High Stakes Baseball in March, Sure!

All In with John Jastremski

The World Baseball Classic started in 2006 and despite the fact that I consider myself a huge baseball fan, initially it wasn’t my cup of tea.

I found myself every few years questioning whether or not I wanted to make the March emotional investment of getting into baseball at this particular point in the calendar.

However, something changed for me watching the event in 2023.

The initial haterade and skepticism turned into full fledged enjoyment watching the games in mid March.

The players were into it. The competition was there. And yes, the idea of baseball being played at a high level in March with a patriotic twist had my juices flowing.

The United States lost the championship game to Japan, but a dramatic game with a match-up of Mikey Trout vs Shohei Othani with the game on the line was worth my while.

The event starts this weekend and if you look around baseball, its obvious.

The boys from all over the world are all in.

The United States pulled out the heavy hitters to try and win the event.

Aaron Judge is making his WBC debut for Team USA. The roster is absolutely stacked.

Judge, Bryce Harper joined by Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes on the mound just to name a few.

The potential match-ups with the United States, Japan and the Dominican Republic should be outstanding.

There is one last piece of haterade from the non WBC fan. Injuries.

And of course, who can forget Edwin Diaz’s season ending injury celebrating on the mound after a DR victory.

For the countless Yankees and Mets playing over the next two weeks, you pray for no injuries.

Guess what though, injuries can happen in a grapefruit league game too.

After the beauty of team sport and patriotism that was on display at the Olympic games, lets see what the boys of summer can do in March!

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday & Thursday on Spotify/Apple podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY