Take me out to the ball game, in Asia

There’s no University of Hawaii baseball scheduled to be televised during the Rainbows’ visit to Las Vegas this weekend for the UNLV Rebel Classic, but that doesn’t mean there’s no baseball to watch.

There are the usual MLB spring training games, but even better is that the World Baseball Classic got under way Friday and continues today through March 19. Even better, the games in the first round are taking place in Taiwan and Japan, which means broadcast times are convenient for most people in Hawaii. Today’s games start at 5:30 p.m. (Cuba vs. Brazil) and 8:30 p.m. (Netherlands vs. Taiwan). Other countries represented in the classic include Venezuela, Italy, Korea, Spain, Canada, Dominican Republic and, of course, the United States. In fact, the classic will finish up in San Francisco, home of the World Series champs, the San Francisco Giants.

It’s nice to see America’s national pastime being embraced so enthusiastically around the world.