Team U.S.A. Wins 2017 WBC

Team U.S.A. has won the 2017 World Baseball Classic with a decisive 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico. It is their first triumph in a tournament which began in 2006.

Marcus Stroman threw six no-hit innings and did not surrender a hit until the 7th inning. In his previous outing against Puerto Rico, Stroman had surrendered six straights hits and allowed fwrour runs. It is worth noting that Stroman had been invited to play for Puerto Rico (his mother was born there) and had taken some heat from opting to play for the U.S. However it motivated him, Stroman's performance earned him the tournament's MVP.

There was plenty of offense with a two run home run by Ian Kinsler in the third, RBI singles by Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen in the fifth. A three run rally came in the 7th with a two run single by Brandon Crawford and a RBI single by Giancarlo Stanton. McCutchen would add another RBI single in the 8th.

While Stroman might have been the tournament MVwP, it is Adam Jones who will be remembered for his iconic catch robbing his Baltimore Orioles teammate Manny Machado of a home run in a win against 2013 WBC champion Dominican Republic. During the victory ceremony, Jones said the team had been motivated by Puerto Rico's plans to have shirts printed up and to organize a parade and that it did not sit well with them. A few months back, Jones said baseball was a white man's game. Tonight, Jones was both an ambassador for baseball and an Ambassador for America.

This was also a sweet moment for Team USA manager Jim Leyland who skippered his final game. A choked up Leyland, who guided the Florida Marlins to the 1997 World Series title, dedicated Team USA's triumph to our troops.

A word about Team Puerto Rico. Entering the game, they were undefeated and favored to triumph. Instead for the second tournament in row they are a bridesmaid. They fell short to the Dominican Republic in the 2013 WBC. Sooner or later Puerto Rico will join Japan, the D.R. and the U.S.A. in the winner's circle.

At the outset of the tournament, Tyler Kepner of The New York Times wrote a piece titled, "It's Hard to Be Excited About World Baseball Classic When U.S. Players Aren't". I'm not sure that's entirely true when a lot of teams don't want their players in the tournament. But if American players weren't interested in the WBC this will now surely change. If winning doesn't do that then nothing will.

If nothing else my appetite has been whetted for the 2017 MLB season which begins on April 2nd. The season cannot begin soon enough.