The WBC has come to an end with a very exciting, hold your breath, edge of the chair final between the USA and Japan with Japan winning 3-2 for their third WBC title. It was everything you could want in a baseball game but it was the ending that was like a Hollywood script with Ohtani striking out Mike Trout to end the game. As a fan you couldn’t have asked for better.

Now let’s look at this tournament and some of the pros and cons. For me, being a baseball junkie all my life, I get very excited when the WBC comes along, just as excited as I get when the Rays begin their season. Not only do I want to see team USA win the tournament as they have previously, but I really get into the teams from other nations, especially those not noted for baseball and making their debuts in the tournament.

First, however, let’s get one big thing out of the way, the injury factor. Yes, there were some very serious injuries in this year’s tournament like the Mets Edwin Diaz and the Astros Jose Altuve to name two, but let’s be totally honest here, injuries are part of the game, a part of life and can happen anywhere at any time. Is it a reason, as some desperately want, to end this tournament? Absolutely not, just as you would not end spring training because players get hurt. Sal Licata of WFAN calls it the “Worthless Baseball Classic” and he has gotten roasted for that because it is anything but. I wonder if he feels that way today?

These players for the USA and every other country take deep pride in playing for the love of their country and representing their country on the diamond. A few players have said that it is equal to winning a world series to be able to win for their country. Some fans take issue with that because the WBC doesn’t pay the players, the ML teams they play for are paying their salary and should only play for them and not participate in this tournament. But here is the big hook, this is a MLB event co-sponsored by MLB, WBC and the players union, so the players are the ones who make the decision to play or not. The only way a player cannot play is if it is written in their contract, other than that they are free to make the decision to play for their country or not. Also, the players do get paid as they share in the multi million dollar pool that the tournament brings in. Players will receive anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 for taking part in the WBC.

For me, my interest is number one seeing how any of our Rays players do in the tournament (Arozarenas absolutely killed it and loves the big stage), how our other ML players do. But I am also intrigued by teams like Australia, the Netherlands, Italy and the newcomers like the Czech Republic and Great Britain, both great stories of perseverance and how they got there. The whole idea from day one of WBC was to expand the interest in baseball around the globe and it has worked rather well when you see more and more teams becoming a part of this tournament. I am sure by the time next one rolls around in 2026, there will be several new countries added as baseball continues to grow bigger globally.

As for fan interest and the claim that no one cares about it, that is totally wrong. From released figures going into the semi finals, over 1.3 million people have attended the games throughout the tournament at all venues. The TV ratings in Asia and Europe equal what our Super Bowl ratings are. The TV ratings in the U.S. are up over 20% from the last one. Then there is the merchandise and that has doubled so far, from the past tournament on a world wide basis. To say no one cares and isn’t going or watching is 100% wrong. The simple fact is that baseball will continue to grow globally and the WBC will return in 2026 and it will be a few weeks of more baseball excitement, stories and new heroes of the diamond.

That championship game last night did just what the WBC intended, continue to grow the game on the world stage. Now I hope that MLB will get off their collective butts and take advantage of what this tournament did and make the game much more appealing to the younger generation, who are the future for this game here in the U.S.

See you in 2026 WBC!!

Art Koch, National Features & DVD editor, NightMoves Magazine and AAN