Baseball is actually the most popular sport in Japan, so it's not surprising that the WBC is more popular than the world cup there. They have a national high school baseball tournament every year called Koshien, which is one of the most watched youth sporting events in the world.
Hate to break it to that angry dude, but *nothing* in baseball means anything. It's a game. People watch it because it's entertaining. And the WBC was hella entertaining.
As a Mexican American I watched both the Mexico v Japan game and the US v Japan game. I was set to go on a plane to visit Japan for 2 weeks on the day of the final. Some of the most electric games I have ever watched, my mom (from sonora) was so put out when mexico lost. Even my dad (from nayarit) who doesn't give a single shit about baseball was getting really excited when mexico was taking the lead. On the day of the final, my mom was being petty and rooting for Japan since, and I quote "If Mexico didn't win, the US shouldn't either" lmao This was the first time I've ever watched the WBC (thx mom for never telling about it, even tho I've been playing softball for 7 years now lol) and I loved it, I will def be watching all the future tournaments. The reason why I think baseball is losing popularity in the US is because it's so hard to actually watch the teams you care about. My parents still pay for cable but can't watch 95% of the mlb games, and only occasionally will one of those games be from our local teams (Angels and Dodgers) Even with a mlb dot tv subscription which is supposed to let you watch all mlb games doesn't let you watch local games because of contractual regional blackouts. You bet your ass that I'd be watching all the dodger and angels games I could if I could just find a decently cheap way to watch them 😢 As it is, I have to wait on a chance free game of the week on the mlb youtube channel or hope that one of the channels on my parent's cable actually has the games (tho, I think there will be an angels game I can watch on Saturday lol, first one in a while) You'd think that a dying sport would try to make the sport easier to watch to appeal to the younger population. A pitching clock isn't going to do anything to attract more fans if they can't watch the games in the first place 🙄
As an American baseball fan, I can’t see anyone watching the WBC this year and not wanting more of that. I’m going to remember games from this tournament for years.
It’s a shame that a lot of Americans don’t care about it here. We tend to care more about our individual cities and our individual teams. A lot of the people calling for it to be canceled are fans of the New York Mets. One of their star players got injured during a celebration and is out for the season and that made them upset
Pete Alonso getting hit in the hand just added to Mets fans fury. I must admit, as a Phillies fan, I was nervous after Trea hit that grand slam and the celebration that met him at home plate! Haha
@@lovesgucci1 and as a nats fan I will never allow you to claim Trea Turner as Philly's own lol My favorite fkn player :( Enjoy him. He is the definition of a game changer.
@Knoxvillian The Expos… oops, I meant the Nationals, refuse to pay and it’s a shame for their fans and the league. (The Nats were once fun to watch) Cheap owners need to be pushed out! Philly can’t wait to see him play at his new home at the Bank & happy he chose the red pinstripes!
I really enjoyed the WBC. I'm an Angel fan and we had eight players in the tournament. Baseball is kind of a religion to some people. They are traditionalist. I get it. It's their passion. And passion is good. Many people have changed their minds since. Maybe pick a team that you can actually watch. West coast might be better. Angels, Dodgers, San Francisco. Depends on the time difference. Ohtani is always entertaining. He does so many things. He even makes some great defensive plays. Then he apologizes to the batter for being so good. With a smile. He's a great athlete and has a great personality. Even his interpreter is popular.
I am an American baseball fan and I have to say the WBC is probably the greatest thing to happen in baseball the final was absolutely awesome the story of Czech republic was beautiful it's so sad that people hate it because I see it as a way for baseball to grow all over the world
I grew up with baseball. My old man never missed a Red Sox game on television. It's the only sport I understand well. I consider the WBC to be the true World Series of Baseball.
you have to understand that the wbc is a very new tournament (this is the 5th one). England didn't even send a team to the 1st 3 world cups because they didn't feel it mattered. Now the world cup is engrained in the sport and is the most important trophy. The American fans will come around on the wbc (more do every tournament), the more tournaments are played, the more normal it becomes, the more accepted it will be.
