The 2026 World Baseball Classic has concluded. The best and worst thing (for me at least) about it is that it's so short and it comes and goes in what feels like five seconds. But in those five seconds whoo boy, the pressure amps up to 10 and the do-or-die nature of the semifinals (and subsequent rounds) get real fun real quick.
It's a great contrast to how most baseball regular seasons are 100+ game marathons. The run scoring system's flaws and all.
This time a new country claimed the Championship, Venezuela.
Congrats to them, that country is a powerhouse when it comes to producing top tier baseball talent and it's very understandable that they had the kind of run where they managed to win against the heavily favored teams. Although them doing it without Jose Altuve or Pablo López makes it even more incredible.
Overall, I do admit that after Japan got bounced my enthusiasm dropped a lot but that's mostly just as someone with a rooting interest. As a neutral baseball watcher I was still tuned in because I knew that USA vs the Dominican Republic would be a nail-biter, and it was although I was expecting more runs from both teams. Italy's run was also fun just because it had a bunch of players I like.
The coaching staff had Cervelli, Jorge Posada and Dave Righetti. The roster had very likeable and promising talents like Vinnie Pasquantino, Jakob Marsee (top prospect traded to the Miami Marlins in the Luis Arraez trade), Kyle Teel (top prospect traded to the Chicago White Sox in the Garrett Crochet trade) and Jac Caglianone (former top tier prospect).
Plus a fair bit of former New York Yankees prospects I remember a lot from my days as a prospect-nut on top like Ron Marinaccio, Greg Weissert, Mickey Gasper and Renzo Martini.
These three cards are all long gone but man was it fun to remember these guys
I came very close to breaking and splurging on a baseball card or two (Marsee is just so good, the San Diego Padres might end up regretting that) but I didn't.
Last time I got swept up in emotions and made some big splashes related to Team Japan but those cards didn't stay with me very long, and I had even stronger and better reasons to keep them than I would for most cards. Given that, I knew whatever I got would end up back on the market in a few months. So I didn't bother.
Which honestly kind of tells me that my time as an avid collector is probably done. I'm not going to say I'm retired because I still like to pick up the occasional card every now and then, plus it's a lot easier to still collect sports cards when foodstuffs exist here.
Case in point I just bought some Calbee chips since I wanted a snack and I opted for the one that came with free baseball cards. Folks I've got to say, having several stores sell potato chips that come with free baseball cards a brisk walk from my office is peak (as the youth say).
But these can be passively accumulated (and subsequently dumped onto others when I can find time to run to the post office). Looking at listings on Yahoo Auctions or Mercari though like how I used to look through eBay and COMC, yeah no I've got other things to do now.
Anyway I got side-tracked. The WBC has come and gone, it was very fun and I'll be very excited to see what happens in 2029. Japan and the Dominican Republic are 100% going to come back wanting to reclaim the throne, USA will still be there and should be in the same boat but we'll see, Venezuela's going to try to protect its title and hopefully Puerto Rico will be there to give it 100%. Plus there might just be another Cinderella run from Italy or a country like the Kingdom of the Netherlands or Nicaragua or Australia.
For now though, the regular season is like a week away.
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.
This man is powered by mangú
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.
Bobby Witt Jr.'s been very good this tournament
If nothing else there's already been plenty of things to talk about like the manager for Team USA not knowing the rules of the tournament. People are free to have opinions about the tie-breaker rules and system but the fact is that the rules are the rules and whoo-boy are the optics bad when the manager for a Championship contender doesn't look like they understand them.
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.
Don't have these Cervelli cards anymore but still fun to look back on his Team Italy cards
So with less than a week until the Championship game, it's go time. Japan wants to defend its title, Team USA wants to redeem themselves for 2023, the DR wants that second title, the rest of the field (all due respect to them) wants to be the one who pulls an historical upset.
You want to know what makes it even better? After this is the regular season is right around the corner too.
