After the USA lost to Japan at baseball...

Back to back World War champs

Technically, we have always accepted that. But it isn't like MLB is limited to players from one country (see Ohtani, S).

Could do with some African and Oceania success, but the sport seems to have a healthy spread.

Championships

Japan 3

Dominican Republic 1

USA 1

Top 4 placings

Japan 5

US 3

Dominican Republic 2

Cuba 2

Puerto Rico 2

South Korea 2

The Netherlands 2

Venezuela 1

Mexico 1

Let's be honest, Japan deserved the title, but the best teams in the history of MLB lost 60 games a year. To decide on a world title with one game is just plain silly. At the very least it should be a best of 3. Having said that, looking at the impact of this competition at this point in the season is ridiculous. See Diaz for reference.

The best players from all those countries play on MLB teams, so we do see them in the World Series each year.

Everyone knows that "World Series" is just a name for the MLB championship created because the NL and AL were actually separate leagues. It's really silly that some people complain about it every year.

That said, I really enjoyed this WBC. There were some really dramatic games. I watched a few of them. PR v. DR, US v. Venezuela, were exciting games. It's cool to see the players excited to play for their countries, and the fans were into it too. Good final between the teams you'd expect to be there. Unfortunately US bats went cold against Japan. Cool to see Ohtani close it out. Congrats to Japan.

Best of 3 would be better, best of 5 better still, etc,. but I doubt MLB would ever give up players for that much time.

This is Spring Training time for MLB players. Play the WBC in November; then we'll talk. There is a reason that Japan limits its professional teams to two American players. Why do you think Ohtani plays in America? I'll give you the answer: the best baseball in the world is played by MLB players.

Japan deserved the tittle and probably wins a 4 out of 7 series against the US. They have like 5 mlb caliber aces on that roster alone. Now if they played 100 times, the US may win 65 and emerge ahead but it would be quite the battle. But keep in mind this tourney was in March and most mlb stars do not want to peak in March. Japan was more ready for this given the particular timing of the tourney. If it happened in September, the US would probably gain an advantage.

espn.com

Manfred wants more star pitchers in next WBC

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he is thrilled with the excitement around the World Baseball Classic but hopes "to see pitching staffs that are of the same quality as our position players" in the 2026 edition.

Open link

I agree that Japan deserved it, but Japan was able to trot out its best pitchers while the USA and many of the Latin American countries did not deploy their best. This was displayed last night when most of the USA's pitchers -- in a championship game -- were journeyman (I don"t mean this as an insult).

Come on. Do you even follow sports? If you checkout the U.S. roster, there isn’t a single American pitcher that is the best on their MLB team. Owners are never going to let their $30+M ace pitch in a meaningless tournament and especially in March

The World Series was never an actual world series if it only included America.

Did the US send their best players? And was it a situation where they cared about winning? Were the US players financially incentivized to do well? A lot of times the league championship in the US is a much bigger deal than Olympics and World Championships (viz. NBA finals are much bigger than any international competition). And a lot players don't feel like getting injured in some international tournament at the risk of their main job.

It hasn't 'only included America' for a quite a few generations. There are Canadian teams, but there are also many players from other countries.

Baseball is a game meant to be played slowly over 100+ games to determine who is actually the best. That is part of it's allure and value proposition as a sport.

An exhibition where many of the best players in the world are opting out of playing, in single game eliminations, with pitch counts and mercy rules, is not really a great determinant of which country is actually the best at baseball.

In terms of concentration of talent, the Dominican is unmatched. Will say that I find the MLB system of academies borderline exploitative, but hey it gets some of the island and making millions so not at all all bad.

In terms of depth of talent, the U.S. is also unmatched. Many of our low level college guys opt to play in international leagues after graduating if they don't have affiliated interest.

Japan is also obviously up there, and I think the way they deal with youth talents is admirable. The legends that come out of Koshien make it probably one of the coolest tournaments in the world.

Outside of those three, the rest of the world is lacking. Lots of initiatives I've seen to extend baseball's popularity deeper into South America, and bring it to African nations. It will be interesting to see if either really bears fruit in a couple decades.

What are you talking about?!
World Baseball Championship (WBC) is a tournament.

Most other sports determine world champions with one game in tournaments.

Should the NCAA basketball tournament final game be best of 3 or 7 instead?

The funniest thing is the patriotic response by American posters. Claiming they didn't win because their best players aren't patriotic enough to bother representing their nation. It's good enough for Trout and Ohtani, it's good enough for anyone.

That's a pretty important part of competing, getting your best team on the paddock.

Sorry, we're only half invested. That's pathetic, poor sportspersonship!

American sports leagues are not exclusive to American talent. The best players from all around the world play in these league, which are all undoubtably the premier leagues in the world in each sport excluding MLS.

If the 100m final in Oregon was filled with only Jamaican and American runners would anyone make the same argument?

You aren't the World Champion if only one or two countries are competing. The winner of the EPO doesn't call themselves the world champion, just the champion of England. That is the way it should be

Lol no. The mlb isn’t by far the best baseball league because of only the Americans. The MLB is a combination of almost all countries best players.
Now if the Japanese pro league champs from last year played Houston in a seven game series then you’d maybe have a point.