1999 Intercontinental Cup

The 1999 Intercontinental Cup (Cup XVI) was perhaps the brightest moment in the history of the Australian national team, as they stunned the Cuban national team in the finals. It was Cuba's second straight Silver Medal in an Intercontinental Cup. The Cup was held from November 3 through November 14, 1999.

Round-Robin Phase[edit]

Australia, 6-1
Cuba, 5-2
Japan, 5-2
USA, 5-2
Taiwan, 3-4
Italy, 2-5
South Korea, 2-5
Netherlands, 0-7

Semifinals[edit]

Cuba 7, United States 0. Ciro Licea fans 13 in a 5-hit shutout while five Cubans collect two or more hits.
Australia 2, Japan 0. Australia avenges its lone loss of the event as Shayne Bennett, Cam Cairncross and Grant Balfour team up on a 4-hit shutout in a pitching-rich semifinals.

Finals[edit]

Australia 4, Cuba 3. Phil Brassington allows a run in the first and another in the second as Cuba looks poised to make up for their 1997 loss. The Aussies score twice in the fourth to tie it. Adrian Meagher allows a run in the 6th, the only score he gives up in six relief innings, as the veteran controls Cuba fairly well. In the 8th, Australia ties it when Adam Burton drives in Ben Utting. Tom Becker pitches scoreless ball from the 8th through the 10th as Cuba continues to struggle against the Australian bullpen. In the top of the 11th, Carlos Yanes issued no-out walks to Ronny Johnson and Paul Gonzalez and Peter Vogler ran for Johnson. Grant McDonald struck out and Dave Nilsson flew out to center. That brought up pinch-hitter Gary White, 10 years after he had finished his minor league career. White delivered a fly to center field, where backup Yasser Gomez lost it in the sun, giving White the game-winning single as Vogler raced home. In the bottom of the 11th, Becker, Cairncross and Balfour each retired one batter to lock up Australia's first Gold Medal in any major international event (and only one through 2007).
Japan 6, United States 0. Taiyo Fujita and Hisashi Aikyo have no trouble with the Americans, who get shut out for the second straight game, giving Japan the Bronze.

Awards[edit]

MVP: Dave Nilsson, Australia
Outstanding Defensive Player: Oscar Macias, Cuba

Team Summaries[edit]

Australia was a dominant 8-1. The home team led the event in runs (50) and was second in ERA (1.54). The top hitters were two All-Stars, DH Michael Moyle (.323/.344/.710, 3 HR, 9 RBI) and C Dave Nilsson (.379/.457/.517, 12 RBI). The staff had a slew of productive arms including Grant Balfour (3 Sv, 1 H, 0 R in 7 IP), Tom Becker (1-0, 2 Sv, 0 R in 10 2/3 IP), Cam Cairncross (0 R in 5 2/3 IP) and Adrian Meagher (2-0, 0.47).
Cuba led in home runs (5) and hits (84) but were only third in runs (45) and ERA (1.98) in a disappointing show. OF Robelquis Videaux (.316/.480/.579) and All-Star CF Yobal Dueñas (.371/.378/.486, 5 SB, 9 RBI) led the offense while All-Star P Faustino Corrales (2-0, 0.00, 18 K in 14 IP) and Yosvany Perez (1-1, 0.90) were the best pitchers on the team. The middle infield of Oscar Macias (.257/.282/.514, 3 HR, 1.000 fielding percentage) and Danel Castro (.316/.350/.579, 7 R) also earned All-Star honors, giving Cuba the most All-Stars despite their struggles.
Italy was outscored 48-17 in a rough tournament. They only hit .197 as a team, with the bright spots being All-Star RF Claudio Liverziani (.417/.533/.667) and 3B Davide Dallospedale (.333/.407/.333). Rolando Cretis (1-0, 1.13) was their best pitcher.
Japan led in batting average (.278) and ERA (1.48) and were second in runs (49) and were the only team to beat Australia. The Bronze Medalists got good performances from All-Star 3B Akinori Iwamura (.447/.488/.500, 10 RBI) and SS Yoshinori Okihara (.355/.375/.613, 8 R). Only one pitcher had an ERA over 2. Standouts included Taiyo Fujita (1-0, 1 R, 0 ER in 19 IP), Hiroki Kuroda (2-0, 1.10), Hisashi Aikyo (1-0, 1 Sv, 1.00) and Masanori Sugiura (2-0, 1.64).
South Korea got pitching but no offense. They only batted .216/.304/.243 with 12 runs in 7 games. They led the event with 11 steals but were caught stealing 10 times. Their 2.60 ERA ranked 4th, though, led by Kwang-woo Kim (Sv, 1.35) and Tae-hyon Chong (1-1, 1.47, 21 K in 18 1/3 IP). South Korea's brightest accomplishment was beating Cuba in the round-robin, one of their only two wins.
Netherlands was a miserable 0-7, outscored 38-7 and hitting only .184/.240/.207. Former major leaguers Robert Eenhoorn (.087/.125/.087) and Ralph Milliard (.190/.292/.190) did little, just like former AAA player Evert-Jan 't Hoen (.217/.308/.217). Jurriaan Lobbezoo (0-1, 1.42) was their best pitcher.
Chinese Taipei was similar to South Korea. Their 3.08 ERA was fifth but they hit just .196/.260/.276 as a squad. SS Chung-Wei Pan (.296/.310/.556, 3 3B) led the offense while OF Yuan-Chia Chen (.294/.333/.471) made the All-Star team. Chung-Nan Tsai was 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA while the rest of the staff was 1-4.
United States fielded a weak team in finishing 4th. Bright spots were All-Star 1B Dan Held (.286/.324/.514, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 GWRBI), P Chuck Bauer (1-0, 3 H, 0 R in 11 IP) and P Steve Falteisek (2-0, 1.29).