The World Baseball Classic, hereafter referred to as the WBC, is an international baseball tournament that happens every four years (at least now, the first and second had a three year separation). The idea isn’t dissimilar to the one proposed by the FIFA World Cup, but has yet to be applied as well as such. It hasn’t caught mainstream popularity, at least, not in the United States. It’s pretty popular in other countries, as for them, it’s their best chance to really see these all-star talents take center stage. Many people in Australia, for example, without an illegal stream, are going to have difficulty watching Mike Trout play for the Angels, or Joey Votto play for the Reds. So for these people who can’t watch games as simply as we can throughout the regular season, it’s a real treat.
The intent behind the WBC is great, and I support that much at least, it has a great premise and goal. The issue is that when players play, they get hurt. Hanley Ramirez was slated to play for the Dominican Republic until his shoulder injury forced him out of it. Had he played, he would have run the risk of further aggravation, which would be awful considering we may already be short-handed with the David Price news. It’s the execution of the WBC I take issue with, and I kind of dislike that it takes place at this time of year, rather than later in the year, where most injuries will have a time to heal.
So this week’s prompt is rather simple:
What do you think about the World Baseball Classic? If you like it, have you gone to see games live? If you don’t like it, what do you think could be done to accomplish the same goals of global expansion that the WBC sets out to accomplish?
I look forward to reading your responses, and will see you on Monday! Go Sox!