I Can't Get Into the WBC

[scottmitchell74]

I guess it's like grown-up Little League and it's lost on me.

Anyone get into it?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I do. The WBC is awesome! It's not perfect. it could be better. But, just having the WBC is a good thing

[scottmitchell74]

I do. The WBC is awesome! It's not perfect. it could be better. But, just having the WBC is a good thing

Help fire me up: what's some selling points?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

Help fire me up: what's some selling points?

Seeing the top talent from other nations. They take the WBC quite seriously. Seeing new countries that previously did not have much of a baseball legacy or history like Great Britain, Czech Republic, and Israel.

[Yuri89]

Is súper cool. And you can see really stacked teams like USA dominican republic and Venezuela. And everybody feel the vibe of representing the country.

[scottmitchell74]

Seeing the top talent from other nations. They take the WBC quite seriously. Seeing new countries that previously did have much of a baseball legacy or history like Great Britain, Czech Republic, and Israel.

I watched the US destroy a 19 year old last night. It was fun! (Not being facetious).

[ol' aches and pains]

With the new rules implemented in MLB, this was a poor year to have the WBC. Players need to be in Spring Training learning and adjusting to this pitch clock nonsense.

[LI METS FAN]

This USA Venezuela game is fantastic. I hope USA wins but a nail biter.

[scottmitchell74]

This USA Venezuela game is fantastic. I hope USA wins but a nail biter.

Yes!

I'm in now!

[LI METS FAN]

USA Japan tonight. Japan’s win last night was fun to watch.

[LI METS FAN]

Ohtani striking out Trout to win for Japan. Amazing….

[jjpm74]

Seeing the top talent from other nations. They take the WBC quite seriously. Seeing new countries that previously did not have much of a baseball legacy or history like Great Britain, Czech Republic, and Israel.

Great Britain has had a baseball league since the 19th century. They have plenty of history with the sport. It is just not nearly as popular as soccer, rugby, cricket, darts, or the NFL there. There has been a hurling association in the United States since the 1850s how many of you even know what that is?

I'm with Scott. The WBC only means something to a few of the Caribbean countries, some parts of central and south America, and Japan. The rest of the would couldn't care less about it. I asked a bunch of my British friends what they thought of the tournament and they didn't even know it was going on. The idea that Europe cared about this meaningless tournament is laughable.

I personally found it to be a big bore and tried to get into the final game. Ohtani striking out Trout meant nothing to me. I'm more concerned with the fact that my team lost Diaz for the season after he celebrated a meaningless save with his team having a 3 run lead and watching McNeil and Alonso sit on the bench for the majority of the WBC tournament instead of actually getting ready for the regular season.

[Otis Nixon's Bodyguard]

I love seeing the differences in how other cultures' baseball customs compare to ours. Japan's are my favorite. First off their fans are more like we think of soccer fans. Whereas our fans see the fan experience as a leisurely analysis of a low chess-type ball sport (or just a leisurely day drinking beer in the sun for those not overly into the game itself), their fan experience is more like how we would think of the soccer fan experience: constantly cheering, jumping, even waving giant flags on poles the entire game (not just in international competition, but individual NPB team flags in their league). Just a totally different tradition. Or the bean ball. It's frowned upon here, but it definitely happens intentionally (usually for a reason, whether good or bad). In Japan it's considered disrespectful/dishonorable to the point that some of the Japanese NPB pitchers bought apology gifts for the batters they (accidentally) hit. Again, just a cool difference, even if small. Not meaning to imply it's "better" or anything (just different, kind of like how their take on Karaoke is so different), but I'd definitely love to go to an NPB game some day. I know less about the Latin approach, but it seems like players are more intense and emotional like we've seen from some of their stars that play in MLB (Puig, Machado, etc.), whereas our players are more calculating and methodical, again more of the chess game approach. No idea about the Europeans. But they've all taken an American thing, and subtle yet noticeable differences have evolved in the way they play it and enjoy it as fans.

[scottmitchell74]

I love seeing the differences in how other cultures' baseball customs compare to ours. Japan's are my favorite. First off their fans are more like we think of soccer fans. Whereas our fans see the fan experience as a leisurely analysis of a low chess-type ball sport (or just a leisurely day drinking beer in the sun for those not overly into the game itself), their fan experience is more like how we would think of the soccer fan experience: constantly cheering, jumping, even waving giant flags on poles the entire game (not just in international competition, but individual NPB team flags in their league). Just a totally different tradition. Or the bean ball. It's frowned upon here, but it definitely happens intentionally (usually for a reason, whether good or bad). In Japan it's considered disrespectful/dishonorable to the point that some of the Japanese NPB pitchers bought apology gifts for the batters they (accidentally) hit. Again, just a cool difference, even if small. Not meaning to imply it's "better" or anything (just different, kind of like how their take on Karaoke is so different), but I'd definitely love to go to an NPB game some day. I know less about the Latin approach, but it seems like players are more intense and emotional like we've seen from some of their stars that play in MLB (Puig, Machado, etc.), whereas our players are more calculating and methodical, again more of the chess game approach. No idea about the Europeans. But they've all taken an American thing, and subtle yet noticeable differences have evolved in the way they play it and enjoy it as fans.

I would absolutely love to do a month in Japan and hit all the ballparks.

[Mischa]

I'm with Scott. The WBC only means something to a few of the Caribbean countries, some parts of central and south America, and Japan. The rest of the would couldn't care less about it. I asked a bunch of my British friends what they thought of the tournament and they didn't even know it was going on. The idea that Europe cared about this meaningless tournament is laughable.

If only a few countries like it, then why was it one of the most widely-watched baseball events ever? Even in the US, it had the second-highest rating since 2011. Britain is not a good example as their team was pretty much guys from the Bahamas and the US. I think it's great that the WBC is getting more popular with each edition and drawing bigger ratings and baseball's biggest stars. Sounds like the US players (and others) had a blast, from reporting in my local newspaper, which has interviewed David Bednar and Duane Underwood Jr. most recently.