Okay, so this isn’t exactly a recap. You can find those anywhere. Instead, I’ll give you my personal observations and impressions from Saturday’s games.

First and foremost, it is amazing to me not only how much baseball talent there is around the globe, but how hard these guys are playing to try and win for their countries. I hope the folks who have been looking down their noses at the WBC are beginning to understand that this thing absolutely rocks. What else can compare to watching the Cuban team and its fans celebrate after advancing to the finals?

Back to the talent, two guys who impressed the heck out of me on Saturday were Cuba right-hander Pedro Lazo and Japan right-hander Koji Uehara. I’d heard a lot about Lazo and even seen him once or twice on television. I knew his stuff was nasty, but what impressed me most watching him in person is how aggressively he attacked opposing hitters. He owned the inner half of the plate, and any time you do that, you pretty much own the rest of it as well. And you can freeze guys on sliders down the middle because they’re not sure when you’re going to buzz them with a fastball. Fun to watch.

As for Uehara, I knew nothing about him before Saturday night. After an inefficient first inning against Korea to start the game, he settled down quickly, throwing a lot of strikes in good locations. For seven innings, Uehara shut down a team that to that point had dominated the tournament and he did it with relative ease. He didn’t have the power of Lazo, but his precision was impressive.

Speaking of Korea, there are a couple points worth mentioning. I’ll get the negative one out of the way first: Byung-Hyun Kim’s meltdown in the seventh was eerily predictable. As soon as he surrendered the two-run pinch-hit homer to Kosuke Fukudome I turned to my wife and told her this could get ugly real quick. Sure enough, he hit the next batter, uncorked a wild pitch, and then served up a ground rule double. Next thing you know, he’s out of there and Japan has scored five runs, basically sealing Korea’s fate.

But enough of that. The other thing that struck me about the Korean team has more to do with its fans. Aside from the sheer numbers — the afternoon contest had been fairly neutral, but this was a very pro-Korea crowd — what blew me away was the enthusiasm with which they cheered their team. Whereas the atmosphere in the game between Cuba and the Dominican Republic had been festive, with bands playing on the concourse and what-not, the evening contest was much more intense. Or at least it felt that way. With their thunder sticks, drums, and organized chants, the Korean fans were a pretty imposing bunch. And the great part of it is that, even after enduring a lengthy rain delay and with the game well out of reach, they never stopped cheering for their team. And why not? After all, the Korean team accomplished a good deal more than was expected of them in this tournament.

The other great moment on Saturday, at least from the perspective of a Padres fan, is when Japan manager Sadahuru Oh brought in former Friar Akinori Otsuka to close the game in the ninth. Nice move on the part of Oh, as was the PA operator’s decision to bust out Aki’s old entrance music, Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam.” I’ll admit, I actually got a little choked up on that one.

Also, I’ve posted some more photos. I’ve organized them a little better as well:

• Cuba vs Dominican Republic: photos | slideshow
• Japan vs Korea: photos | slideshow

I hope you enjoy these. Now if you’ll excuse me, I aim to sleep for a very, very long time.