A few observations on the World Baseball Classic, in no particular order:

* For all the problems that have been rightly pointed out, ranging from the presence of hopelessly unqualified teams like South Africa to pitch count limits that unfairly hamper teams without major league stars, the WBC has, as entertainment, been more of a success than its strongest backers would have dared hope. Dramatic upsets, taut pitching duels, raucous crowds, and the tangible pride and excitement of so many of the Asian and Latin players have made this one of the most exciting innovations in baseball in many years.

* In terms of the larger goals of the tournament – promoting baseball around the world and seeking to remove some of the game’s American identity – nothing could possibly have been better than Korea’s victories over America and Japan. While Korea was already a strong second-tier baseball power, these victories will do more than anything else I can think of to promote the game there, which will benefit you and me when top Korean athletes turn to baseball and improve the quality of play in the major leagues.

* Last night’s game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela showcased two awesome Dominican pitching talents. The Orioles’ Daniel Cabrera, who throws a true 98-mph fastball with movement comparable to that of any heater in the game but has yet to put it all together, looked like a genuine ace. He struck out seven in four innings, but most impressive was his ability to change speeds and locate his pitches down and away – exactly what his new big-league pitching coach, the legendary Leo Mazzone, preaches.

The Twins’ Francisco Liriano, the consensus best pitching prospect in the game, relieved Cabrera and was equally impressive. A big, strong lefty with a big breaking slider and a mid-90s fastball he likes to throw in on the hands, Liriano looked ready to join Johann Santana as part of the nastiest pair of portsiders in the majors. Liriano facing down Miguel Cabrera in a tie game with two outs and the goahead run on third was about as fun as anything you’ll see in the regular season.

* One of the consequences of baseball’s indifference to steroid use during the past 15 years has been the increasing homogenization of the game, something that’s embarrassingly evident watching this tournament.

Hit-and-runs, safety squeezes, double steals, perfectly turned double plays, weak-armed outfielders pulling fake-out plays to keep runners from tagging up – all these plays and more practically evaporate when the game becomes a home run hitting contest. Seeing them pulled off with flair is reason enough to hope MLB starts seriously thinking about some rules changes designed to encourage a return o a more balanced style of play.

* Watching Team USA get upset gets better every time it happens. If not for some NBA-quality officiating in the game against Japan, Team USA would have lost three of four games, with the one win coming when it sent Roger Clemens out to pitch against South Africa, which would be roughly equivalent to sending the entire Marine Corps in to capture Easter Island.

Much of the reason so many have been so pleasantly surprised by how entertaining these games are, I suspect, is that the presence of minor leaguers and semi-pros makes major leaguers seem as impressive as they actually are by contrast.

It’s far too easy to watch one of the very best players in the entire world, a pitcher with a 4.50 ERA in the majors, and scoff at him and his talent. When you see him on the same field with players who are merely outstanding, the rarity of his skills becomes more apparent.

* Tigers catcher Ivan Rodriguez is so skinny these days that when I first saw him batting I assumed there was some Puerto Rican middle infielder named Rodriguez whom I’d never heard of in the lineup, and I was racking my brain trying to figure out who it was.

* I’ve written this before, but one thing that absolutely has to be done for the next WBC is to arrange to play games in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

Another thing that will have to be done is to lessen the focus of domestic television coverage on the American team, which isn’t very interesting or charismatic or easy to root for, the whole in this case being very much less than the sum of its parts.

* Anyone still complaining about the WBC is at this point being churlish for the sake of being so. Baseball has had many ugly and embarrassing failures during the last few years, from the commissioner’s contraction tour to the Expos/Nationals situation to the steroids mess, and there was every reason to think this, too, would be botched. In small ways it has been, but they don’t matter very much. This is the time to give the devil his due.

tmarchman@nysun.com