The edition concerning the 2023 World Baseball Classic has ended, an event that was able to raise its honor and vindicate itself after six years of absence for the enjoyment of the fans, achieving milestones in attendance and ratings as a reliable example of how sustainable it is turning out.
What is shown at a sporting level is not far behind either, having the selection of Japan as champions of the event, who string together seven victories to join the Dominican Republic (2013) as podium leaders through an undefeated.
As in the case of the Orientals, the good stories were present in an event that did not disappoint, despite the unpleasant taste in the mouth left by some teams that could not meet expectations.
disappointments
Among the combinations that end up falling short, without a doubt, are theDominicans who lead the biggest disappointment possible. After succeeding in 2013 and reach the second round in 2017these recede to the darkest of corners upon falling into the first stage.
The quisqueyanos, who had a ninth full of stars with the leading role of five guests at what was the 2022 All-Star Gameended up limited to victories against the teams of Nicaragua and Israel, while defeats against Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
To a lesser extent, another disappointment was seeing South Korea come up short within the qualifiers, who saw teams Australia and Japan advance to the quarterfinals.
The South Koreans are experiencing a moment of considerable rise in baseball with development in their territory, having a thriving league in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), reaching the point of transferring talents to the Major Leagues, as such is the case of Merrill Kelly, who was the starter for the United States in the final game.
surprises
No story surpasses the victory ofCzech Republic – which had a selection of amateur ballplayers and for whom baseball means a secondary job – compared to their counterparts in China. And, similarly, the fact that Australia participated in the quarterfinals having the base of ten players with participation in the minor leagues, meets all the requirements to be described as rewarding.
Although with their forgiveness, the event of seeing Mexico go to the semifinals was anything but expected. This is the story to remember of this classic.
From the beginning, the Aztecs led the preliminary round in group C by going 3-1, including a victory over an impressive United States with a score of eleven runs to five on the night of March 12.
Past this, those with the tricolor flag bumped elbows against Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals, being at a disadvantage when reaching the seventh inning the score favored the Puerto Ricans 4-2, although they redeemed themselves to come from behind in the episode at the rate of three scores. The match was defined with a score of 5-4.
And in the semifinal, despite ending up succumbing to the Japanese team, the Mexicans showed their claws to battle a close game that ended with a score of 6-5. The Aztecs opened the eighth inning leading the actions (5-3), although the imbalance of their relievers led them to disaster.
