IN SEARCH OF HEROES AND GOATS.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

ANAHEIM - A long up-and-down week into its history, the United States' national team of major leaguers is still in search of Mr. March.

If World Series heroics made Reggie Jackson Mr. October, then World Baseball Classic heroics would make somebody Mr. March, right?

Team USA could use some of that right now after a 7-3 loss to South Korea at Angel Stadium on Monday night, absorbing a lesson in clutch home-run hitting from, of all people, Hee Seop Choi.

It's as good a time as any, with the United States facing elimination when it plays Mexico on Thursday, to wonder if the WBC in its first year is important enough to produce heroes and goats.

I mean, that's as good a measure as any of the event's impact - whether we remember the clutch performances of guys who have come up big (Derrek Lee, Chipper Jones, Jason Varitek, Brad Lidge) or small (Dontrelle Willis) in the WBC as we do in the World Series.

You listen to the players, and you believe their e pluribus unum spirit is genuine.

But let's face it, they'd all like to be a red, white and blue hero.

Will the WBC give us Kirk Gibson moments? Jim Craig moments? Brandy Chastain moments?

And Bill Buckner moments?

Will it produce Wheaties box cover boys?

And Jay Leno punch lines?

Will it create national idols?

And national villains?

Will it confirm reputations?

Or change reputations?

Will it, one day in the distant future, become part of the argument for a Hall of Fame candidate - ``Derrek Lee won batting title, helped Cubs to four World Series championships, and hit first-ever home run for United States in World Baseball Classic''?

Or will it, in the same Cooperstown balloting, become part of argument against somebody - Willis won three Cy Young Awards, but famously got hammered by Canada and Korea in WBC''?

If the WBC is played again as intended in three years and then every four years, and if it stays in the spring, pitchers will have a hard time doing something memorable. With pitch limits in force, a route-going performance might have to be redefined as five innings.

As for hitters, well, they can make their mark with one big swing.

``That could (happen),'' Larry Walker, who took part in the WBC as a coach for Canada, said of the possibility of the event creating heroes. ``One problem is when it's going on. I don't think guys get to showcase their talents, because they can't go that hard yet (during spring training).''

Even after a lot of big names declined to play, we knew the WBC was going to show us some All-Star lineups.

But would people care about the results and hold the appropriate parties accountable?

There was a clue when the United States team got booed in Phoenix last Wednesday while it was losing to Canada 8-6 in Pool B play to put itself in danger of elimination.

There was a bigger clue when Chase Utley was loudly booed at Angel Stadium on Monday when he came to bat after making two errors in the bottom of the sixth inning, when Korea scored the run that made it 7-1.

And there was maybe the biggest clue when Alex Rodriguez, who'd had the game-winning single against Japan the night before, was jeered after he popped up in the seventh to strand his fifth and sixth runners of the night.

Rodriguez has a reputation for low-impact performances in October. In the U.S. win over Mexico last Tuesday, Rodriguez grounded out with a runner on in the first inning, and a joke quickly went around the press box: It must be a big event, A-Rod's in the tank.

Of course, this event isn't just about American fans.

Consider the aftermath of the United States' 4-3 victory over Japan on Sunday, which turned on plate umpire Bob Davidson's decision - wrong,the TV replays seemed to show - to wipe out a Japan run in the eighth inning on an appeal play at third base.

Not only did Japan manager Sadaharu Oh declare he was ``vexed'' by the call. By the next day, the controversy apparently was the talk of Japan, with prime minister Junichiro Koizumi - does he outrank Oh? - moved to comment.

``It clearly looked like we were going to win,'' Koizumi said, according to the Associated Press. ``It's a shame to lose on such a strange call.''

So at least one reputation has been validated - now the whole world thinks American umpires stink.