----------Ball - outside
----------Walk
----------Left stranded at the end of the innings

Australia came within one strike of exorcising some lingering Latin demons, falling just short of a dramatic opening round win against reigning champions Cuba on day one of the 2007 Baseball World Cup in Taipei

Leading 2-1, with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Australians gave up a game tying home run to veteran Cuban slugger Frederich Cepeda, before the relentless Latin powerhouses put an end Green and Gold fairytale with another walk off blast in the tenth

Adding to the agony of defeat, the Aussies seemed well in control of the nail bighting contest from the outset, a fact not lost on Head Coach Jon Deeble
“The truth is, we outplayed the World Champions in every facet of the game today,” Deeble said.
“Our pitching was better, our hitters were better, and defensively we were unbelievable - only thing is that we didn’t come out on top where it counts
Consider the gap between us and the Cubans closed” he said

The dominance that Deeble refers to began with a remarkable performance by 27 year-old Aussie debutant Greg Wiltshire, who allowed just one unearned run in 5.2 dazzling innings pitching in his first official game for Australia
Wiltshire, who is renowned for his poise in big games, was masterful against the Cubans as he rekindled the form that saw him pitch Victoria to a Claxton Shield title in January of this year

As early as the second inning, Australia was unlucky not to take the lead when Brett Roneberg was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a Michael Collins single to right field

Even after allowing an unearned run in the bottom half of the second frame on what should have been a tailor–made double play, the Aussies called on the catch-cry “Mangy Dog” attitude to tie the score in their very next turn at bat
Second baseman Luke Hughes started third inning the rally with lead-off single, before centerfielder Trent Oeltjen followed suit with his second safe hit in as many tries
When both runners were advanced on a perfectly executed sacrifice by Ben Risinger, all that was needed from Major League slugger Justin Huber was to lift a shallow fly into foul territory, just deep enough to score Hughes from third

From that point the score remained deadlocked until the top half of the seventh inning when 21-year-old shortstop Brad Harman started his personal assault on the game by belting a lead off double into the gap in right-centre
As Harman moved to third on another textbook sacrifice, this time by catcher Andrew Graham, it was soon clear that the Australians were having no trouble taking the game to the highly favoured Cuban stars
The hero on this occasion was Trent Oeltjen who laced a ‘hanging slider’ up the middle, plating Harman and giving the Aussies a 2-1 lead with his third single of the afternoon

With the score painfully close, a trio of Aussie relievers took up where Wiltshire left off; as Adam Bright, Tristan Crawford and Brendan Wise all managed to set down the Cuban offence in order throughout the late innings, albeit with the at times superhuman help of their shortstop Harman
The defensive phenom made three of the best plays witnessed by anybody, anywhere in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings respectively, eliminating any hope of a Cuban rally

The defensive wizardry left many in the Australian dugout dumbfounded
“He must have some Venezuelan in him, that’s the best play I have ever seen” left hand pitcher Adrian Burnside said in reference to one particularly freakish gem more typically associated with Latin defensive greats

Sadly for Harman and his team-mates, the highlight reel plays ultimately counted for nothing when two ill-fated pitches ended up in gardens surrounding Taipei’s Tien-Mou stadium

Reliever Brad Thomas, who arrived in Taiwan less than 24 hours earlier after a marathon transit from Venezuela, had induced a weak ground ball for the second out of the ninth inning and was millimetres away from striking out Cepeda to end the game on a foul-tip that deflected of catcher Andrew Graham’s glove
However the Cuban turned on the very next pitch, a 93mph fastball, all but erasing 8.2 innings of excellence from the Australians in the blink of an eye

And after a promising Australian rally in the top half of the tenth was extinguished, Cuba did to the Aussies what they have been doing to teams from around the World for decades - breaking hearts with big hits
With the ball in the hands of ace reliever Richard Thompson, fresh of his stint in the Major Leagues with the Los Angeles Angels, the Aussies were confident of extending the game beyond the tenth inning
But, as is so often the case with the reigning Champs, one mistake is all they need to make you pay; and when Thompson left a fastball up to Cuban giant Osmani Urrutia, he belted it over the ceterfield wall, ending what would have been the ideal start for Australia to the 2007 campaign

Despite the loss, the Australians remained relatively buoyant after the game, a positive sign as they look to bounce back against the Netherlands tomorrow

Down to their final strike and trailing Australia 2-1, Cuba’s beleagured outfielder Freddie Cepeda belted a momentum-changing, game-tying home run setting the stage for Osmani Urrutia’s tenth inning theatrics as Cuba stunned Australia 3-2 Wednesday on Day One of the 2007 World Cup in Taiwan

Australia played championship-style baseball and got amsuperb outing from starter Greg Wiltshire who was donning the Aussie colors for the first time
The 27-year-old held the Cubans at bay for 5.2 innings surrendering just a lone unearned run

Cuba grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the second after the Aussies had threatened to take the lead in the top of the same inning
But Australia were foiled when Brett Roneberg was gunned down at home plate trying to score on Michael Collin’s single

The Australians knotted the score in the third thanks to back-to-back singles by second baseman Luke Hughes and centerfielder Trent Oeltjen
A Justin Huber sacrifice flyball scored Hughes and the best game on the opening day of the World Cup was just getting started

Both teams traded goose eggs until the seventh when Australia got a leadoff double from shortstop Brad Harman and an RBI single from Oeltjen – his third hit of the day – to take a 2-1 advantage over the defending world champions

The 21-year-old Harman was also putting on a show with his glove making “highlight reel” plays in three straight innings deny the Cubans any chance to start a rally

But like so many times in the past against an array of opponents, nobody does it better than Cuba when the game is on the line
Cepeda, who has played poorly in recent tournaments with some back home wondering if he should even be on the team, almost fanned to end the game
But his foul tip bounced off Aussie catcher Andrew Graham’s glove opening the door for the thrilling comeback win
The talented Cuban slammed the next pitch from Aussie reliever Brad Thomas into the gardens past the outfield wall to tie the score at 2-2

Unfortunately for Australia, another disgruntled Cuban was about to make a statement with his bat
Similar to Cepeda, Urrutia has hit poorly in recent tournaments and although he has won four of the past five batting titles back at home, he is in Taiwan largely because of the support of manager Rey Anglada
And, he did not disappoint
Australia has a deep corps of talented hard-throwers including Los Angeles Angels hurler Richard Thompson who started the tenth frame
But after outplaying Cuba for 8.2 innings, the Aussies failed to seal the deal and paid the price
Urrutia caught a high fastball and drilled the pitch over the centerfield wall to give the jubilant Cubans a 3-2 win over Australia