WBC has critics but remains important to the sport

Guerrero Jr. leads six Blue Jays roster players to Classic in March

WBC HAS CRITICS BUT REMAINS IMPORTANT TO THE SPORT

Flawed Baseball Classic is important to both MLB and its Players

When those smile-inducing baseball videos began to flow north from Blue Jays training camp in Dunedin (FL) on Monday, the only 40-man roster players actually mandated to be on the field, working out, were those listed on national teams for the World Baseball Classic – 1B Vlad Guerrero, Jr. and RHP Yimi Garcia (Team Dominican); RHP Jose Berrios (Puerto Rico); C Alejandro Kirk (Mexico); INF Spencer Horwitz (Israel) and IF/OF Otto Lopez (Canada).  

Those players were asked to start early because they are leaving camp the second week of March and may be gone for as long as two weeks. The dozens of other familiar faces swinging, throwing and roaming the outfield with the reckless abandon of dogs chasing a frisbee, were there out of enthusiasm for the task at hand. That’s a good sign for Jays fans.

And let’s talk WBC. Is it here for the long haul? Here’s a comp. Recently, a 20-foot bronze sculpture labeled The Embrace, inspired by a famous photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. and wife Coretta, snapped as he received his ’64 Nobel Peace Prize, was unveiled in Boston. Immediately, the artist’s interpretation of the hug was lambasted by hordes of social-media critics slagging it and suggesting it be taken down. However, at the statue’s dedication, with the artist present, Martin Luther King III placed himself on record with a strong endorsement for the unique tribute to his parents. He said “(the sculpture) truly signifies the bonds of love shared by my parents.” Bottom line? When family approves, then controversy should disappear.

Is the WBC a good idea? There have been many loudly expressed negative feelings towards the WBC and critiquing the disruptions it can cause individual teams and baseball, as the sport prepares for another regular season. So let’s ask the family.

Continuing with The Embrace analogy, the comparable approving family, in this case, would be MLB owners and players (albeit oft-times it’s a dysfunctional family). They haven’t always agreed. But in this case, it’s their baby and they love it, warts and all. Despite its many critics, the WBC remains viable and important to the sport.

Remember and be aware, the Classic’s ultimate purpose is not to discover which is the best baseball-playing country in the world. Its goal, from its inception, has been to give baseball a world-wide platform and encourage the growth of the game on six continents. Soccer has its World Cup. Basketball has the Summer Olympics and world-wide marketing. The NFL has its regular-season games in Europe and Mexico. Hockey has a variety of international tournaments. All of them with the same goal.

This spring, from March 8-21, a total of 20 countries will compete for the fifth WBC title, ending with the Final Four in Miami at the Marlins stadium, March 19-21. This is the first Classic since 2017, due to the pandemic years that washed away the 2021 tournament. The first was in 2006. Team USA is 1-for-4.

Four Pools of five teams will open play at the WBC with round-robin formats hosted in Japan, Taiwan, Phoenix and Miami. Canada, managed by former Blue Jays catcher Ernie Whitt, will play four games in Phoenix at Chase Field, in Pool C, March 12-15, joining Team USA, Mexico, Colombia and Great Britain. The top two teams in Pool C will advance to a playoff of 8 teams in Miami and Tokyo. Canada’s fourth game is vs. Team Mexico on March 15 and will likely determine which team advances. Mexico features Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk.

Team Canada has never advanced to Round 2 of the WBC.

Sure, there are dozens of reasons to criticize the existence of the WBC. There’s awkward timing, unfolding during the heart of MLB spring training. There’s the quality of the star players that choose not to leave camp to rep their country. There is the youth-oriented rule for pitchers that includes a pitch count that increases round-to-round. There are the ridiculously easy qualifying rules for national eligibility. For instance, if a player has one grandparent born in a certain country, then they are eligible to play under that nation’s flag. But, still, baseball’s family -- MLB and the MLBPA -- approves of its existence, so the Classic remains.

Historically, the WBC is important because the players are not permitted to participate in the Olympics and would somehow still love to represent their country. It is important as a symbol of the fact that owners and players can actually work together. It was one of the first joint ideas contributed together, by ownership and the union, the concept starting to take shape as the sport was painfully emerging from the vitriolic shutdown of 1994 and coming to fruition on the heels of the tragedy that was 9/11 and the subsequent, countless, MLB-damaging treks, in the early ‘00s, up to Capitol Hill to be raked over the coals on television by grandstanding politicians regarding revelations of PED and steroid use and where star players lost their memories.

Anyone that still doubts the depths of passion from fans for the WBC should have been at Marlins Park on March 11, 2017 for the Dominican Republic vs. Team USA. With 37,446 screaming, chanting in attendance, the D.R. took down the U.S. 7-5. It was electric. This year’s Team Dominican is a loaded, early betting favourite.