Shohei Ohtani, whose trophy-clinching strikeout of MLB teammate Mike Trout might go down as one of the most goosebump-heavy sequences in the game’s history, said afterward, “I believe this is the best moment in my life.”
Trout, who has played in all of three MLB playoff games, was very open throughout the tournament about it providing the most fun he’s ever had playing baseball. Both Mookie Betts and Trea Turner, who have World Series rings, echoed similar ideas, with Betts dubbing the experience an “all-time high” and Turner saying it was “just as good as those World Series games.”
Japanese outfielder Lars Nootbaar—whose day job is with the St. Louis Cardinals—called the WBC “a life-changing experience for me” Not exactly something you hear after a game at Busch Stadium! Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres, who suited up for Venezuela, said these games were on “another level” than the games he’s played in New York, the brightest stage in American baseball.
That final out, though. Apart from the fact that Ohtani and Trout playing for the same team would make that situation literally impossible in an MLB game, it also gave the world a rare GOAT-on-GOAT matchup with everything on the line. This was a LeBron iso at the buzzer against Michael Jordan in the Finals. Deion Sanders covering Jerry Rice on 4th and goal in the Super Bowl. Three months after the sports gods blessed us with Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi in a World Cup final, they messed around and produced the baseball version. Even if every game of the next World Series is decided by one run in the ninth inning, it won’t be able to compete with the worldwide intensity that Tuesday night’s epic put on televisions from Tokyo to Texas.
Then there were the WBC’s lovable quirks. Instant legend Ondrej Satoria, a Czech electrician, struck Ohtani out on three pitches then got an undeniably grid-worthy photo, posing with Ohtani while rocking a North Face beanie and full beard that oozed everyman qualities. The Italians had an espresso machine in their dugout. Nicaraguan pitcher Duque Hebbert blew through three Dominican superstars—and was signed by a Detroit Tigers scout on the spot. Team Great Britain adorned home run hitters with a royal robe and crown.
Baseball is often described as a child’s game played by grownups. The WBC actually embodied that: it felt less like the World Series than the Little League World Series, populated by a global cast of characters eager to make their mark on the world stage. If there are lessons to be learned from these last two weeks of baseball, it’s that its stateside form needs some extra seasoning.
Matthew Roberson
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