To be fair the first 2 WBC's didn't have qualifiers so GB couldn't participate either way, then once the qualifiers became a thing they didn't have the talent to go far.
A lot of Americans care about international competitions like the Olympics or World Cup. Baseball fans are known for being crochety and hating anything that is different. I think it is because their sport has been popular for so long (and mostly in America) that there is kind of this reverence for how things used to be instead of focusing on how things should be. You gotta remember that professional baseball has been around even longer than professional soccer (1846 vs 1869). This tends to bring about all the "back in my day" people that generally hate anything new even if it is awesome.
You’re right bro and also to note that majority of players in MLB aren’t even american mostly puerto rican, dominican, venezuelan. So goes to show that these guys run the sport today.
They've played baseball in Japan for a 100 years. Babe Ruth went there and was hailed a hero before ww2. When American soldiers occupied Japan that was how they broke the ice with the Japanese. Played a game of baseball.
"They could get hurt in a pre-season game." Literally what happened to our starting shortstop. Gavin Lux of the Dodgers tore his ACL this spring training and will be out for the season. That's ball baby
As a lifelong MLB fan I agree that all the best players should be playing for America, and other countries as well. I think the WBC has the potential to become a sporting event like the World Cup which will in turn grow the sport.
In most sports in America, it is a definite no-no to shake hands with the opposition before a game. Your opponent is the enemy. After the game, it's ok to shake hands. ...I definitely agree with you that American athletes, teams, and people need to open their minds to the world and stop thinking international tournaments are a waste of time. You would be amazed at the percentage of Americans who don't even have a passport!
The genuine interest of guys like you toward baseball because of the WBC, or toward American Football because of the NFL international games shows how important international play is. Baseball and Basketball have been very international sports for a long time. The amount of top flight foreign-raised players in MLB and NBA, for decades make this obvious.
Spot on about international tournaments! Fortunately it was just a loud and annoying minority who were upset about the WBC (mostly Mets fans because one of their best players got injured), the vast majority of baseball fans here absolutely loved the WBC. I can't wait for the next one!
One of the best players for Astros got hurt in the WBC game but you dont see their manager or owner complaining. Also i remember a player who got his season ended before it even began when he was injured in spring training. injuries happen. Just deal with it, well Mets though have different opinion cause i think they are the highest payroll in the MLB with even higher luxury tax.
Totally agreed. This is why I hated what the NHL did to international hockey as of late. Olympic hockey has been iconic for hockey nations. The atmosphere and uniting of countries and watching the best players compete did so much for the culture. For example, when Canada scored the winning goal when they hosted the Olympics, it's simply referred to as "the Golden Goal", a cultural term everyone in the country knows the meaning of. But the NHL has disallowed their players from competing the last two times and engagement fell off a cliff. Something was lost for sure and the effects are already felt. Good news is they realized their mistake and are scheduled to allow players for the next one.
I ❤ the WBC. My St. Louis Cardinals had our 41 yr old starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, in the tournament. Players can get injured in Spring Training, they can get injured at home, they can get injured working out. There's no greater chance of injury just because they're representing their countries in this tournament. I hope it keeps going and I hope the best players continue to play.
This WBC was absolutely phenomenal. I don't even watch that much baseball here in NY anymore (and my team is the Yankees) but it's insane for these sports talk guys to hate the WBC at this point. Shit happens, people can get injured at any point in any game.
As an American I’ll never understand people not wanting to spread the games we’ve invented I believe we have beautiful sports to share with the world and most of our finals in our sporting leagues are called world titles but then they don’t want to actually compete against the world and represent our country proudly sometimes a sports team representing your country even with all the bad that happens in it is the best thing for the people
In Japan, we are so passionate about baseball. Going to a baseball game in Japan is like going to a music festival. I once went to the MLB game held in London for the first time, where Masahiro Tanaka was pitching. It was very interesting listening to the Brits around me trying to figure out the rules.
