So I guess Canada has some baseball to root for, but there don’t look like many people at the game in Toronto. By Oaktree b at en.wikipedia, from Wikimedia Commons

Two weeks ago Erick Aybar was scratched from the Angels Spring Training roster. The reason: He’s needed as the starting 2nd baseman for the Dominican Republic, for the World Baseball Classic.

What is the World Baseball Classic?

According to the International Olympic Committee, baseball is only a sport followed in the Americas, Canada and Asia. Though that is much of the world, Europeans choose not to see it that way. They consider irrelevant socialite experiences like Badminton and Fencing, worth a whole lot more of our time.

Baseball is a game of patience, persistence, clarity, mental toughness and preparation. And while one could argue Erick Aybar is doing just that sort of thing playing in the WBC — a world affair smaller than College Basketball’s somewhat unwatched conference tournaments — I argue otherwise.

Last year, Aybar barely hit .200 through April, May and most of June. This year’s Angels are reliant on his speed and switch hitting versatility at the top of the order, to ignite things for Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Mark Trumbo.

Had we the 2016 Olympics to look forward to, Major League ball players could focus their attentions solely on the grueling 162-game task that awaits them. Instead we’re left wondering whether or not our franchise faces might land themselves on the Disabled List in March. And all for what? A cheap Olympic-like knock off played on ESPN2?

Amaurys Fermin hopes to make a big impact in the Dominican Republic professional league this Summer. Photo by Will Parris

But first, he has to complete a final task that all college students have to do — he has to move out.

Fermin spent much of the past month training and playing with the Dominican Republic National Team, which won a recent Tournament, Centrobasket, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Now Fermin will spend the next several months in the Dominican Republic to prove himself as a professional. Recently, he was drafted in the first round (7th overall selection) by a team in San Pedro de Macoris.

I caught-up with Amaurys over lunch earlier this week in a San Luis Obispo as he took a break from packing boxes and moving things from his college residence into storage. We discussed the aftermath of playing on a team that included Al Horford and Francisco Garcia, matching-up with JJ Barea, and his future prospects as a professional in the Dominican Republic and overseas.

Amaurys Fermin is doing his best to impress for the Dominican Republic National Team at Centrobasket this week in San Juan, Puerto Rico

Weeks removed from walking in Cal Poly’s 2012 graduation ceremony, point-guard Amaurys Fermin is happy to be where he is — a rookie on an up-and-coming national team trying to make its mark. Fermin has always been soft-spoken and humble — deflecting any praise to his Cal Poly teammates and coaches throughout last season — but he came off even more so during his recent interview with the Fansmanship podcast.

Fermin is a young guy trying to make an impression — a far cry from the leader and elder statesman role he played for the Mustangs a year ago. Playing with NBA stars like Francisco Garcia and Al Horford, Fermin is trying to make his mark as the Dominican Republic competes in Centrobasket this week.

Happy listening!