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Dutchmen Flying High After Dominican Upset

By Will McCahill,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 11, 2009 12:43 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The Netherlands’ upset of a squad full of big-league Dominican talent still seems pretty far-fetched, Jeff Passan writes for Yahoo Sports the day after the stunning Dutch victory in the World Baseball Classic. “They beat a team paid more than $80 million this year by melding kids trying to scratch out major-league careers, elders trying to rekindle theirs, and a bunch of weekend warriors,” Passan marvels.

“It’s the best. It’s the best day,” Randall Simon, one of the Dutch players with some major league experience said of beating a Dominican team stocked with stars like Boston’s David Ortiz and New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes. “It will never get better than that. Nobody ever thought about this, that it would happen one day. And we did it.”

Dominican Republic's Jose Reyes, left, and teammate Robinson Cano react after losing 2-1 to the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic yesterday.
Dominican Republic's Jose Reyes, left, and teammate Robinson Cano react after losing 2-1 to the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic yesterday.   (AP Photo)
Dominican Republic's catcher Miguel Olivo, center right, is surrounded by Netherlands' players celebrating their upset elimination of the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic last night.
Dominican Republic's catcher Miguel Olivo, center right, is surrounded by Netherlands' players celebrating their upset elimination of the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic last night.   (AP Photo)
Netherlands players celebrate their upset elimination of the Dominican Republic last night in the World Baseball Classic.
Netherlands players celebrate their upset elimination of the Dominican Republic last night in the World Baseball Classic.   (AP Photo)
The Dominican Republic's Jose Reyes, left, and Robinson Cano react after the team was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic.
The Dominican Republic's Jose Reyes, left, and Robinson Cano react after the team was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic.   (AP Photo)
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When you think you’ve seen it all, you find out you’re wrong. We’ve seen something that we never imagined. We were supposed to beat that team twice. But they beat us twice. - Dominican Republic manager Felipe Alou

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Dutch squad not 'anything special,' says Dominican star Ortiz
New York Times

Get the World Baseball Classic bracket here
World Baseball Classic

 
David Ortiz • Netherlands • Dominican Republic • Jose Reyes • World Baseball Classic • Randall Simon • upset • Felipe Alou

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