SARASOTA, Fla. — Merely calling the 2023 World Baseball Classic a “classic” is an injustice to the event.
You really couldn’t make this stuff up. The script would’ve been rejected out of hand as too “Hollywood” to be believable. And, yet, there are really no words sufficient enough to describe not only how it ended, with Japan beating the USA, 3-2, in the championship game but the enormity of the moment.
In what might have been the most watched baseball game in history (the TV ratings should provide some insight), arguably the two best players on the planet, teammates during the regular MLB season, were on opposing sides in a two-player stare-down with global supremacy on the line.
There was Shohei Ohtani, the modern day version of Babe Ruth, coming out of the bullpen to face Mike Trout, heretofore recognized as the best player in the game. In the regular season they play for the Los Angeles Angels, a team unfamiliar with anything close to this kind of setting, and there they were, on a stage many would consider bigger than any World Series.
Three balls and two swinging strikes at pitches approaching 100 mph. It was the ultimate mano a mano showdown that came down to a sweeping slider thrown by Ohtani that induced the final swing of the game by Trout — and an exclamation point on what was truly a classic confrontation.
And Japan’s victory, marking the WBC title for that country, was merely the unforgettable finale of a tournament that produced stirring comeback and walkoff wins along the way, not only by the two finalists, but also by an upstart team from Mexico that came close to knocking Japan out in the semifinals, and Venezuela, which came close to eliminating team USA in the quarterfinals.
Yes, these games were longer than what we’ve been seeing during MLB’s preseason, averaging more than three hours while being played under international (translation: old) rules. But the quality of play, plus the enthusiasm both in the stands and the dugouts, was off the charts.
Suffice it to say whatever ails baseball was rarely on display during the latest version of the WBC. There were a couple of injuries that could have a serious effect on the upcoming pennant races, which will cause concern from some MLB teams, along with some players, mostly from USA, who have been reluctant to participate in the past.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has already announced the WBC will return in 2026. I have no doubt it will, once again, be an exciting event, but 2023 has provided an act that almost surely will be too tough to follow.
The only question remaining is whether the international rules will fall in line with MLB. I don’t think it matters.
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As a postscript to the Ohtani-Trout matchup, here’s a huge shout out to home plate umpire Lance Barksdale, whose work in the finale was exemplary. If he wasn’t perfect, he was the next best thing on as big a stage as you could imagine.
In an age when baseball is constantly making changes, and has been toying with the “robot umpire” for a long time, Barksdale’s performance is perhaps the best example that sometimes it’s best to stay the course.
Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox