AJAX - The gantlet was thrown down before the first pitch.
After the pre-game niceties of player introductions and anthems, as managers and umpires went over the ground rules at home plate, Puerto Rico coach Carlos Baerga was off on a stealth mission.
Baerga, the former Cleveland Indians infielder, headed half way to the mound and planted a red, white and blue Puerto Rico flag on a short stick in the infield grass.
Fans from Puerto Rico cheered.
But as the cheers died, Canadian coach Stubby Clapp ambled out of the third-base dugout — one part Robert Duvall, one part Tommy Lee Jones entering a saloon at high noon.