After four long weeks of intense competition and even some physical confrontation, the winner of the 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) is the Dominican Republic.
The WBC is baseball’s answer to soccer’s World Cup. Created by Major League Baseball, it was first held in 2006 and again in 2009. The tournament is really a world production that, this year, included six host cities: Tokyo, Miami, Phoenix, Taichung, San Juan and San Francisco. The idea is to have a genuine world championship featuring the sport’s best players.
Even though the WBC can be seen as a marketing strategy by MLB, it has created some good for the game of baseball, as the tournament has made the sport relevant in other parts of the world and has created healthy competition between countries, while giving recognition to players and their heritage.
With tough qualifying rounds out of the way, 16 teams started the tournament on March 2, vying for the title of champion while donning the colors of their nation’s flags.
Since the beginning of this year’s tournament, Americans did not pay much attention to the WBC, as indicated by the low ratings on the MLB Network. Of course, it didn’t help that Team USA flamed out well before the championship game, as it has in all previous WBCs. This year, Team USA didn’t even make it to the semi-finals.
This failure can be blamed on the WBC’s disruption of spring training. It makes sense that many big leaguers declined the invitation to participate and that Team USA was lacking in participation. If the idea is to really settle it on the field, than a better date should be chosen that would allow a competition between the best teams possible.
This year’s WBC featured a brawl between the Canadian and Mexican teams, which started in the ninth inning when Canada’s Rene Tosino was hit by a pitch from Mexico’s Arnold Leon. The fight continued to erupt once both teams stormed the pitchers mound. While some players tried to hold back teammates, others tumbled to the ground in hand-to-hand combat with opposing players. The World Baseball Classic decided not to suspend any players from the tournament, but seven players were ejected from the game, four from Mexico and three from Canada.
Another thing that surprised everyone was the breakout performance by the Netherlands. The Dutch team, whose roster included several major leaguers — like outfielder Andruw Jones who currently plays on Japan’s Pacific League and Dodger’s closer Kenley Jansen — beat Cuba twice to advance into the semifinals.
After all was said and done, it was the Caribbean countries of the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico who were simply on fire throughout the entire tournament.
Puerto Rico, whose team had several major leaguers, including catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals and right fielder Alex Rios of the Chicago White Sox, was unstoppable. Its players won three elimination games in five days, taking down baseball giants and former reigning champions, Japan.
Even with Puerto Rico’s consistency and passion, its women couldn’t stop the power house of the Dominican Republic, who won the game 3-0 and left San Francisco with their heads held high and a nice shiny trophy to take back home.
The Dominicans also set a record in becoming the first team in the WBC’s short history to win the championship without losing a game.
Now for some superlatives, biggest goof goes to Dominican ace relief pitcher Fernando Rodney, who in the semifinal round presented the world with his “good luck platano” during the introductions before the game against the Netherlands. He explained that his family sent him the fruit and that it gave him luck. Sure enough, during the championship game, the crowd of Dominican fans held plantain fruit and leafs in support of their home team.
Most valuable player goes to Robinson Cano, who hit .469, two home runs, six RBIs, six runs scored and two doubles.
Now, for the Dominican Republic, may the celebration continue until the 2017 WBC where they will return once again to represent the pride of their country and maintain the title of world champions.
WBC, still in its early stages, has the potential to grow into what the World Cup is for soccer. Either way, the WBC is an enjoyable diversion from the long, tedious weeks of lengthy spring training. The games are often entertaining — such as Fernando Rodney’s presentation of the lucky plantain, dramatic, and, occasionally, violent. One thing is for sure: the WBC tournament definitely overflows with national pride. So Americans should get on board, just like the rest of the world has, because it seems the WBC is here to stay.
