[j.tom]

WORLD'S BEST FACE OFF IN OLYMPIAD
Wide World of Baseball Newsletter -- 2060 Olympiad Edition

32 nations, 960 players, one gold medal. The Olympiad offers the greatest concentration of talent that you'll find anywhere in the WWoB, and in the eyes of many, is baseball's greatest prize.

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GROUP ONE: Curacao, Czechia, Greece, Netherlands














Greece takes an early lead in Group One, but drops their final two games to the Netherlands to fall to 2nd at 4-2. Czechia has a chance to force a three-way tie in their final game versus the Netherlands, but is beaten 4-2 and eliminated from their home Olympiad. Curacao takes the Olympiad as an opportunity to vacation.


Group One MVP: RHP Bohumir Taborsky 🇨🇿 -- Normally, I wouldn't give MVP to a player whose team was eliminated in the group stage, but Czechia's Taborsky, who combines with opener Lumir Komarek 🇨🇿 to no-hit Curacao on March 21, is an exception.




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GROUP TWO: Argentina, Aruba, Germany, India














Argentina and Germany split their series with one another, while going undefeated versus Aruba and India to convincingly advance out of Group Two.


Group Two MVP: 2B Dennis Brennicke 🇩🇪 -- Germany gets three homers from its starting second baseman, tied for the most in the Group Stage.


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GROUP THREE: Australia, France, Italy, Venezuela















Venezuela and Italy advance out of Group Three, while Australia's three-game skid dooms them. France fails to advance from the Group Stage for the first time in 15 years.


Group Three MVP: 1B Hector Regalado 🇻🇪 -- Regalado only got 5 plate appearances, but he made the most of them, driving in 2 runs including a walk-off RBI single to beat Italy on March 19. In a group where nobody really stood out, that's enough to win him MVP.



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GROUP FOUR: Brazil, England, Japan, The United States














The United States plays a disappointing Group Stage, and now has to play a win-or-die tiebreaker versus England. Japan dominates, while Brazil's window of opportunity closes with a pair of extra-innings losses to end their tournament.


Group Four MVP: OF Seiho Nakaoka 🇯🇵 -- Nakaoka is the strongest hitter in a stacked Japan lineup, batting .500 (10-20) with 6 RBI.


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GROUP FIVE: Canada, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Thailand














Canada loses its opener but goes undefeated the rest of the way to claim Group Five. Thailand gets a rude welcome to the Olympiad, but plays spoiler to Mexico, who is forced into a tiebreaker against the Dominican Republic.


Group Five MVP: 3B John Blumberg 🇨🇦 -- Canada's offense scores the 4th most runs of any team in the group stage, and their star third baseman is a huge part of that, scoring seven times himself over six games.


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GROUP SIX: Chile, Cuba, Nicaragua, South Korea














In Group Six, Nicaragua sweeps Cuba, Cuba sweeps South Korea, and South Korea sweeps Nicaragua. However, South Korea is the only team to lose to Chile, and misses out on a chance at a 3-way tiebreaker.



Group Six MVP: 3B Jose Gomez 🇳🇮 -- Gomez bats .444 with the second highest OPS among all hitters in the Group Stage, including a leadoff homer versus Chile on March 21 in a 13-0 win.


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GROUP SEVEN: China, Costa Rica, Nigeria, South Africa














An upset winner in Group Seven as Nigeria, in their Olympiad debut, advances to the playoffs. China and Costa Rica are forced into a tiebreaker game. A win over South Africa in their final game keeps Nigeria out a 4-way tie scenario.


Group Seven MVP: 1B Chih Ju 🇨🇳 -- Ju puts on an offensive clinic, batting .526 with 3 home runs and leading the group stage in OPS by over 300 points.


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GROUP EIGHT: Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, Taiwan














Another surprise in Group Eight, where Panama takes the top spot and Puerto Rico falters, leaving Colombia and Taiwan in a tiebreaker game.


Group Eight MVP: OF Sergio Uranga 🇵🇦 -- Uranga hits .435 in the Group Stage, driving in 6 runs in 23 at-bats.


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TIEBREAKER DAY

With 96 games in the books, 12 out of 16 playoff spots in the Olympiad are spoken for. Games 97 through 100 will decide the remaining four.




China vs. Costa Rica -- This matchup to decide the last Group Seven playoff spot stays tight for the first two-thirds, but China's lineup is too much for Costa Rica's bullpen. SS Dong-po Choi 🇨🇳 puts up 4 hits in 5 at bats with 3 RBI to be named the First Star of the G-- wait, no, wrong sport.





Taiwan vs. Colombia -- Colombia gets the lead in the 5th inning and hangs on to it to send Taiwan packing. Millions of eyebrows are raised when Colombia brings in LHP Willie Saldana 🇨🇴, who's had a brutal tournament, for the save, but the gamble pays off as he works 2 no-hit innings to ice the game.





The United States vs. England -- The U.S. gets contributions throughout the lineup in a 6-4 tiebreaker win over England, avoiding becoming just the second American team (2050) to be eliminated from the Olympiad in the group stage.





Dominican Republic vs. Mexico -- In the most exciting tiebreaker game, Mexico sends the D.R. home in the Group Stage for the first time in six years, by way of a game-tying rally in the bottom of the 8th inning, and a 2-run walkoff base hit by C Alex Quiroz 🇲🇽 on his 22nd birthday.





🇦🇷 🇳🇱 🇨🇦 🇯🇵 🇩🇪 🇳🇮 🇻🇪 🇬🇷 🇵🇦 🇳🇬 🇮🇹 🇨🇺 🇲🇽 🇨🇳 🇨🇴 🇺🇸

With the 32-team field now cut down to 16, it's playoff time. The teams are split into two groups of 8 based on seeding, and will play a 7-game Round Robin to determine which two teams advance from each pool.


ROUND ROBIN #1: Argentina, Cuba, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, United States, Venezuela

















Cuba beats Germany on the final day of the Round Robin stage to advance alongside them. Two of four teams with five wins in Round Robin #1 advance based on a tiebreaker (I am not sure what OOTP uses to break ties in round robin playoffs). Losses to Cuba and Germany sink the United States, while losses to the U.S. and Cuba eliminate Venezuela. Japan makes a late charge, but it isn't enough to overcome their 1-3 start.

In the Round Robin championship game, Germany's pitching staff keeps Cuba scoreless for 11 innings after giving up two runs in the 1st, but the dam finally breaks in the bottom of the 12th, when 3B Alfredo Arroyo 🇨🇺 sends Cuba to the Gold Medal Game with a walkoff 3-run homer.




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ROUND ROBIN #2: Canada, China, Colombia, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Panama


















Round Robin #2 is a tidier affair, with Canada and the Netherlands prevailing with five wins each. China starts off 3-0 but falters down the stretch, while Greece does the opposite. Nigeria wins their first ever Round Robin game, 12-0 over Panama.

In the championship game for Round Robin #2, Team Canada's bats bark, but never bite, grounding into three double plays and leaving five runners stranded in a game of missed opportunities. RHP Leroy Mulkens 🇳🇱 NED earns his second win of the 2060 Olympiad, with 5.1 strong innings, and the Netherlands avenges their loss in the Round Robin opener.




🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱 🇨🇺 🇳🇱





GOLD MEDAL GAME Cuba vs. Netherlands

In the 2060 Olympiad Gold Medal Game, Cuba sends RHP Arturo Dominguez 🇨🇺 to the mound, while the Netherlands starts RHP Joey Janssen 🇳🇱. It winds up being Janssen who prevails with 6 innings allowing just 1 run. The Dutch take the lead in the second inning, and shut out Cuba the rest of the way for their first Olympiad Gold Medal! Cuba, who won gold a year ago, earns the silver medal for the second time (2044).




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2060 OLYMPIAD AWARDS

Most Valuable Player: Jesus Rivas 🇨🇺 (2)



Best Pitcher AND Reliever of the Year: Zi-cheng Fan 🇨🇳



Rookie of the Year: OF Cruz Salgado 🇵🇦



2060 Olympiad Champions: The Netherlands 🇳🇱




Players will now rest up as they await Major League Opening Day, and dozens of other opening days over the next few weeks.