If soccer has the FIFA World Cup, baseball has the World Baseball Classic.
The tournament started this weekend in four cities across the globe. Houston, Miami, San Juan, and Tokyo. There are twenty teams from 20 countries participating - so if you ever wanted to see how Czechia would stack up against, say, Aaron Judge, this is your tournament.
No, I am not sure why they aren't playing in Europe, because the aforementioned Czechia as well as the Netherlands, Italy and England are in the tournament. I assume its because they know Americans and Japanese fans will show up, and aren't sure about the people in Brussels or whatever.
But hear me out - Mexico is insanely good. Let them play at home.
It is *a lot* of baseball to try to watch - so we've been watching Japan, Puerto Rico, USA and - last night - Mexico. No, I don't know exactly why Puerto Rico has their own team, nor why Chinese Taipei has its own team, but not China.
The make-up of the teams is fascinating. Baseball is a big concern in some of the participating/ qualified countries, and less so in others. The US has good participation from top-tier players, so look for Bregman, Schwarber, Bryce Harper, etc... There's issues with getting pitchers to play, but one thing we have a lot of in this world is pitchers, so we're covered. But, yeah, apparently there are insurance issues, etc... by saying you'll play a tournament before the official MLB season starts.
You'll also see familiar players from, say, Mexico (Kirk is Mexican, for example, which I did not know).
Japan has MLB marquee talent - you're going to know these guys. Ohtani, one of the best to ever pick up a bat, is there. My guy Suzuki from the Cubs is there (and hitting dingers).
But who are the players from Australia? Italy? Who picks up a baseball in Brasil instead of a soccer ball? I know one team I watched play, they had a 17 year old kid out there pitching - and he was *good*. Talk about getting scouted.
The mood in the stands is celebratory. In Japan, between the acoustics of the Tokyo Dome and enthusiasm for the sport, it sounds more like a futbol game than a Sunday at the ballpark. In Houston when Mexico was playing, it was a raucous crowd. Italy has an Espresso maker in the dugout? Everyone is bringing their own vibe to the games.
If you happen to see this on March 9th - you're going to want to tune in for the US/ Mexico game on Fox at 8:00 Eastern. I promise, it'll be a good time.
