Folks, we've made it out of the Pool Play stage in the World Baseball Classic.
These earlier rounds are nice for neat highlight plays, gawking at novelties like Czech Republic office workers or finding out who qualifies to be on the Great Britain squad, seeing Cuban and South Korean legends you and I have never heard of that NPB Card Guy might've blogged about once in 2013, and desperately avoiding uncomfortable conversations about Israel and Chinese Taipei.
Seeds of interest and ways of getting even more markets and cultures into baseball are planted in these early rounds. The returns are not immediate and not easily seen, but they are there. In due time there will be growth. Growth that'll be good for baseball in the long term.
But for now we're getting to the quarterfinals. The teams that realistically could and should win are still here.
Going off of the last WBC, this is when the the sparks start to emerge and more and more folks start to tune in and join the sickos who were already in on the fun. Then those sparks ignite, insane highlights get shared, the momentum builds and the stages get bigger with them, and the rest of the way it just gets more and more amped.
As the Championship round draws closer the players on the teams get even more locked in. More people tune in because there's more people talking about it. Every moment feels huge and is immediately either hailed or scrutinized on social media.
In a world where people are more disconnected than ever, there were few things that felt like everyone was coming together and capable of feeling something through these screens in front of our faces. Like last time the WBC has an opportunity to do it.
Of course a lot of teams have already been putting in 100% from the start.
As usual the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico (all the horse manure sabotaging them not withstanding) have been providing the best of the Latin American baseball culture in this short time.
Like that game between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela was absolutely terrific. There's a reason that stadium was packed, vibrant and loud unlike during any of LoanDepot Park's actual tenant's games. Seeing all of the videos of people happily dancing with other fans afterwards was also a treat.
The fact that people got angry that Mark DeRosa probably didn't know he might've cost Team USA a chance to get out of the Pool Play rounds shows me that a lot of people (especially Americans) care about the WBC. A lot more than they did even a decade ago.
Which is good, because it at least signals that Americans want Team USA to win. They want Team USA to remind the world that this is still America's past-time. This is how they finally start to buy in instead of just standing there, arms crossed, sulking that they have to share baseball with the rest of the world.
Obviously I'm rooting for Team Japan though. Have since 2006, don't see a reason to stop now.
Japan's won this thing three times since it started in 2006 and they know they have to bring their best. It's disrespectful to do otherwise.
But above all else I just want those cool baseball moments where the stadium erupts. It happened so many times in 2023 and it all climaxed with one of the greatest ways that tournament could've ended. It might be tough for 2026 to match or exceed that, but I'm still hopeful we'll get something super fun out of it all the same.
You want to know what makes it even better? After this is the regular season is right around the corner too.
Baseball rules.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care.
Baseball rules indeed. I've been enjoying this year's WBC more than ever.
ReplyDeleteYeah it was a lot of fun.
DeleteHaven't watched an entire game... but I wake up and check box scores every morning. I'm surprised more people aren't excited about the WBC with all of the MLB talent in the pool.
ReplyDeleteTurned into too much of an ugly culture war near the end (at least on social media) but overall it was a ton of fun to watch.
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