World Baseball Classic: Mexico vs. South Africa

On Monday afternoon I changed hotels from the Ramada to the Hilton Aeropuerto. Nicole arrived from Chicago on Monday evening. The Hilton is located in Terminal 1 which is an easy train ride from Terminal 2 – where Nicole was flying into. Since Nicole was not arriving until after the game started and would need to go through customs, baggage claim and make her way from Terminal 2 to the hotel in Terminal 1, I would have time to attend about half the game Monday night before meeting her for dinner.

The Game
The atmosphere on Monday night was completely different when compared to Sunday night even though Mexico played in both games. The only reason I could think of is that none of the Mexican fans expected Mexico to play Monday night. They expected Mexico to win Sunday night in order to play Cuba on Tuesday night.

On Sunday night, a band played and the crowd sang the Mexican national anthem, while the military presented the Mexican flag. On Monday night, the national anthem was played over the loud speaker and nobody in the stands sang anything. In fact, the stadium was half as full as it was Sunday night with only 10,311 in attendance.

South Africa stayed close for the first 6 innings but fell apart late losing to Mexico 14-3 (technically losing by the slaughter rule) after nine innings. Adrian Gonzalez homered twice and had 6 RBI.

Post Game Dining
After the game, I met Nicole at the hotel and we ate at the Bistro Mosaico in the airport by the Hilton.

World Baseball Classic: Australia vs. Mexico

I took a cab back from the hotel to the stadium for Sunday night’s game between Australia and Mexico. I arrived over an hour early for the game and decided to buy a Cuba hat as a souvenir. However, all of the Mexico and Cuba hats were sold at the game Sunday afternoon. I thought to myself – how could the World Baseball Classic not supply enough hats for even the fans attending the second game to purchase?

Just as I had eaten for lunch, I ate at the same taquito concession stand for dinner. The taquitos were only 10 pesos each and were hand made by the concessionaires. Regular beers in the stadium cost 30 pesos whereas the big beers I had purchased Saturday night in Pachuca cost 80 pesos.

The Game
Mexico went down in the top of 1st inning 3-0, but came back in the bottom of the 1st inning and took the lead 5-3. In a back and forth (and very long) game Australia defeated Mexico 17-7 in 8 innings. Australia’s 22 hits set a WBC record for most hits in a game.

World Baseball Classic Rules
There are three major rules that that affect World Baseball Classic games:
1) A game is terminated if one team is ahead by more than 15 runs after the 5th or 6th inning or more than 10 runs after the 7th or 8th inning.
2) No pitcher may throw more than 70 pitches during first round games.
3) Beginning with the 13th inning, teams will start the inning with a runner on first and second base.

I believe rule #1 was created for the disparities between the teams talent in the first round. However, I am sure Mexico never planned to be slaughter ruled by Australia in the first round. If anything they thought it would be the other way around.

World Baseball Classic: South Africa vs. Cuba

About one week before I left for Mexico City, I decided to stay by the Mexico City airport for one main reason: Foro Sol, the stadium where the World Baseball Classic in Mexico City was held, was only one mile from the airport. Meaning I could take a short and cheap cab back and forth to the three games I was planning to attend Sunday and Monday.

Obtaining Tickets
After the cycling event Sunday morning, I arrived at Foro Sol in time for the noon first pitch between South Africa and Cuba. There were a lot of people selling tickets outside of the stadium. When I know there are a lot of secondary market tickets, I usually like to check with the box office first to understand what they still have available.

At the box office, I asked to buy tickets to the three games I wanted to attend: 1) Sunday afternoon, 2) Sunday night, and 3) Monday night. I was informed that I only needed to buy tickets for Sunday and Monday night. Tickets for the Sunday afternoon game were free with the purchase of a ticket for the Sunday night game between Australia and Mexico. I bought bleacher seat tickets for 95 pesos each. The seats were cement similar to Arena Mexico and in the sun.

Foro Sol Stadium
Foro Sol Stadium had a similar feel to Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico. As with Wrigley Field the bleacher section was separate from the rest of the stadium so I could not wander around the entire venue.

The Game
Cuba dominated South Africa 8-1. Cuba set a WBC record by hitting 6 home runs in one game. The prior record was 4 when the Dominican Republic did it against Venezuela in the 2006 WBC.

Post Game
Rather than hang out at the Festival de Beisbol in between the Sunday afternoon and Sunday night games, I chose to go back to the hotel and relax. As I stated earlier, the main reason I chose a hotel by the airport was because it was close to the ballpark.