World Baseball Classic

If you missed the World Baseball Classic, you are in the minority of baseball fans. It was the best of the best pridefully competing for their home country with plenty of great stories interwoven into the games. Without diving into every detail, I wanted to highlight two of the games for two different reasons. First, because I was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the round-robin USA v. Great Britain game in Phoenix, AZ, I wanted to give you an inside look into the atmosphere there, though the game wasn't the most competitive. I also want to touch on the championship game between Trout and Ohtani...otherwise known as USA v. Japan. This tournament elicited the most excitement of any WBC and it sets the precedent for the future of the tournament that will be featured every four years.

It was a rebound game for the English. Last I checked, the English Football team, and their loud fans, were confident they would run away with a victory in the 2022 World Cup over the USA. Our home-made manpower were clear underdogs but forced England to a Draw. I can't imagine that sat well with a country that prides itself as the Premier soccer country. This time around, they were playing our game and on our turf. As the clear favorites, Team USA took care of business beating a pretty lousy Great Britain team 6-2. Competitiveness aside, the atmosphere at Chase Field was phenomenal. Unlike a lot of other games, the stadium was not full. Great Britain, unlike the nearby Latin countries, did not present a real presence in the stands. Regardless, the USA fans came prepared! Almost everyone in attendance was decked out with some form of Team USA gear or just a wildly American outfit including some garb reminiscing on our founding fathers. In fact, I sat with two George Washington's who imbibed like it was the pre-responsible liquor law era celebrating like we just won the Revolutionary War. The George's were the off-field entertainment and drew a lot of attention from the cameras.

Not to discount our own fun, but the overall atmosphere was lackluster. In watching some of the games played in Asia and the later games in Miami where there was constant music, cheerleading, dancing, and chanting, this experience was pretty consistent with watching the mediocre Diamondbacks on a Saturday night. A big issue stemmed from the venue itself. I love Chase Field having seen a handful of regular season games there. This time around, they were underprepared. During the pre-game, we were looking to track down some Team USA gear that was virtually depleted before the first pitch. By the 4th inning, our food and beer options were limited as supplies were running low. I don't know if it was the manpower, supplies, or restrictions placed by the WBC, but the overall performance of the venue left a lot to be desired and I hope things were better orchestrated in Miami for the final stages.

Enough about my personal grievances at a mediocre ballgame, let's get into the EPIC Championship game between Japan and USA! The first inning was a quick one for both pitchers and the real action started in the top of the second inning when Trae Turner, who had been on fire all tournament, blasted a no doubt home run to left field marking his record setting fifth HR of the tournament. Turner was, without question, the hottest hitter on Team USA. In the bottom half of the 2nd inning, Japan answered loudly when Munataka Murakami led off with his own moonshot to the upper deck in right field tying the game. Japan went ahead in the 2nd after it added a second run thanks to an RBI groundout by Lars Nootbaar.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Japan made another loud splash when Kazuma Okamoto hit a towering home run of his own to put Japan up 3-1. The offense cooled down for the next few innings until the top of the 8th when Yu Darvish was in to face Kyle Schwarber who put together one of the most complete at-bats of the tournament. Schwarber fouled off pitch after pitch and, after 6 consecutive foul balls, Schwarber hit a monster homerun to right field bringing the deficit to just 1 run for Team USA.

The top of the 9th inning was the perfect culmination of this tournament. Team USA's offense was primed with its top hitters who were set to go up against the face of international baseball, Shohei Ohtani. Jeff McNeil, last years batting title champion, led off the inning with a walk giving hope to Team USA with the likes of Mookie Betts and Mike Trout next in the order. Ohtani quickly silenced the crowd with an immediate groundball double play courtesy of Mookie Betts setting up the perfect prime-time TV matchup between teammates and superstars Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. Having hardly appeared in a playoff games, this was far and away the biggest at-bat of Trout's entire life and it just so happened to be against his own teammate, friend, and international superstar, Shohei Ohtani. Every media outlet was drooling over this moment and it was just as cool for an every day fan. Two outs, 9th inning of the World Baseball Classic, Ohtani v. Trout, and the potential for an epic comeback for Team USA. Ohtani, being as good as advertised, dominated Trout in the at-bat getting three swinging strikes on two 100+MPH fastballs and then finishing him off with a sweeping slider in a 2-2 count. Japan finishes as World Baseball Classic Champions for the 3rd time in history and as with each time before, a very well-deserved feat for such a great baseball country.

Despite a Team USA loss, the WBC was a major success and continues to improve each go-around. There are a lot of critics that don't like MLB players participating due to its injury risk. Those critics should be ignored and for obvious reasons. Listen to the guys who are competing and you will hear exactly why its a stupid argument based on convenience rather than real concern. Plenty of guys went down during Spring Training games just like some guys went down at the WBC. Whenever you are competing, there is a risk of injury and at the end of the day, you can't predict when/where it is going to occur. Team USA players had only positive remarks about the experience and, quite frankly, that's all that matters.

The WBC continues to get better and, hopefully, more and more MLB players will continue to participate in the future for their respective countries. It sounds like Mike Trout is recommitted for the 2026 tournament and we hope that is the norm to see the top players compete.

--Cyrus Beermann