Not even sure where to begin with this… From Taiwan’s Yu Chang’s go-ahead grand slam vs the Netherlands or Trea Turner’s grand slam or even Japan’s Murakami’s walk off double to beat Mexico and OF COURSE Shohei Ohtani gassing up Mike Trout for the final out to become World Champions. That was the single greatest damn baseball event EVER. The 2023 World Baseball Classic was better than the 2017 and 2013 WBCs combined, and even those were phenomenal. I know a lot of fans that are just now being introduced to this tournament, which is great for the sport, but this tournament has been amazing since 2006, yes I even remember watching that one too. The passion, the fight, the quality, everything was must watch tv. There are some changes, adjustments that could be made going forward, but overall I’m confident in saying that I am not the only person that feels this is the greatest baseball event as attendance and viewership records were SHATTERED.

The 2023 WBC drew over 1 million fans during pool play alone, which was a total of 40 games and averages out to about 25,000 fans a game. Keep in mind that many games did not include the host country, especially in Taiwan and Japan. In 2017, the WBC drew 510,000 fans, making this tournament roughly a 98% increase in fan attendance. Holy shit! Tokyo overall had the highest attendance of 361,000 fans, compared to 295,000 in Miami which was 2nd overall. The most attended game in pool play was Mexico’s win over USA in Phoenix which drew 47,000 fans. 

Personally, my favorite location/pool for many reasons was Pool A in Taichung, Taiwan which was Team Taiwan, Cuba, Italy, Netherlands and Panama. The fans in Taiwan were by far and away the best fans of the whole Classic, as they were on their feet from the 1st inning to the 9th inning chanting one thing after another. The only chant that I could pick up on was “We are Team Taiwan… We are Team Taiwan!”

Speaking from personal experience after playing there in 2017, Taiwan has a very unique baseball atmosphere. The best way to describe it is like taking the formality of Japanese baseball fans and combining it with the rowdiness and energy of American fans, probably not the most correct way to explain it, but I think it makes the most sense! They truly love baseball out there and will cheer no matter the score for all 9 innings. With that being said, the Taiwanese fans were on another level seeing their own Chinese Taipei squad on home turf on the biggest stage. It was truly something else. Miami was a close 2nd for me, with the Latin countries all fighting it out in the group of death. The Dominican, Venezuela and Puerto Rico put on an absolute show every single night, with the DR falling just short, which goes to show you how tough it was to come out of that pool. The fans showed up every single game… I get goosebumps thinking about seeing all those flags waving and the smiles and joy the fans got from being able to watch their native countries playing a sport they love. So many people come to the United States for a better way of life, but they all dearly miss their home countries. So when you keep that in mind, they get to express their love for their countries while in the United States with fellow natives who also made the same choice of coming to the United States. You just can't describe it! I see it all the time with my father. 

Now talking about the on the field results, I had a strong feeling the whole time that Japan was going to win the WBC, but I originally thought it would be against Venezuela. Either way, Japan vs USA was the script that we all needed. After group play, Japan, USA, Venezuela and Mexico all looked like the teams to beat. 

The 8 quarter finalists were: Japan, Australia, Cuba, Italy, Mexico, USA, Puerto Rico and Venezuela

The 4 semi-finalists were: Japan, Mexico, Cuba, USA

Three of those four teams belonged, the other, Cuba was gifted by far the easiest road to the semifinals, which only happened because of Australia’s historic upset over South Korea to finish 2nd in Pool B behind Japan. Cuba somehow, someway found themselves in 1st place in Pool A via a 5 team tiebreaker after starting the WBC 0-2, which was pure chaos. This all setup quite the interesting matchup between the USA and Cuba for historical, political, and all of the above reasons. Miami is obviously home to the biggest Cuban diaspora in the United States, and not too many people were happy about the Cubans being allowed to play on US soil as they are technically funded by the Cuban regime. Their words, not mine. I was just disappointed Cuba didn’t have a strong enough team to compete with the US, as the bad blood between the defectors and the federation continues. For example, Randy Arozarena chose to play for Mexico instead of his birthplace, Cuba. 

