
Imagine that, if only you had the mind of a creative genius to do so. This was baseball as directed by Fellini. Dreamlike absurdity played out in spikes.
Italy, a country which had no professional baseball until 1948, which had a 9–13 record in World Baseball Classic play, put the United States on the brink of elimination with an 8–6 win Tuesday in Houston that wasn’t as close as the final indicated.