Keep in mind its before the season during spring training. They are literally training in this tournament basically. Edwin Diaz out for the season in the WBC and Rhys Hoskins out for the season in Spring Training. I hope people continue crying about the event thats saving baseball.
I’m Dominican and for us, there’s two important things in our lives, women and baseball, my father watches every game in the Dominican league and the American, we don’t know how a football ball looks like, and some people thinks that nobody cares about the WBC, Americans don’t care about the rest of the world, that’s why they called the tournament finals World Series, the WBC is the real World Series.
True. I think the fact that team owners and GMs are so strongly against it and have actively been trying to destroy its image has a large part to do with the poor image of the wbc in the US Admittedly I would agree though that during spring training isn’t the best time to be holding it
For all the years baseball was in the olympics, like last time in japan, the mlb and even minor league teams wouldnt let their players go. So no, americans would not be more interested at all.
Nah olympics are for amateurs players. The WBC is great, you guys have to accept the fact that WBC will be more important than a gold medal. Look at the rating and the marketing if you are not looking for the patriotic side. Thats why football (soccer) are so big in the world, they created the FIFA world cup in 1930 and since then is the dominant sport in almost all the world. If this WBC was created way back in the 50s, the baseball were bigger than now. But your closed minded not looking for worldwide, only USA.
When the Olympic baseball tournament and the Baseball World Cup existed, this tournament was kinda viewed as an exhibition tournament. I don't think you would've heard as much hatred toward the Olympics from American baseball fans, as it was seen as a "real" trophy. (In Association football terms, you can think about the difference between the World Cup and the Olympic men's baseball tournament, with teams not releasing their players for the latter--or at least for its qualifiers--because of injury risk, but more so since the Olympics are at least a "real" trophy in some sense, rather than an exhibition or "tournament of friendlies" such as the International Champions Cup which is probably more analogous to the way the WBC has been viewed in the United States.) I think that the WBC can grow out of this reputation--and is doing so--now that both the Baseball World Cup and the Olympic baseball tournament are gone, since it is now the only international baseball tournament.
p.s. I would also add that we're pretty used to the idea (which is decreasingly true over the last few decades) that other countries don't really care about our sports, and as a result aren't as hard to beat as teams made of fellow Americans. Think about it--which would be more impressive: Seeing Patrick Mahomes quarterback the Kansas City Chiefs to a win against the Philadelphia Eagles, or seeing Patrick Mahomes quarterback a team of American NFL players to a preseason win against a team of players from the UK or Germany? (It also doesn't help that we've historically gotten a lot of stick from the rest of the world for hyping sports other than soccer--it's always been "You guys had to invent sports that nobody else cares about so you could win" and "You guys had to invent sports that fat guys could play so you could win something." That's why some people were saying that "nobody cares" about the WBC and not counting people from other countries--we're just used to the idea that the rest of the world only plays soccer, which has basically been true for most of the 147-year history of MLB.) This WBC showed that there's more than one team that can compete with Team USA (and make no mistake--while Team USA might not have been a "Dream Team" like our 1996 national men's basketball team, it did include some really strong players, including both Mike Trout and Mookie Betts), and in a way, that makes it a lot more exciting and may cause it to explode in popularity among American fans. (After all, would you be more excited to watch your country's national Association football team compete against Germany or Andorra?) The biggest obstacle? The younger generation of American sports fans--the ones who haven't spent years watching American hegemony and seeing MLB as a higher level of competition than international play--is also the generation that is, to some extent, abandoning the sport for soccer.
