It would have been impossible to script a better ending for the World Baseball Classic. Mike Trout against Shohei Ohtani. Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. 3-2 count. One run game. Ohtani dispatched his MLB teammate with an absolutely wicked slider to secure the 3-2 victory for Japan in the final game of the tournament Tuesday night.
It was the perfect conclusion to what was perhaps the most exciting ten days of baseball we have ever witnessed. I had the privilege of attending Saturday nights’ quarterfinal between the United States and Venezuela in Miami, and it was without a doubt the most incredible atmosphere at any baseball game I have been to.
I bought a last-minute ticket in the upper deck, which was close to 90 percent Venezuelan fans. If someone had told me I was in Caracas, I might have believed them. From the deafening chants of “Ponche” (strikeout in Spanish) whenever a Venezuelan pitcher got to two strikes to the absolute pandemonium that ensued after Salvador Perez’s game-tying double in the fifth inning, it was clear how much this tournament means to the players and the fans.
Trea Turner’s go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning of that game was one of the best moments of the tournament, and the United States ultimately prevailed 9-7 in that game to advance to the semifinals. "It's one of the greatest games I've ever been a part of. The passion in this building was absolutely incredible,” team USA manager Mark DeRosa said, according to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale.
Star Puerto Rico and New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz went down with a knee injury while celebrating his team’s massive victory over the Dominican Republic. When it was later determined that he would likely miss the entirety of the upcoming season, many fans and pundits, nearly all of them Americans, deplored stars getting injured in what they called a “meaningless” tournament.
What these commentators overlook is how much competing on the international stage means for the players and fans, especially those outside the US. According to Japanese media, 48 percent of households in Japan watched their quarterfinal matchup vs. Italy, a record number of viewers. For the first time, Cuba, an immensely proud baseball country, allowed MLB players who defected to join their team, although only those who "have maintained a positive attitude towards our baseball and our country." While many players were either not invited or did not wish to represent the Cuban government, it is still an unprecedented step.
In other countries, such as Great Britain, Italy and the Czech Republic, where baseball is not nearly as ubiquitous, the Classic helped make inroads to increasing fan bases there. Miami was also the perfect location for much of the tournament, with the large Latin American population getting to root for their teams throughout the week.
Even Mike Trout, the American captain and perhaps the best hitter of our generation, played with a passion we have not seen from him in years. He and Ohtani are both stuck on the perpetually mediocre Angels, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2014, and this tournament gave him the opportunity to play truly meaningful games for the first time in a decade.
As a whole, we Americans were not nearly as passionate about our team as fans and players in many other countries. It was a strange experience being in Miami for the game, as the U.S. was listed as the road team, and it certainly felt like a road environment with the thousands of Venezuelans in attendance. Another factor is that many of our best players–especially pitchers–elected not to participate in the tournament, while most other countries had most if not all of their top players rostered. Still, how often do we get to see what are essentially all star teams competing in games that actually matter? The American lineup was so stacked that Turner was batting ninth for most of the tournament.
It is unfortunate that stars such as Diaz and Jose Altuve will miss significant time with injuries sustained during the Classic, but that is no reason to denigrate an event that means so much to players and fans worldwide. This was the most exciting baseball I have ever watched, and I can’t wait for its return in 2026.
Read More
Trending
