The 1999 Pan American Games, which had marked the first time USA Baseball used pros, was considered to this point to have been the best international baseball tournament ever held. Pros also comprised teams from Canada, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico, among others. As deep as that tournament was, observers said that this tournament was better. “The pitching here in Sydney is much better than the Pan Ams,” said Tony Bernazard, the former major leaguer who was working for the MLB Players Association. “The Far East teams, Japan and Korea, have much better pitching than teams like Canada
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