British Guy, you must remember that we Americans are NOT accustomed to our professional players, regardless of sport, participating in international tournaments, like the FIFA World Cup, baseball especially. The World Baseball Classic was only first played in 2003, and the fact that it's played during MLB's spring training, account for the general attitude of American's towards the tournament. Remember, the United States DID NOT participate in the FIFA World Cup after 1950 until 1990, forty years in total. It was only in the 1990's that professional players could participate in the Olympics, so it wasn't until then that you saw NBA andf NHL players take part in either the Olympics or other international tournaments. To most American sports fans, winning the professional leagues here is more important than participating in or wining an international tournament. Also, the winners of MLB's World Series, the NFL's Super Bowl, and the NBA's NBA Finals are called "World Champions," and we Americans have been conditioned to think that way over the past century. Yes, the WBC draws big audience numbers in Japan, Puerto Rico and other countries, but that doesn't carryover to MLB, so MLB teams don't reap any rewards in TV viewership or ticket sales.
This WBC victory was a historic day in which the Japanese "YAKYU" Baseball won over the American-style “Baseball”. Japanese YAKYU was derived uniquely from American-style baseball and took more than 100 years to achieve. The fact is that on this same planet, there is another baseball that exists in a different spirit than the US style. Of course, the roots of baseball are USA, but baseball that was exported to other countries from US and took root there developed in a different way. This would be a fact. the reason “why Japanese baseball is strong” in international tournaments is not because they have strong members and excellent coaches. It is because they are “not players who grew up learning baseball” in the United States. They were “educated in Japan's unique system of baseball education” when they were in high school. Americans don’t realize the importance of the unique " baseball education" system of Japanese baseball. Ohtani is undeniably a great athlete, but if he had been born and raised in the United States, the same DNA would not have grown into the Ohtani of today. He was born and raised in Japan and received a Japanese baseball education from childhood, which is why he is the player he is today. Not only the physical aspect, but also the way he thinks about baseball, his stoicism, and his gentle behavior are the result of his baseball education from his childhood to high school in Japan, and it is Japan's unique baseball education that produced the monster Otani. He is not a unicorn, but merely an honor student of Japanese high school baseball education.
you were right. also great britain didnt do too bad either! they didnt make it out of pools but they beat columbia which now guarantees them a spot in the next WBC!
Congrats to Grreat Britain on getting their first WBC win! I'm a Seattle fan and Harry Ford is in our minor league system,as we wait for him to come up.
Part of the problem the American teams have with it is that it is taking place right as Spring Training starts, and they don't have any time at all to recover from an injury. The teams are run by billionaires who don't give a damn about anything other than their money. There is zero national pride for these owners, they only care about having fans in the seats at their games, and if their best player gets hurt at the WBC, then fans may not be eager to pay inflated prices to go watch the backups play, and if one of your best players goes down for the entire season, it could mean you don't make the playoffs and it might kill your chance to win a World Series that season...and for most teams they have very short windows where they are good enough to compete at that level before guys get traded, hit free agency, etc..
If you are not familiar with the history of the WBC, Yes Japan won the first 2 followed by the DR and then USA in 2017 with Japan getting a 3rd in 2022, however, its not necessarily the worst for USA. That is because they have sent the same caliber of roster pretty much every year - All star batters and fielders with 0 starting pitching or bullpen, a glass cannon roster. Countries like Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba, put up complete rosters that could genuinely be added to the MLB for a full season and be competitive. The reason I say its not the worst for the US, is because out of all of those above countries + Netherlands/Canada/Mexico/Colombia/Australia/China, only 3 different countries have ever won, including the US without even having their best players participate or the players that do, try their hardest. Puerto Rico has tried their hardest all 5 WBCs and has only managed two 2nd place finishes. (Top 5 countries for baseball talent are (USA, Japan, PR, DR and Venezuela, imo. Cuba, SK and MX would be next). As a big MLB/baseball fan, I enjoyed watching all 5 WBC tournaments because I like seeing how the game has expanded and progressed around the world; similar to basketball because of the 90's US Olympic Team. Which is exactly how I see the WBC for USA, they are treating it like they used to with Olympic basketball---they had college players competing instead of pros. Well, what happened when the USA tried their hardest? Domination. So maybe in 2026 WBC, the US will just say screw it, and add the 5 best starting American pitchers to the roster and roll out Gerrit Cole, Zac Gallen, Zack Wheeler, Spencer Strider and Corbin Burnes----each guy could throw a full 9 inning game in the WBC if they got rolling. The MLB has enough American-born, top-level starting pitchers to fill a whole bullpen for US WBC Team, they just don't participate.
