This will be the first and only time that I’ll refer to the WBC by it’s formal name, The World Baseball Classic. Don’t expect your local paper to spend much time promoting the series. Conversely, you can expect 24/7 hype from MLB and all of their marketing arms. They hype the heck out of the WBC, but never mention the various pitfalls.

I enjoy and fully support the concept of the WBC, but have several issues with the implementation. Most of the media criticizes the WBC without having attended games in person or taking the participants enthusiasm seriously. Most of the people that complain about nationalism have never had the opportunity to compete/represent their country.

Unlike other professional sports attempts to reach new markets, our media mistakenly thinks the WBC is an attempt to grow the game in the USA. It’s been that way since 2006, the first year of the tournament and the only one that I’ve attended.

Given the opportunity, I’d love to cover a round in any city and any bracket. That being said, I don’t like the timing of the tournament and would favor a post-MLB season event. I’m also less worried about which All-Stars represent the US.

As much as players balk at the length of the ST seasons, I think players need to commit more time (not less) to exhibition games and team workouts in Florida and Arizona. Too many players have proven they aren’t in playing shape in recent (non-pandemic years) and owe it to their teams to earn their keep.

And as wonderful as the WBC is, it’s a huge interruption in the flow of Cactus and Grapefruit League play. Fans spend their hard earned do re mi, expecting to see specific stars. No baseball fan wants to see MLB become the NBA with load management.

The biggest worry though comes in the form of risk of injury and getting injured and the team suffering because of it. It’s always a consideration when players leave their teams to play in international (in-season) tournaments. In fact, several players are coming back from serious injuries and their teams would like to minimize the possibility of further injury.

As is usually the case, you can seek out the games if you are so inclined, and ignore them if they don’t interest you. However, I’ll be sharing some thoughts-mostly positive-in the next couple of weeks.