Ouch...
Well, despite reaching the Championship Game for the third consecutive time, Team USA finishes second for the second consecutive tournament. Ugh.
Baseball is massive in the USA, and we hold our players to a high standard. But once again the WBC proves to be a massive challenge and it proves that the whole world has a lot of talented players. The sport is always evolving and growing, while Team USA had a lot of talent, multiple teams had high level talent as well, with many All-Stars of their own.
There's really not much to say. Mark DeRosa had questionable moments managing Team USA, but even so, DeRosa can't swing the bats for the players. Team USA's bats went completely silent in many key moments, and many key games.
Baseball is a funny game sometimes, and it's easy to point fingers, and easy to nitpick certain decisions and question certain players. This game is a wonderful mix of muscle and tactics. It's very chess-like at times. Baseball is full of suspense and momentum swings and in the championship game, Team USA felt the keen sting of baseball heartbreak. It's a unique, hard to explain type of heartbreak that not many other sports can match.
I noticed several veterans in the lineup were pretty underwhelming at times, while several younger players shined like Roman Anthony, Bobby Witt Jr., and Gunnar Henderson. It would have been nice to see Mason Miller come in to pitch late versus Venezuela but, perhaps the team was preserving him for a possible extra innings situation. Who knows.
The championship game was a bummer for obvious reasons, and for much of the game Venezuela shut down USA's whole lineup. But there was one epic moment that I'll never forget. It was when Bryce Harper hit a massive two-run homer to tie up the game in the eighth! What a rush! While short-lived, that was a moment of joy I won't soon forget! It was a whole new game for a brief moment in time...
I really hope Harper gets a World Series one day man. Maybe this autumn! I'm so glad he's a Phillie!
I loved seeing Harper's passion. Baseball is about moments. Even if they didn't get gold, this was a great moment.
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USA always strives for gold, and always will. I still think it's pretty good they've reached the championship three consecutive times. USA still has a ton of talent. I hope this let down motivates everyone! USA can look for redemption at the Olympics in 2028. The next World Baseball Classic will be in 2030. It's cool that there's an international baseball tournament every two years! USA, USA, USA!!!
Still, as I said in a previous post, and as I've said many times, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, and March 17th, 2026 belonged to Team Venezuela!
Congrats to Venezuela! They beat not just America, but 2023 champions Japan as well. They showed skill, passion, resiliency, and great teamwork throughout the tournament. They'll be remembered forever.
Now we're onto the MLB regular season and a long grueling journey to determine who will be the 2026 World Series Champions!!! Games everyday, all summer. LET'S GO!!!