That Puerto Rico upset over the Dominican Republic is one of the underrated moments of the tournament. That DR team was absolutely stacked they absolutely could have won the whole thing
As a Rays fan, I love Randy Arozarena. His story resonates with me because my family also defected from Cuba. And he's a damn good ballplayer and he's on my favorite team. Go Rays!
Your point about seeing players in international tournaments and becoming a fan of their club is true, because I became a Tottenham fan (oof) when watching Son and Kane in the 2018 World Cup
Every time this tournament is played, i always come away saying the best game of baseball was played in the tournament... the problem with this latest version of that there was an amazing game almost the entire way through... so excited to see this thing continue to grow
The main issue for MLB teams not wanting players in the WBC is that the WBC doesn't have the longevity of other international competitions. Like the MLB has been operating as the MLB since the early 1900s, the first WBC happened in 2006.
Nothing wrong with pre and post game handshakes, fist pumps, or whatever. But when the batter steps into the batter’s box, the game is afoot as Sherlock Holmes would say. It is no longer pre game. It was mostly New York based sports announcers and bloggers angry about their New York Mets Puerto Rican pitcher getting injured. And New York rules most of the National media in the USA. Good thing none my Texas Rangers and Houston Astros players got injure. The Mets are paying Diaz over $20 Million per year over 5 years to be their closer pitcher. A closer pitcher plays the last inning when the team is winning or tied heading into the last inning. So they expect Diaz to play 2 days in 3 on average. In a 162 games, they expected Diaz to play in over 108 games this year. So that injury basically destroys any chances of them going into the playoffs this year when most analysis we’re choosing the Mets to win their division. So no surprise the Mets fans are disillusioned and angry. Imagine how soccer fans feel when their star players get “season ending” injuries at the World Cup. Baseball has been playing well over 150 years without a World Classic tournament. Whereas I agree this tournament is great for the sport in the World, it is not necessarily great for the teams. I hope it continues to grow interest in the sport. It is a tournament, not an entire season of play.
Before I respond to this lol I don't want anyone to think I have any bad thoughts about Diaz. He's great. But this thing you said is absurd. As much as I'd like to think that Daiz's injury "basically destroys any chances of them going to the playoffs this year", as a Braves fan, that is hyperbolic at best and absurd at worst. Baseball players get injured all the time - especially pitchers - great teams have depth to muscle through injuries. The Mets sure have spent enough money so they better have arms in their pen that can step up. I mean I support lolMets and I hope it happens every year in my heart, but if one closer going down kills their chances, that's possibly the lamest reason.
Seeing Venezuela 🇻🇪 beat the Dominican Republic was one of the highlights of my life to see my country and countries like PR and Mexico on the biggest stage is unforgettable
The thing was this time around here in the states the MLB advertised the crap out of the WBC and I watched for the first time and it was a ton of fun. Now yes there are upset people but the thing is many of them were upset Mets fans. There were some dodger and Astros fans as well when Freddie Freeman and Jose Altuve went out but they were considerably less and yeah injuries happen but they can happen anywhere.
100% agree with your heatedness at the detractors of WBC. International competition really is special. There's something different and magical about them and sports that promote such competition will prosper in the long run.
One thing i can say as an american is if there is another country I want to see againat us in the finals of anything baseball its Japan. Be it the Olympics, WBC, Little League World Series, Japan will always produce a good game. They're so passionate about baseball that no matter the age or skill level they'll give anyone a run for their money.
