*2023 WBC* D.R. OUT ! The World Baseball Classic the most important ever !

mjp28

Why the 2023 World Baseball Classic is the most important ever !

ESPN - March 8, 2023 7 am.

TEAM USA raised the World Baseball Classic trophy in 2017, Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout felt the FOMO wash over him.

"It looked like they were having so much fun, making the plays and winning," said Trout, who was watching on TV from spring training camp in Tempe, Arizona. "That's what I regretted. I should have been out there."

The fourth World Baseball Classic was a milestone for the United States, the first time the event's host country won the international tournament. The Americans racked up iconic performances, from Adam Jones' home-run-robbing catch that sent the U.S. to the semifinal, to Marcus Stroman's six no-hit innings against Puerto Rico in the championship game that earned him MVP honors.

The victory also marked a sea of change in how American-born players view the event. Trout announced at the 2022 All-Star Game that he would compete in the WBC and serve as captain, and his inclusion started a domino effect.

"We don't get to share the field very often," said Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts, who was influenced by Trout's decision. "So to be on the same side playing with him and all the other guys, really, it's going to be a lot of fun."

For many other American players, like Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, the international buzz and excitement for last year's soccer World Cup -- the final drew 25.78 million viewers on Fox and Telemundo, the most watched men's World Cup match in American history -- fueled a desire to put on a Team USA jersey.

"Everybody wants a taste of that," Turner said. "If you can do it in your own sport, that's pretty cool too."

That kind of excitement has long been standard on other international squads, including among MLB players. But American players have been less enthusiastic at times. --- CONTINUED ON ESPN --->

mjp28

The favorites or :

ODDS TO WIN 2023 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC*

mjp28

Players who have announced they are joining Team USA include the Dodgers' Mookie Betts, the Phillies' Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber, the Mets' Pete Alonso, the Cardinals' Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, the Yankees' Nestor Cortes, and Tim Anderson of the White Sox. Phillies superstar Bryce Harper was set to play before undergoing offseason elbow surgery.

Additionally, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. will serve as hitting coach, and five-time World Series champion Andy Pettitte will serve as pitching coach for Team USA.

As noted above, Team USA did suffer a setback when Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw recently withdrew from the WBC.

mjp28

And just to get you into the WBC flavour - SCHEDULES & SCORES - of recent events.

mjp28

And to my knowledge there are NO Cleveland GUARDIANS players in the WBC.

A good thing for the upcoming 2023 season ???

syd

@mjp28 said:

And to my knowledge there are NO Cleveland GUARDIANS players in the WBC.

A good thing for the upcoming 2023 season ???

only thing that matters is the World Series and if the damn reds would spend some monies maybe a all Ohio series

syd

@mjp28 said:

And just to get you into the WBC flavour - SCHEDULES & SCORES - of recent events.

but what dates ?

mjp28

And for your WBC and gambling pleasures :

Saturday, March 11 ...... too bad the world can't get along like sports ( soccer hooligans excluded )

Japan 10, Czech Republic 2. Chinese Taipei 9, Netherlands 5

Puerto Rico 9, Nicaragua 1. Colombia 5, Mexico 4 (10 innings) Venezuela 5, Dominican Republic 1

️ United States 6, Great Britain 2

South Korea 7, Czech Republic 3. Chinese Taipei vs. Cuba, 11 p.m. ET (FS2)

Sunday, March 12 ..... NOTE: this is the "normal" game times and spacing. USA in prime time....baby !

Japan vs. Australia, 6 a.m. ET (FS1)

Netherlands vs. Italy, 7 a.m. ET (FS2) Nicaragua vs. Israel, 12 p.m. ET (FS2)

Great Britain vs. Canada, 3 p.m. ET (FS1) Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico, 7 p.m. ET (FS1)

Mexico vs. ️ United States, 10 p.m. ET (FS1) Australia vs. Czech Republic, 11 p.m. ET (FS2)

mjp28

Monday, March 13 scores and more ......

Korea 22, China 2 (F/5)
Dominican Republic 6, Nicaragua 1
Great Britain vs. Colombia, 3 p.m., FS2
Puerto Rico vs. Israel, 7 p.m., FS1
️ United States vs. Canada, 10 p.m., FS1

Sunday, March 12

Japan 7, Australia 1
Italy 7, Netherlands 1
Israel 3, Nicaragua 1
Canada 18, Great Britain 8 (F/7)
Venezuela 9, Puerto Rico 6
Mexico 11, United States 5. ︎. Wow.
Australia 8, Czech Republic 3

mjp28

Easy money $ mercy rule. Jared Young crushed a homer to get Canada on the board in the ensuing inning, but the U.S. didn’t let up in the bottom of the second. Trae Turner capped off a three-score inning with a solo homer to push the gap to 12-1.

mjp28

USA back on track in WBC.

