It’s also a hoot, and if you’ve been too busy preparing to fill out your brackets to watch any of it, you’ve missed some of the most dramatic baseball you’ll see until September.

Last night’s elimination game between the U.S. and Puerto Rico matched teams that had met three days earlier, with the U.S. being mercy-ruled by 11-1 in seven innings. This time, Puerto Rico took a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth, getting home runs from Alex Rios and Carlos Delgado. Facing J.C. Romero, the U.S. put runners on first and second on singles by Shane Victorino and Brian Roberts; Derek Jeter flied out to right, Victorino taking third. Roberts stole second while Jimmy Rollins drew an eight-pitch walk from his Phillies teammate. Manager Jose Oquendo brought in Fernando Cabrera to face Kevin Youkilis; Youkilis walked on five pitches to force home a run, and then David Wright dumped a base hit down the right-field line to score the tying and winning runs. The U.S. players poured out of their dugout and dog-piled on Wright on the infield dirt.

The difference between these games and other international baseball efforts – or, for that matter, most big-league games in July – is the passion the teams and fans bring to the games. The crowds are small, but have some of the constant noise and whistling that characterize the Caribbean winter league and Japanese league games. For the players, national pride is at stake; a ballplayer’s allegiances may shift during a career due to trades and free agency, but a Dominican is a Dominican, a Venezuelan is a Venezuelan. Anglo fans may lump them together as “Latino,” but the differences are real and the identities distinct. This is a rare opportunity for these men to fly their countries’ flags.

There have been some oddly compelling results, like the twin efforts by the outmanned Netherlands squad against the mighty Dominican Republic team. It was shocking enough that the Dutch could beat them once; in the second game, with both teams facing elimination, the Netherlands pitchers kept working out of jams while their own hitters looked continually overmatched. The game stayed scoreless into the 11th inning, when a defensive lapse allowed the first Dominican run to score. But the Dutch somehow scratched out two runs against Cubs closer-in-waiting Carlos Marmol, the winning run coming home when first baseman Willy Aybar couldn’t handle Yurendell de Caster’s hard smash. The game had the feel of a 16 seed taking on a 1, only this 16 did it twice in four days, and the game stretched out the tension over three and a half hours.

The so-called Classic is far from a legitimate championship. Whether pitching is supposed to be 90%, 50%, or 35% of the game, it’s not on conspicuous display in these games. The pitchers aren’t sharp, and they shouldn’t be; they’re still working their way into shape for the season, and the strict pitch counts prevent acts of foolhardy heroism on the part of the hurlers. There’ll be no Randy Johnson pitching in relief the day after a seven-inning win, no Daisuke Matsuzaka going 17 innings the day after pitching a complete game shutout as he did in the Japanese high school tournament.

There’s never going to be a workable time for a full-fledged international baseball championship, unless the major leagues adopt the National Hockey League’s Olympic approach and shut down for a few weeks in midseason. November won’t work, as it would put too much additional strain on players and pitchers from the World Series, and require a quick start-up for those whose season had ended a month earlier.

The WBC is not the next-best thing; it’s something else altogether. But it’s fun, it’s dramatic, the players genuinely care, and it’s a harbinger of spring after a long winter of dollars and ‘roids. The U.S., Venezuela, and South Korea will be in the semifinals; Japan meets Cuba tonight to determine the fourth qualifier. The semifinals at Dodger Stadium will begin on Saturday and Sunday right around the time the NCAA coverage for the day is winding down; check them out on ESPN for a taste of baseball with a unique and different flavor.