It’s Single-Elimination in the WBC Now. Okay, Team USA?
- Sheehan Planas-Arteaga
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
The choice is yours, Team USA: WBC glory or embarrassment?
Team USA avoided a disaster scenario last night when Italy defeated Mexico 9-1. Had Mexico won while scoring four or less runs, both them and Italy would have advanced to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals instead of the big, bad United States, with its lineup full of MVPs. This Italy-Mexico game was played after manager Mark DeRosa insinuated in an interview that the U.S. had already punched their ticket to the next round, before losing their final game in pool play to Italy, 8-6. That game didn’t matter, right? Wrong. It mattered a great deal, and losing it nearly resulted in the most embarrassing team result of any country in WBC history.
Team USA moves on, but the attitude needs to change.
Win or Go Home
It’s single-elimination now, boys. Got it? If the other team has more runs than you at the end of any game from here on out, you’re eliminated. Sayonara. Kapoof. Everyone gets to go back to Spring Training to play in front of 3,000 half-interested fans in 100-degree heat, in lieu of packed stadiums with raucous crowds cheering on their teams like it was the World Cup. Because that’s what this tournament absolutely is. It’s the World Cup of baseball. Every other country treats it that way. Team USA, though? “It’s not the Olympics,” as Bryce Harper said.
No it isn’t, bro. You’re right about that. It’s far greater than the Olympics. Baseball is hardly ever played in the Olympics, and it doesn’t draw half as much passion and intrigue when it is. MLB stars don’t participate and they likely never will; the games are played in the middle of the summer, when the MLB season is in full swing, pun intended. The good teams aren’t going to allow their stars to play while they’re in the middle of a playoff race, and the bad teams aren’t going to allow their stars to play while they’re waiting to potentially ship them out at the trade deadline. Plus, Harper turns 34 this year, can only play 1B, and is coming off an .844 OPS season, his worst since 2016.
Don’t worry, bud. You might not get an invite even if by some miracle they do allow MLB players to participate in 2028.
Time to Lock in
USA plays Canada tomorrow. Fresh off a stunning upset in the Winter Olympics in hockey, you know Canada will be looking for poetic justice by toppling Goliath on the diamond, as we did on the ice. Other WBC teams are here to win and are putting forth every ounce of effort in that pursuit. They are also aware of Team USA’s lackadaisical attitude towards the whole tournament. As Vinnie Pasquantino, who plays for Team Italy, said after his team beat Mexico, "You're welcome, USA…We were thinking of you guys, so I'm glad you guys could join us in the party.”
I’m doing my best to light a fire under my team if I’m Mark DeRosa. A gold medal is the expectation, and anything less than that is a failure. That’s the reality when you have as stacked a roster as the Americans have. No more mental lapses. Maximum focus. Let’s kick some ass and head back to Spring Training with a gold medal. It would be the first championship Bryce Harper has won as a pro!
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