PHOENIX — The game is supposed to be America's national pastime, but the United States has not fared well in the World Baseball Classic. Joe Torre is putting his manager's uniform back on to lead Team USA in this year's competition, but he cautions that there are reasons the US has not won, or even made it to the title game, in the first two editions of the worldwide competition. Torre, speaking Monday at a news conference in Phoenix, said players usually use spring training to get ready physically for the long major league season, slowly working in the mental edge along the way. But with the World Baseball Classic, they are asked to get that competitive edge in a hurry against countries that take this competition very seriously. “I think a big part of it is the mental preparation for a postseason type of atmosphere,” Torre said. Japan won the first two championships, beating Cuba in the 2006 final and South Korea in 2009. There is more than a little grumbling among managers who lose players for two or three weeks at a crucial time when they are supposed to be putting together a cohesive team for the coming big league season. But, officially, Major League Baseball is a big supporter of this event, so that mutes the criticism. Those players don't just go to Team USA, but to Venezuela, Mexico, Japan, Canada, even The Netherlands. The team hit the hardest this year is the Milwaukee Brewers, who will lose 14 players during spring training, 11 of them from their 40-man roster. “I get why a player would want to do it. I understand that,” Brewers manager Ron Roenicke said. “And we're fine with them going and doing that, but it just happens that we're getting hit with a lot of guys. We're missing both catchers. It's really important to us. We'll just have to deal with it.” Torre said he had the same reaction back in 2006 when the first World Baseball Classic was held. “I'm manager of the Yankees and I'm saying, ‘Oh my goodness, what is this all about?' Because they're taking our players away.” Now, he steps away from his duties as executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner's office to try to build a winning team while at the same time giving the players, especially the pitchers, the same amount of work they'd get if they stayed in spring training. Torre has enlisted retired pitching great Greg Maddux to help him. “Greg has talked to each and every one of them to get their ideas about what they want to get accomplished,” Torre said. Team USA will begin the round-robin play March 8 against Mexico. The second round will be held in Miami, with the semifinals and finals set for AT&T Park in San Francisco. The US squad includes outfielders Ryan Braun, Adam Jones, Giancarlo Stanton, Shane Victorino and Ben Zobrist; infielders Willie Bloomquist, Brandon Phillips, Jimmy Rollins, Mark Teixeira and David Wright; and catchers J.P. Arencibia, Jonathan Lucroy and Joe Mauer. The pitchers are, alphabetically, Jeremy Affeldt, Heath Bell, Mitchell Boggs, Steve Cishek, Tim Collins, R.A. Dickey, Luke Gregerson, Derek Holland, Craig Kimbrel, Kris Medlen, Chris Perez, Glen Perkins, Vinnie Pestano and Ryan Vogelsong. — AP
