Three thoughts on Team USA’s 2-1 win over Japan in the World Baseball Classic semifinals on Tuesday night.
A First for the Americans
When the WBC was introduced in 2006 it’s goal was as much if not more to continue baseball’s global growth as it was to boost the game in the United States. To that end, the fact that Team USA flamed out short of the championship game in each of the first three tournaments mattered little in the face of the way the event was celebrated in countries around the world. But the truth is the WBC has had a hard time catching on in this country—hurt both because many of the top American players choose not to participate and because it competes every four years with March Madness—and if the event is ever going to capture the hearts, minds and money of the American sports fan, something would have to change.