The WBC is Great for Baseball

 

            Written By: Spencer Teman, of Swish Tribune           

            The World Baseball Classic has come to an end and Japan has come out on top for the 3rd time in the history of the tournament. The classic was everything and more that I expected it would be and I cannot wait until 2026 when the next one takes place.

            With all of the teams that competed in the tournament,  Japan looked like they were going to be unstoppable coming out of the gate. They were the only team that went undefeated during the two week span of the tournament.

            The US, Dominican Republic, and Japan were all the clear favorites. The fact that the Dominican Republic couldn't even make it out of the first round was shocking to me with the star power that they had. 

            There were also a couple of sleeper teams which surprised many fans and viewers. Mexico and Cuba made it all the way to the final rounds of the tournament. Lots of major league players participated for their respective countries, but still a lot of players declined the invite and remained in spring training to gear up for the season.

             Every player should be willing to play in these games to represent their countries. Players do not want to play in these games to the risk the chance of getting injured, ruling them out for the regular season. I get this but injuries can happen anywhere, even in spring training.

            The WBC did great things for the sport of baseball as a whole. People from all around the world were tuned in and a shocking stat showed that over 97% of households with a television in Japan were tuned into the championship game. 

            Making the game more global will only do good things for the sport. This year the classic had a couple of European teams in Great Britain and the Netherlands in the tournament. Europe is the main area in the world where I believe baseball is not spread to as much and needs to be more incorporated. To get these teams into the classic and have a fanbase cheering for them back home is just one step in the right direction of expanding baseball to Europe.

            The final two games of the tournament were absolutely awesome to watch as Japan took on Mexico and came back from down a couple runs in late innings to walk it off in the 9th. The last game came down to the two teammates from Los Angeles, Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. These two faced off to determine who would come away with the championship. Ohtani wound up striking out Trout, giving Japan momentum to go on to become victorious.

            Many say it was a scripted ending but scripted or not, it was epic seeing two of the best players, if not the best, battle against each other to determine who would take home the baseball olympics. The WBC is a great tournament and I wished it happened more often, rather than every four years. Congratulations to Team Japan! The whole baseball world is excited for the 2026 WBC, and we cannot wait to see household MLB players represents their countries in Americas pastime

            

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