World Baseball Classic: The Best March Madness Out There

[The Frankish Reich]

Holy crap, Ohtani is good. 100 mph fastballs and an absolutely sick slider to get Trout swinging.

Could MLB please find a way to play this tournament in the summer. I mean, it's every 3 years and it is absolutely the best baseball - even in spring training - that I've seen in years. 

Japan sent its best pitchers. We didn't. And that was the difference. USA batting order is probably the best ever assembled in the game of baseball, but it still wasn't enough.

[SirAndrew]

21 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Holy crap, Ohtani is good. 100 mph fastballs and an absolutely sick slider to get Trout swinging.

Could MLB please find a way to play this tournament in the summer. I mean, it's every 3 years and it is absolutely the best baseball - even in spring training - that I've seen in years. 

Japan sent its best pitchers. We didn't. And that was the difference. USA batting order is probably the best ever assembled in the game of baseball, but it still wasn't enough.

Ohtani should be on every sports fan list of elite athletes. The fact he isn’t speaks to the decline of baseball, or the inability of MLB to market their stars. I’m not sure which is the answer. 

[The Frankish Reich]

3 hours ago, SirAndrew said:

Ohtani should be on every sports fan list of elite athletes. The fact he isn’t speaks to the decline of baseball, or the inability of MLB to market their stars. I’m not sure which is the answer. 

I think baseball is finally (finally!) starting to get it, with the pitch clock and other rule changes. Something the WBC gave us: players looking like they are having fun. Coming out of the dugouts to celebrate HRs (not just walk-off HRs), etc. Let's let some of that carry over into the regular season.

[4merper4mer]

11 hours ago, The Frankish Reich said:

I think baseball is finally (finally!) starting to get it, with the pitch clock and other rule changes. Something the WBC gave us: players looking like they are having fun. Coming out of the dugouts to celebrate HRs (not just walk-off HRs), etc. Let's let some of that carry over into the regular season.

I think baseball is improving it’s marketing and agree with much of your quote.  No doubt MLB has had many missteps. The actual sport of baseball is as great as it ever was.  The biggest problem is one they cannot solve.  Most Americans currently have the attention span of a gnat.