PHOENIX — Mark DeRosa didn’t leave Chase Field until 1 in the morning Monday, making calls, plotting strategies.

He didn’t even fall asleep until 4 in the morning, still trying to dissect just what happened in their ugly loss to Mexico.

Well, 24 hours later, the USA manager is going to sleep like a baby.

Team USA obliterated Canada, 12-1, in seven innings on Monday night, and now need a victory Wednesday night over undermanned Colombia for a ticket to Miami for the quarterfinals of the World Baseball Classic.

They are in full control of their own fate with no need to worry about any tiebreakers, run differentials or run quotients.

Beat Colombia, and they’re in.

BIG MOMENT: Team Nicaragua's Duque Hebbert signs contract with Detroit Tigers after striking out trio of MLB stars

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Schedule, how to watch, betting info, countries and groups

mjp28

Tournament favorites Dominican Republic - ELIMINATED - from competition. Whoa.

An All-Star lineup worked out to a first-round exit for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic.

The pre-tournament favorites, featuring a roster stacked with some of the biggest names in MLB, was eliminated in pool play Wednesday with a 5-2 loss to Puerto Rico. It was a do-or-die game for both teams, but the D.R. came out flat and couldn't recover in front of a raucous Miami crowd with fans on both sides.

[Free bracket contests for both tourneys | Printable Men's | Women's]

Puerto Rico got on the board with a four-run third inning that started with a solo homer by Christian Vázquez, followed by four straight singles. The exclamation point came two innings later, when Francisco Lindor notched a little-league home run courtesy of a misplay by Dominican center fielder Julio Rodríguez.

mjp28

@mjp28 said:

The favorites or :

ODDS TO WIN 2023 WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC*

Dominican Republic +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total) - ELIMINATED - March 15. Whoa.
United States +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
Japan +300 (bet $10 to win $40 total)
Korea +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Venezuela +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Mexico +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Puerto Rico +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Cuba +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Chinese Taipei +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Netherlands +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Italy +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Canada +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Colombia +15000 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Australia +15000 (bet $10 to win $1,510 total)
Panama +25000 (bet $10 to win $2,510 total)
Israel +35000 (bet $10 to win $3,510 total)
Czech Republic +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Nicaragua +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
China +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Great Britain +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)

March 15. Well isn't that something. Whoa.

mjp28

Mexico rallys back to beat Puerto Rico and move to Semifinals.

A nightmare start didn't stop Mexico, and now it's headed to the World Baseball Classic semifinals for the first time after a 5-4 win Friday over Puerto Rico.

The game started with four runs for Puerto Rico in the top of the first inning, including back-to-back home runs by Javier Baez and Eddie Rosario. Puerto Rico, which reached the game in excruciating fashion, was all over top Mexico pitcher Julio Urias, the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander who won the National League ERA title last season.

Mexico buckled down from there. Urias, Javier Assad, JoJo Romero, Jake Sanchez and Giovany Gallegos didn't allow a run after the first inning, with Sanchez getting some help from WBC breakout star Randy Arozarena on a would-be extra-base hit in the eighth inning. --> continued in Yahoo Sports -->

mjp28

Fans have come out in droves to support the 2023 World Baseball Classic. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)

Record attendance at WBC games this year.

If you gather the most talented baseball players from all around the world and pit their countries against one another in a tournament, they will come. OK, so that might not be as catchy as the popular "Field of Dreams" quote, but baseball fans have come out in droves to support the World Baseball Classic this year.

More than one million fans attended first-round games, according to MLB. The first round of the tournament drew 1,010,999 fans, making it the highest-attended round in WBC history. That figure shattered the previous record for attendance, which was 510,056, set during the 2017 tournament.

Fans at Japan's Tokyo Dome were the most excited about the event. The first-round games at the Tokyo Dome set a record for fans at a venue for a single round of the tournament, with 361,976, and the highest average attendance ever in the first or second round, with 36,198 fans per game.

The United States also saw a huge increase in attendance. In Miami, 295,850 fans came out to watch Pool D games, a record for WBC attendance in the U.S. And the Mexico-USA game at Chase Field in Phoenix set the record for most attended first-round WBC game, with 47,534 fans.

Viewership is up as well. The Japan-Korea game drew a 44.4 rating in Japan, a higher rating than any sport featured in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Korea and the Dominican Republic all saw significant increases in viewership numbers for the 2023 WBC as well.

In addition to all that, fans already broke the record for most WBC merchandise sold. Anything purchased during the quarterfinals will add to that record, which, like everything else associated with the 2023 World Baseball Classic, is presumably on pace to be shattered. --> continued in Yahoo Sports -->