U.S. Wins World Baseball Classic

Marcus Stroman took a no hitter into the seventh inning and Ian Kinsler, Andrew McCutcheon, and Brandon Crawford each drove in two runs as the United States rolled to an 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico to win the 4th World Baseball Classic on March 22nd at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It is the first time a United States team has won the once every four years classic.

Though it wasn’t quite a Dream Team, it was pretty close. The roster of the U.S. team included a lot of All Star caliber players, even though some stars like Kris Bryant and Mike Trout elected not to participate and are with their big league clubs in spring training. Perhaps this first U.S. title will convince others to participate in 2021. The 16 team tournament began with a four team round robins in Seoul, Miami, Tokyo, and Jalisco, Mexico, followed by second round games in Tokyo and San Diego. The semi finals and championship were held in Los Angeles. It essentially came down to a team of U.S. major leaguers against Puerto Rican major leaguers. It was the second time in a row that Puerto Rico lost in the finals; in 2013, Puerto Rico lost to the Dominican Republic in the championship game.