So Cuban national baseball teams don't win every tournament they compete in. Venezuela's best ten year-old beisbolistas defeated the Cuban kiddies 4-1 in the final of the V Mundialito Preinfantil at the Jose Antonio Casanova stadium in Caracas on Saturday.

There are reports on the game, in Spanish, from Prensa Latina and Ciudad Guayana's Correo del Caroni, which includes a photo of the victorious squad. The Dominican Republic beat Mexico 16-10 in the playoff for third. One of Mexico's highlights earlier in the week was to defeat Costa Rica 32-0 (report from La Cronica de Baja California).

For a "mundialito" I noticed that there were no teams further afield than the United States in the north and Peru to the south. Final standings in the group matches were: Pool A- Venezuela 6-0, Cuba 5-1, Nicaragua 3-2, Colombia 3-3, USA 2-4, Honduras 1-5, Aruba 0-6. Pool B - Dominican Republic 5-0, Mexico 4-1, Panama 2-2-1, Ecuador 2-2-1, Peru 1-4, Costa Rica 0-5.

In about 10-15 these kids will playing in the major leagues, where Barry Bonds will be chasing his 1200th home run. Well, anyway... Saturday he hit number 701. The Giants (84-66) are still half a game ahead of the Cubs (82-65) after both teams won one and lost one over the weekend.

On Saturday, two home runs from Alou and one by Sosa weren't enough as the Cubs were sunk by the Reds 6-5. Cincinatti scored five runs in the sixth, including two two-run homers by D'Angelo Jimenez and Wily Mo Pena (his second of the night).

Sunday, the same two teams were tied at 1 going into the ninth before the Cubs came out winners 5-1. Associated Press talks about a crucial umpiring error, the Chicago Tribune reaches the same conclusion but doesn't make an issue of it. I'll check the blogosphere for reaction before tomorrow.

Finally, in Japan, Kyokushuzan defeated Roho in the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament to be the only competitor with an 8-0 record after Sunday's bouts. Meanwhile, twenty thousand fans queued at the Fukuoka Dome to get autographs from the striking baseball players.