The Final: Japan and USA met in the finals for the first time, as Japan won their 3rd World Title and the USA finished with their 2nd all-time Top 3 finish. Japan has finished 1st, 1st, 3rd, 3rd, and 1st in the first 5 editions of the WBC. Pure domination. Samurai Japan had 4 MLB players and 26 NPBL players, the US had 30 MLB players... The final can be summarized pretty quickly, it was the championship matchup of Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout, arguably baseball's two biggest stars. The game ended the way it was previewed, Shohei Ohtani facing Mike Trout for the final out. It was truly a "World Championship" game feel. Couldn't have scripted it any better, probably better than anything the NFL has ever come up with.

If I had to rank my top 3 games in the whole event, it would probably go like this:
1. USA vs Japan (Final)

2. Japan vs Mexico (Semi-Final)

3. Tie between Puerto Rico vs Mexico (Quarters) and USA vs Venezuela (Quarters)

Honorable mention: Italy vs Taiwan Pool Play

A little side nugget of info, if you noticed Yu Chang doing the salute and wondered why? He initially declined to play for Taiwan before the WBC and the Taiwanese people called him a deserter. In 2019, Chang and the Taiwanese baseball federation signed an agreement that Chang could forgo his military obligation and play for the national team, but it meant he had to participate in any future event that the national team invited him to. So then he decided to play and had a little fun with it.

There was one thing I was extremely annoyed by that needs to be addressed and it was Italy’s base hit celebration, which is the universal Greek/Italian hand motion that essentially means “What the fuck are you talking about?” *insert laughing emoji* It is used to add emphasis/meaning to the conversation. The celebration makes no sense lmao. I get it, they are having fun and found something that gives some Italian vibes and “culture,” but at the end of the day, it was CRINGE AF. Not many things bother me like that, but my god it was egregious.

A player that I knew nothing about going into this tournament, but wow’d me was Japan’s Roki Sasaki. The 21 year old flamethrowing phenom was simply a pleasure to watch slinging it. A cool 99-102 with a filthy splitty is honestly a feat that most people don’t understand the magnitude of how incredible it is. In the pool play round, he faced the Czech’s and I’m sure you can imagine how it went… 8 Ks over 3+ innings. Wasn’t even close. Then he faced Mexico in the semi-finals, and that went a little bit differently, 4 innings 3 runs with 3 Ks including giving up a 3-run HR to Luis Urias. Overally, I was impressed with him and the rest of Japan’s pitching staff. Makes me watch to catch a few Nippon games every now and then. They breed All-Star arms. Stuff like that is just another reason why this event is so good. It truly brings the best talent of the world out.

SHOUT OUT TO EUROPE! All 4 European teams (Italy, Netherlands, Great Britain, Czech Republic) avoided relegation and qualified for the 2026 WBC. Really a monumental achievement to help advance the sport in Europe. It will bring all kinds of momentum and attention as teams continue to develop their league’s and youth programs. Regardless of how many “Americans” were on the teams, it still creates dreams amongst the younger generations to be able to participate and also brings tons of money to the federations from the national governments. 

The 4 teams that finished last in their respective pools and will have to requalify are: Nicaragua, Colombia (shocker), China and Taiwan. Of those 4, Taiwan and Colombia are nowhere near the others in terms of talent and will be back in the next one. On the bright side, this means that Taiwan will more than likely end up as a host location for the 2025 Qualifiers. Another opportunity to see that crowd cheering on their national team. In the past, there have only been 2 qualifiers with 5ish teams in each. I think it will expand to 4 locations with 4 teams in each and the winner of each will qualify for the 2026 WBC. Praying the Greeks will get a bid to one of these qualifiers. *praying emoji*

Overall, a fantastic event that will only continue to grow. The biggest debate over the last few days has been, “When should this event take place?” Personally, I think now is great or even pushed back a few weeks. Let the MLB teams hold their full spring training schedule and then let the WBC commence afterwards. Every 4 years, the MLB can push back opening day by 2 weeks. It will do absolutely no harm, as you can see the pros far outweigh the cons. Another option is to hold it in the fall after the World Series. The biggest issue with that is guys are done, they are worn out, the only thing they want to do is go on vacation and relax. I thought about the possibility of hosting it in the winter, just like when all the winter leagues are going on, but most MLB guys are not in game shape or even remotely close to being ready to play a game. Lastly, the idea of hosting it in the middle of the season as a replacement for the All-Star game. The biggest problem with that is it gives teams no time to prepare with pre-tournament exhibitions, team bonding, etc. That will take away from the full experience of it all.

That’s all I have for you, and to KFCBarstool... you don't know ball.