MIAMI—The team that is supposed to save the World Baseball Classic is one trouncing loss to Canada away from getting knocked out in the first round. Of course, this being the WBC, in which play swings from sublime to ridiculous at any moment, the superstar-packed Team USA may be fighting for its tournament life Sunday against a pitcher who has been retired for two years, Ryan Dempster, who appears to be manager Ernie Whitt’s choice over . . . Ferguson Jenkins? Denis Boucher? Alex Trebek?
To keep the WBC “vital,” as he called it, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred is rooting for the home squad to get to a final for the first time in four WBCs in order to see if American sports fans will care about what is a great idea that is having trouble getting traction in the United States.