The thing about this game that keeps popping up in my mind might be Cubas issue with the style of Korean pitchers. This is totally just a thought to get peoples mind working a bit, but do Korean pitchers pitch in a similar style to the pitchers from Japan. Im talking about the bizarre wind-ups that we see from players from this part of the world. The reason I am getting at this is if someone was to bet this game (I am not) I would look at how Cuban teams have faired against teams like Korea and Japan in international competitions. For instance the WBC, because I dont imagine Cubans see many pitchers with such hitches in their delivery. Im not going to take the time to check past results, but when I read in this thread that the Koreans handled the Cubans easily the first time....I couldnt help but wonder if this is something they have struggled with traditionally. If you dont see a pitcher with this sort of style often, it might take a while to adjust to it. Look at how successful pitchers like Nomo, Saito, and other Japanese pitchers were when they intially came over to the USA. This is a tough style to face when so many batters use timing mechaniams such as a foot pat of a drop of the hands to get themselves prepared. As I said, this is just a thought, but I would definitly look at past Cuban performances against other East Asians teams before laying this type of wood.
