We had the return of the World Baseball Classic this year and it ended with every baseball beat writer’s wet dream: Ohtani pitching to Mike Trout with a 1 run lead, 2 outs top of the 9th with everything on the line… Sho-time went ahead and buried Trout with a pair of book end sliders in the upper 80’s. An at bat that will go down in history not only for being the one to give Japan their 3rd WBC Champtionship, but apparently Trout has has swung and missed 3 times in the same at bat only 24 times in his MLB career. You can’t script finishes like that. Millions of households across the world watched as two future Hall of Famers and current teammates put their countries and teams on their shoulders one last time.
I’m so glad we got the classic again this year. It’s the World Cup for us baseball fans, and the crowd noise/team play styles hold up to that analogy. Drums in the stands, flags flown, small ball, chest bumping, and a really damn cool trophy.
Turning the tables on history, it was Japan who dropped a couple of bombs that the US could not recover from. Eventually leading up to Shohei Ohtani etching himself in the history books and giving Japan glory for 3 more years until we get to see this all unfold again. Some of my takeaways from the WBC are…
- Viva Mexico! Randy Arozarena knows no stage too big. I watched him with glee (end ultimate demise) as he spanked homers and stole home in the 2020 World Series, and he did not disappoint here. Once again he made huge catches and hit bombs to help lead Mexico to the semi-finals, before losing to the eventual champions Japan on ANOTHER electric walk-off finish.
- One of the most talented line ups of all time for the Dominican Republic failed to make it out of pool play… A line up with Juan Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr, Manny Machado, Nelson Cruz, Wander Franco, Rafael Devers, Julio Rodriguez, Sandy Alcantara, should I go on??? A lot of San Diego Padres on there that need to shake off that funk before opening day next week… I along with a lot of people have high expectations for that team.
- Japan once again wins in more ways than one. They had the cleanest uniforms of the entire tournament, and they once again went viral for keeping a clean dugout and their respect of the game. Respect which traces all the way to their fans who famously passed around a Shohei Ohtani home run ball through the crowd to make sure that everyone could get a picture with it. Pure class through to the way the team won with big swings, small ball, and precision pitching. As a certified seamhead, it was almost romantic for me to watch the way Japan approached each game.
- The global game of baseball is the real winner of this WBC. Terrific storylines like an electrician striking out Ohtani for the Czech Republic with a 71-mph changeup. Australia beat Korea in a classic game and absolutely dismantled China in another, showing that they know how to swing the sticks down under. Even Italy and Great Britain managed to snag some pool play wins. Giving every group out there across the world something to cheer for at some point. Ain’t it beautiful?
- Every game after pool play felt like a game 7 because of the lose-and- go-home format. Each team went into the bullpen and had to come up with a big hit when it mattered. Randy Arozarena is Mr.Playoffs, coming up with huge hits and even bigger catches on Mexico’s run. Trea Turner’s grand slam against Venezuela to clinch a spot in the final will be etched into my brain forever. Even in the championship game both US and Japan had 2 big momentum changing home runs as if they were heavyweight boxers trading blows in the twelfth round. Every pitch and every at bat mattered and all who watched benefitted.
It was everything the game needed going into a year of MLB where there are new rules throwing a wrench in the game we have always known and loved. We had MLB superstars out there showing the world what it’s like to get behind a baseball tournament and I for one, am here for it. I’m proud of how the USA team played and I am not even a little bit upset that they came in second. This felt like the right step towards helping to grow our game beyond the afterthought that it is now. Who knows? Maybe the next Ohtani or Kyle from Waltham was watching and decided to go take some hacks off the tee the next day.
I’m emotional all over again… Let’s play ball.
Goosing with G 
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