The annual World Baseball Classic is an international baseball tournament consisting of the top twenty qualifying countries across the globe. The tournament was established in 2000, when baseball was added to the lineup of the Summer Olympic games. A typical Major League Baseball season lasts from early April to late September, so a competition held in June raised some questions regarding the eligibility of the players involved. The MLB quickly shot down the idea of players representing their countries, stating that anyone on a 40-man MLB roster was not allowed to participate in the Olympic games.
Players were discontent with the ruling, and with the Baseball World Cup applying the same rules, the MLB felt something had to be done. In 2003, the MLB attempted to create a tournament open to all. After negotiations with the Players Association and team owners on certain sanctions, they reached an agreement in May of 2005.
The original agreement between participants was to invite the countries that produced the most known players; sixteen teams received an invite and a number of countries failed to qualify. To reconcile this issue, the MLB announced an expansion of teams to the tournament and held a preliminary round to decide on the additional four teams that were to be added. This system was adapted in the 2013 Classic, and is still used to this day, with new countries attempting to qualify each year.
The first tournament in 2005 saw Japan defeat Cuba in the final, evidently the two teams that were having negotiation issues to begin with. The U.S did not manage to earn a top-three finish until 2017, which ended with an 8-0 first-place finish versus Puerto Rico. As of today, the U.S has earned a spot in the quarter-finals of this year’s tournament, along with seven other powerhouse countries such as Japan and Mexico.
However, the question remains; is baseball a dying sport? The answer is different depending on the person you ask, but let’s give you some data for a better understanding of the question at hand. According to the pew research center, attendance at major league baseball games has decreased by approximately one percent each year from 2007-2019 and fourteen percent on a total basis. Additionally, only eleven percent of adults watch baseball on a regular basis, as compared to the thirty-four percent who regularly watch football.
In January 2023, 1,035 adults were asked whether they were fans of 13 different sports; each participant was allowed to list as many sports as they would like. The NFL led the poll with 44% of participants saying that they were fans of the sport. Surprisingly, baseball was second on the list with a fair 31%, followed by college football and the NBA.
Tracking back to the competition, there seemed to be no shortage of fans tuning into the 2017 games, as the WBC received 32% more American viewership than they did in 2013. As for this year’s popularity, we don’t have much data recorded yet, but if you tune in and watch the games being held in the U.S, the stadiums are packed. It was recorded that Chase Field in Arizona was sold out back-to-back days for the US home games, and it’s only going to get crazier as the games continue.
However, a major issue fans and owners still have with the tournament is the risk factor that each player puts on themselves, prompting some fans to voice their disapproval of the WBC.
After Puerto Rico’s victory against the Dominican Republic to advance to the quarter-finals, star pitcher Edwin Diaz was injured while celebrating and tore a tendon in his right knee, likely sidelining him for the entire 2023 season. This is part of the reason why some Major League teams did not clear certain players to play, an example being star pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who was slated to pitch for team USA but was forced to withdraw after being deemed uninsurable.
It seems a bit extreme to scrutinize an entire tournament just because one player gets hurt, but people don’t realize that the players are accepting the risk that comes with the game. Anyone can get injured by performing routine activities throughout the day, that’s just the way life goes sometimes. It’s not fair to blame all injuries on the tournament itself.
Nevertheless, not all headlines have been negative, as a pitcher for team Nicaragua was signed by the Detroit Tigers after a stellar performance. Duque Hebbert came into the 6-1 ballgame in the 9th inning probably knowing that his team was about to lose, but made the most of his shot by striking out three major league superstars and only giving up one hit.
The WBC is not just about representing your country, but making a name for yourself and giving everything you have. Stories like these show just how far a good performance can get you. The exposure baseball is receiving can easily revive the so-called “dying” game, as we continue to see just how much this classic sport means to the participating countries and the players.