Teams only have so many pitchers. One pitcher gets injured it'll put strain on the other pitchers' arms. Imagine a player like Justin Verlander whose making $40+ mil a year gets injured on a team that doesn't have contract with him and is out for the season. Now his actual team has to still pay him even though hes not playing. Its fun to watch the WBC but its risky at times for pitchers
I agree I love the wbc but I also understand where the teams are coming from the Mets lost Edwin Diaz for the whole season and had pay him millions for doing nothing because of his injury
I don't have a horse in this race, but here are a few things to consider. The WBC takes place during American Baseball's spring training. Spring training is a critical time. That's when players slowly (to prevent injury) get themselves back into competition shape for the six-month season. Players in the WBC have to skip part of spring training AND push themselves to competition readiness when they should be working with their trainers to ensure top form for the upcoming season. Typically, players that play in the WBC show poorer performance during the season than in the previous season rather than the expected improvement (assuming, of course, that they don't completely ruin their season by pushing too hard too fast and getting injured). Then there is the club's point of view: these players are very expensive assets. If you're paying someone $6+ million a year to pitch for you, you certainly don't want him taking unnecessary chances with his arm. Some of these pitchers make more per game in the regular season than the whole team gets paid for the WBC. As for making international fans? There's just no money in it for the club. The three primary sources of income for a club are television contracts, licensing, and game-day sales. You might become a rabid fan of some team, but you're not getting on a plane to go to the games. You're not buying enough merch to matter. Unless you can find 20 million equally rabid fans in your country there's no money to be made in UK television contracts. As far as the clubs are concerned, it's all risk and no reward.
I see your point, but you have to understand baseball was getting less and less popular. WBC is much needed event to show the people, and new generation about the beauty of baseball. Making baseball more popular throughout the world is worth any kind of downside it could have imho.
Baseball is different than soccer in that it took long for the sport to become popular. We only know our club teams and we care a million times more for our club season than this. But everything has changed, and now we feel embarrassed that Japan has won three when this is our sport. Next classic we will send a more dominant team.
If you are not familiar with the history of the WBC, Yes Japan won the first 2 followed by the DR and then USA in 2017 with Japan getting a 3rd in 2022, however, its not necessarily the worst for USA. That is because they have sent the same caliber of roster pretty much every year - All star batters and fielders with 0 starting pitching or bullpen, a glass cannon roster. Countries like Japan, South Korea, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Cuba, put up complete rosters that could genuinely be added to the MLB for a full season and be competitive. The reason I say its not the worst for the US, is because out of all of those above countries + Netherlands/Canada/Mexico/Colombia/Australia/China, only 3 different countries have ever won, including the US without even having their best players participate or the players that do, try their hardest. Puerto Rico has tried their hardest all 5 WBCs and has only managed two 2nd place finishes. (Top 5 countries for baseball talent are (USA, Japan, PR, DR and Venezuela, imo. Cuba, SK and MX would be next). As a big MLB/baseball fan, I enjoyed watching all 5 WBC tournaments because I like seeing how the game has expanded and progressed around the world; similar to basketball because of the 90's US Olympic Team. Which is exactly how I see the WBC for USA, they are treating it like they used to with Olympic basketball---they had college players competing instead of pros. Well, what happened when the USA tried their hardest? Domination. So maybe in 2026 WBC, the US will just say screw it, and add the 5 best starting American pitchers to the roster and roll out Gerrit Cole, Zac Gallen, Zack Wheeler, Spencer Strider and Corbin Burnes----each guy could throw a full 9 inning game in the WBC if they got rolling. The MLB has enough American-born, top-level starting pitchers to fill a whole bullpen for US WBC Team, they just don't participate.
