The most common types of earthquakes are those where two plates meet, as in California along the San Andreas Fault. As the plates push against each other, pressures build up until one or the other gives way. In general, the longer the interval between quakes, the greater the pent-up pressure and thus the greater the scope for a really big jolt. This is a particular worry for Tokyo, which Bill McGuire, a hazards specialist at University College London, describes as “the city waiting to die” (not a motto you will find on many tourism leaflets). Tokyo stands on the boundary of three tectonic plates in a country already well known for its seismic instability. In 1995, as you will remember, the city of Kobe, three hundred miles to the west, was struck by a magnitude 7.2 quake, which killed 6,394 people. The damage was estimated at $99 billion. But that was as nothing—well, as comparatively little—compared with what may await Tokyo.

Tokyo has already suffered one of the most devastating earthquakes in modern times. On September 1, 1923, just before noon, the city was hit by what is known as the Great Kanto quake—an event more than ten times more powerful than Kobe’s earthquake. Two hundred thousand people were killed. Since that time, Tokyo has been eerily quiet, so the strain beneath the surface has been building for eighty years. Eventually it is bound to snap. In 1923, Tokyo had a population of about three million. Today it is approaching thirty million. Nobody cares to guess how many people might die, but the potential economic cost has been put as high as $7 trillion.

The recent Japan earthquake and subsequent tsunami may have mostly spared Tokyo, but damn. I wonder if it counts as getting rid of that strain beneath the surface. If it does, I guess possibly $309 billion in damage and anywhere from 15,000 to 30,000 deaths is preferable to $7 trillion and hundreds of thousands of casualties.

The book is wonderful, by the way, even if it’s more of a relatively short science book (considering the breadth of topics covered) which explains our knowledge about the universe and how we came to realize such things, as opposed to a massive history tome like Europe: A History. Bryson is a very entertaining author who obviously did an insanely amount of research to put together the book.

I love using ESPN banners.

Korea vs. Japan = Yankees vs. Red Sox. I would say Mets vs. Phillies, but they can’t manage to make the playoffs at the same time. Not that either MLB rivalry is comparable, considering those involve a few states, not entire  nations. (Red Sox Nation doesn’t count, cockbags.)

But really, the World Baseball Classic final between Korea and Japan was probably the most intense, well-played, emotional baseball game I will see for six months. Amazing defense was on display. Perfect bunts were executed. Helmets exploded. Thundersticks were utilized excessively by a sellout crowd. Guys ran into walls. Opportunities were blown. Leads were choked away. A legend came through in the clutch. It was everything a baseball game should be, with the added drama of two nations who have hated each other for longer than they have played baseball. This game alone has made me pine for a time when the WBC is actually an international tournament on the scale of the World Cup. A time when the United States manages to finally take it seriously. A time when every round consists of at least a best-of-3 series, and the MLB season actually takes a backseat to the WBC every four years. Maybe Bud Selig has accomplished something here.

Case in point: I was glued to my seat at 1 AM in the morning watching Ichiro manufacture an insane at-bat to win the game for Japan. The dude fouled off a pitch that bounced in the dirt and one that was almost at his head. When he finally got a pitch down the middle, he slapped it right back from whence it came. It was fucking awesome. Sure, first base was open and the South Korean manager probably should have walked him, but I think some sort of Asian pride came into play there. Maybe I’m just a ignorant asshole, but that’s what I thought — and I liked it. It made the entire tournament come down to a moment straight out of a script I could have written as a 10-year-old. As a result, Ichiro’s legend only continues to grow. Most Americans love him, so I really can’t imagine how much of a national hero he is in Japan at this point.

So while it was great to see David Wright pull his own mini-Ichiro a few games back, I would have definitely preferred to see it happen in the FINAL. We better send the best talent we have available in four years. I don’t want to see the 2013 equivalent of C.C. Sabathia staying back in southern Florida. Not that he would’ve made a difference, since he sucks in the beginning of the year anyway. I am just jealous seeing Japan once again take this tournament. And Korea finish ahead of us again.

Ok, I’m going to take a step back here. This is never going to be the World Cup, at least not in the foreseeable future. There are only four legitimately great international teams: USA, Cuba, Korea, and Japan. I was about to include the Dominican Republic, and then I remembered they lost to the Netherlands twice. So yeah, not a very big lineup to create a truly worldwide tournament. Oh well. I enjoyed this iteration of the WBC way more than I thought possible, and for that I am grateful. Now the MLB season needs to start tomorrow. I am not joking. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

The simple truth is that every single other country takes this much more seriously than the U.S. and that’s just pathetic. If you’re going to participate, try your best to win. I’m not saying to send players out there if they’re hurt, but Jeter at SS plus Adam Dunn in RF does not equal a good defense. And leaving pitchers in so they can reach their pitch count only emphasizes how much of a joke this tournament is in the eyes of the U.S. team. As a result of bullshit like this, Japan is once again going to win this tournament, like I predicted a few posts ago. This is like when the USA basketball team was consistently losing to other countries in international competition. The other teams’ fundamentals were better, and they were more much emotionally invested.

I don’t want to hear the injury arguments. I really fucking don’t. Guys get hurt in spring training just like they do in the WBC. It’s just a lot easier to get angry at a glorified exhibition tournament than at a untelevised spring training game. If they’re not ready for “full-intensity” games yet, why don’t they get to spring training earlier? These guys are only getting paid millions of dollars to play a game for a living. I think they could manage showing up a couple of weeks earlier than the other players to prepare to kick the shit out of other countries. I understand it’s baseball and that one game isn’t a reasonable indicator, but that last inning was fucking disgusting.

/TommyLasorda

…I still think the Fangraphs idea is the best way to do this crap.