America or else

Tommy Lasorda gave Team USA a pep talk prior to the World Baseball Classic.

"We cannot allow those clubs to beat us. It's our game," the former Los Angeles Dodgers manager said Thursday. "Remember one thing: In your hearts, you better pull for the USA or you may not get into heaven."

"It's our game. Baseball is America's game. It doesn't belong to the Italians or the Cubans or the Koreans or the Japanese," he said. "It's our game, and we're not going to let them beat us."

Lasorda might be xenophobic when it comes to baseball, but he's willing to flip the switch for this year's world tournament despite his hostility toward everyone but the USA.

Lasorda, the Hall of Fame manager and Classic global ambassador, was there with Major League Baseball executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan and Empire State Building general manager Jim Connors for the official lighting ceremony of the Classic.

That evening, once the sun dipped below the Hudson River to the west, the Empire State Building was geared up to shine red, green, blue and yellow on each of the four sides of the building in honor of the World Baseball Classic colors.

"The colors on the building shows it's big-time," said Lasorda. "All of the country now will know about the Classic."

Yes, all of the country, indeed. Not all of the world. I'm guessing Lasorda wished that building was made up of the three primary colors. Well, his three primary colors of red, white and blue.