By Tim Kiladze

Photo by darkensiva.

When the Americans came to town for the World Baseball Classic earlier this month, a drawn-out schedule gave them the time to really experience Toronto. Given our climate, Toronto may not appear to be the most vibrant city in the beginning of March, but there still is plenty to do. Apparently, not everyone feels the same way; when asked about his Classic experience, Chipper Jones, the long-time Atlanta Braves third baseman, had this to say: “We stayed in Toronto for a week and played three games. I don’t know if you ever stayed in Toronto, but it’s not exactly Las Vegas. To say that we were plucking our eyebrows out one at a time would be an understatement.”
Really? As MyHogtown points out, Jones might have been salty because his time in Toronto consisted of no hits and six strikeouts in three games. Whatever the cause, Chris Bosh doesn’t like it. Speaking facetiously at the Raptors practice yesterday, Bosh said, “Me and Chipper should have hung out,” adding, “He should have called me. I’d have shown him a good time.”
But the best defence of our city came from someone who doesn’t even live here. Michael Wilbon, the co-host of the venerable Pardon the Interruption on ESPN, addressed the entire American squad in a rant on Tuesday evening, asking: “What is it with you whining Americans that you can’t enjoy a great international event like everybody else in the world?” (Wilbon is an American himself.) He then took aim at Jones: “If you don’t know enough to get out of your circumstance to walk the streets of Toronto, a wonderful city that I would rather be in for a long time than Vegas or Atlanta where he lives….please.” Our sentiments exactly.