Goosebumps everytime I watch that … hey man speak your mind,I think it’s great that you’re even paying attention to American sports. I tried to understand European football but just don’t get it but would really like to learn. My teams are Baltimore ravens and Baltimore orioles being that I’m from Baltimore Maryland usa
@@WahooSerious Ok. The tone of the statement seemed different. Notice I made the same point in my own post. I don't know of a single MLB fan that cares more about winning the World Cup than the World Series.
Yeah, but isn’t that part of the problem? If you want to root for your team over the nation, you have that right. But it’s also equally fine to prioritize your national team or any other international team over your MLB team, and not enough American fans can grasp that because they seemingly can’t put themselves in the shoes of international fans.
Its not the players being afraid to get injured its their teams. Almost 100 percent of the players who didn't participate in the tournament wasn't even their decision.
One complaint I have about the WBC, is the fact that it's not played in the winter. It's played during MLB's Spring Training. So, 1 injury could cost a team during the season. If a player gets injured for 30 days in December, for example, they'll still have time to rehab that injury.
It doesn't happen in every other sport. No American football player has ever been injured from competing in an international American football tournament.
@@insertcolorherehawk3761 How does an American football player get injured in international competition when there is no international competition for American football?
@@DFusions_ I'm not sure what the point of this post is. Are you claiming I was wrong? Is there a "World Cup" of American Football that I was unaware of where NFL players compete and potentially get injured? I'm confused as to what was learned.
the NHL keeping its players from the olympics is one of the most disappointing things to happen to hockey. baseball and hockey are similar in that other countries are super super good at it now. these kinds of tournaments are awesome
The USA did not put forth our best players this year. Especially the pitching staff, which is the most important position on the field. Not to mention, several American born and raised players played for other countries. Freddy Freeman comes to mind, not to mention the entire Puerto Rican team.
depends on the sport.with baseball the wbc is irrelevant compared to the mlb which has much tougher competition. the best players on all of these teams besides some japan players all play in the mlb. thats why its the true world series because its the best players from all over the world. you also cant compare it to the worls cup because the season stops during the world cup the wbc is right before the season even starts.
Yeah, I think a lot of the anger was localized within the New York Mets fandom. In my personal experience, the New York baseball fandom has always felt very self-centered (though that may be too strong a word). New York is the birthplace of baseball, and has had some of its most historic teams and moments. I get that they want the Mets to win and I respect that passion, but the WBC is about way more than just one season, it's about the future of baseball as truly international sport. EDIT: Oh, and I forgot to add that New York sports media also tends to be really brash and bombastic, which means the volume of hot takes and rage is way higher.
America's sports leagues (MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA) are the highest level of play in those retrospective sports. International tournaments are watered down versions of what already exists, the best players from around the world already play in in those American leagues. This is why we say "world champions" for our pro leagues, there isn't another league that compares. It's not like with football/soccer, tennis, golf, etc. where the rest of the world is competitive in and have their own equally important leagues/tournaments. It has nothing to do with being international or not, just the level of play and historical significance our leagues hold
@@DFusions_ Everybody is always chasing team USA bc we’ve been the best since the 90s 😂 but Australia is definitely the second best team in the world tho but just not better than USA
I remember being stationed in Pearl Harbor during the 2006 WBC and being excited about it, thinking it was a great idea. Plus my favorite player, Chipper Jones was on team USA. I was later pissed off when I heard a lot of teams were trying to keep all their best players from joining and representing their country.
I live in America and it felt like every baseball fan I knew was watching the tournament but it was mostly lost on non fans. These games are so good it’s only a mater of time before it draws in the college basketball crowd.
