Why Is Baseball Back?
Baseball seemed in permanent decline just a few years ago. But now, it's riding high, while the NBA is getting silly, as tonight's 83 point game showed.
The ongoing World Baseball Classic is an attempt begun in 2006 to have for baseball what the World Cup is for soccer: a global championship for national teams.
After bumping along without too much fan interest in the U.S., Mike Trout recruited many of his fellow American superstars for the 2023 preseason tournament. The 2023 WBC climaxed with Trout facing off against his fellow California Angel Shohei Ohtani for the first time ever with 2 outs in the 9th of the USA-Japan final game:
So far, the current 2026 World Baseball Classic has been a big success, with large crowds for the opening round of pool play in Tokyo, San Juan, Houston, and Miami. Eight of the 20 teams will then advance to the single elimination playoff rounds in Houston and Miami, with the final game this Sunday evening in Miami.
The U.S. assembled a team of mighty hitters led by Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. (and a less spectacular set of pitchers, due to worries about wearing out arms) and cruised through its first three victories.
In case you are wondering, the U.S. squad has two African-Americans (Judge, an adoptee with a complex nature-nurture background, and fast and strong but fragile Byron Buxton), with the rest being non-Hispanic white.
But the inherent problem with a quickie baseball series like the WBC — that the winner of any single baseball game is pretty random — has suddenly popped up as I’m typing, with the U.S. falling behind Italy, of all countries, 5-0 in the 6th inning. (Granted, a lot of Italy’s players are ringers, Italian-American big leaguers like Vinnie Pasquantino, who hit a robust .264 / 32 homers / 113 RBIs for the Kansas City Royals last year, but who aren’t quite good enough to the make the U.S. squad.)
There are various scenarios that could play out with the upcoming Italy vs. Mexico game, but if the U.S. doesn’t come back tonight, it could be denied a berth in the quarterfinals.
Oh, well, that’s all part of the drama of squeezing in the WBC during spring training.
Why has baseball turned around in the last few years?
Paywall here.