Despite what many Americans may claim, we aren't really patriotic like that. We're very fractured and divided and will often be more proud of what state we are from than we are of being from America. As such, this means most American baseball fans don't care about international play at any level, and only care about their favorite teams, which are usually whichever team is closest to where they live.
should be noted that 90% of the people pissed at the WBC were Mets fans cuz Edwin Diaz is one of the biggest draws to Mets games. Whenever the Mets have the lead its time to "Sound the Trumpets" and because of the WBC the trumpets will remain silent. The Mets also gave him a massive new contract before this season. So when a team built for the World Series...especially a New York team...loses an absolutely crucial player for the season ...youre gonn have far more vocally pissed off people than say...a Milwaukee Brewers player going down. Its especially difficult cuz Mets fans and Diaz have had a rocky relationship and they didnt really buy into him 100% until last year and then this happened and it kind of undone all that good will.
I've said it once and I will say it again.. when a guy like Trout, or Ohtani miss a season (or worse, have their career end) due to an injury in the WBC, that will be the end of MLB players (and most top prospects) participating in the WBC.
The reason Americans think this is dumb is because there are no American baseball fans that care more about winning the World Cup than the World Series. This isn't the same with other sports like soccer, rugby or cricket.
Maybe we SHOULD care about it, because baseball is dying and has been for a while. Players hit home runs and no fan gets the ball because nobody is sitting in that whole section. I played baseball my whole life, and now it’s the one American sport I don’t watch
@@waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaluigi MLB is making more money today than it ever has. Player salaries are higher than ever and higher than almost any other sport in the world. MLB is not dying. And I don't watch MLB anymore either. I don't watch because they fucked it up with cheating scandals that get ignored, stupid "ghost runner" rules and 7 inning games. The WBC is not bringing me back to MLB.
Tbh, i like watching tournaments like this, like the olympics, country vs country, love the side interactions among the players as well. On games like this I get interested on teams to be honest. I find a player that stood out for me, search his team and probably support.
In defense of the US when it comes to pitching, teams have to manage their pitchers' arms very carefully, and MLB managers are, rightfully, worried about trusting their best pitchers to someone else. That said, I'm embarrassed by the actions of the tournament's detractors. Your criticisms are spot on.
2:00 America doesn't care about int'l sports I think b/c of its history and geography. When international sports became a thing in the late 19th century, it was a time of nationalism and imperialism, where all these European nations wanted to show off their powers in an era where there were no major wars between the imperial powers (ofc not the case for what they were doing elsewhere) from 1870-1914, it was a world of commerce and imperialism. It was also an era where pro sports became possible for the first time due to an emerging middle class and also of leisure, and even stuff like having regulation size balls and equipment etc was a product of industrial revolution.The stuff like "World's Fair" etc were big then too (and lol Crystal Palace, the building not the team that was named after the area is a product of this kind of d*ck measuring contest between the Great Powers). But America during this time was still very much isolationist, and moreover while regular games between European countries could be easily done w/ railroads now, it was still a MAJOR hassle to travel across the ocean for sports. So things developed locally, (baseball in the north, following a similar pattern w/ soccer in Europe also spread amongst laborers and the first clubs were formed in a similar way, while the South instead took American football, especially collegiate football, itself an offshoot of rugby/football in England which spread via the boarding schools like Harrow, Eton, as well as universities like Oxford and Cambridge to the equivalents in the US in Harvard, Yale, Princeton. And by the time the World Cup really took off after WWII, America was no longer isolationist but already had 50 years of development of its sporting culture, and most of all I think the reason why everyone else loves int'l sports is bc a lot of it IS nationalism and you need this kind of national insecurity about your place among the major powers to have your people care about the games. I as a korean definitely DEFINITELY care about the games against Japan for example. And America has not much of those kinds of moments, and b/c of its sportring culture taking a different route, it pretty much was the best at the sports it cared about lol
When I decided to experience Cricket it took me only a few days to learned the game. Then immediately started watching The Ashes, The IPL, Big Bash etc.. You don't give a hoot about Baseball. You just want the clicks and views to grow your channels.
Personally, I am rather indifferent to the world baseball classic… I understand both sides of the coin. That being said, I am so incredibly passionate about it because of what I know it means to other countries and because I know how much it pisses other MLB clubs off.
