With the Caribbean Series coming to Miami, FL in the second week of February 2024, now is a good time to familiarize readers with the current landscape of winter baseball. What it is, what it’s like, where leagues are, and what the competition is like. For those that don’t know, the Caribbean Series is baseball’s Winter version of the UEFA Champions League. A tournament for the...
Bubby Rossman had dreams of reaching the majors someday. He just never anticipated it would come as a pitcher. The California native was an outfielder while playing at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he displayed a strong arm. He recorded seven assists in right field his senior year, which culminated in winning a Division II Rawlings West Region Gold Glove Award. Rossman, 30,...
Pete Alonso arrived back from the World Baseball Classic on Thursday and he came back with one thing on his mind: The Mets making it to the postseason. Alonso represented a Team USA team that lost to Japan in the final of the tournament. So many players came back saying the WBC had the atmosphere of playoff baseball, and Alonso was no different. “It’s an addicting feeling,” he said in an...
I stepped in for Sal to host the latest MMO Weekly with executive editor Mike Mayer. In this episode, Mike and I talked about: The World Baseball Classic and how great it is for baseball The flip side, where Edwin Díaz’s injury will affect the Mets and how the bullpen may operate this season Brett Baty vs. Eduardo Escobar on Opening Day (and throughout the season) Does Darin Ruf have a...
Good morning, Mets fans! According to Paulsen of Sports Media Watch, there was a record audience of nearly five million viewers for the World Baseball Classic final. The Fox Sports 1 audience outdrew all but one MLB game on the network last year (including postseason). The game referenced was Phillies vs. Padres NLCS game four with an average of 4.88 million viewers. Tuesday’s Japan vs. United...
Good morning, Mets fans! The World Baseball Classic came to a close on Tuesday, and crowned Team Japan as they went on to beat the U.S. 3-2. The U.S. opened the second inning with a Trea Turner solos shot that went 405 feet. Japan then responded in the bottom half of the inning with two runs of their own. Munetaka Murakami answered with a solo shot of his own and Lars Nootbaar grounded into a...
Mike Trout vs. Shohei Ohtani. That’s the billing of Tuesday night’s 2023 World Baseball Classic Final. The United States and Japan—two of the best teams throughout the whole tournament—face off for the WBC title. Japan made the final after winning a thrilling game against Mexico. Down 3-0, new Red Sox outfielder Masataka Yoshida launched a three-run home run to tie the game in the...
This Fan Shot was written by former MMO writer Satish Ram. As a once famed British professional wrestler used to take delight in saying, I am afraid I have some bad news to dole out to some of the fanbase—and that might be a common theme throughout this piece. The World Baseball Classic is the singular best thing for the game of baseball right now. I want to run that by you all again: there is...
The Team USA offense has gotten red hot at the right time. On Sunday night, they were able to dominate Cuba, 14-2, in Miami as they have reached the World Baseball Classic final for the second consecutive time. They await the winner of the Mexico-Japan semifinal, which will be played tomorrow night. It did not look good early as Cuba got on the board first against Adam Wainwright. After three...
Good morning, Mets fans! Per Marc Craig of The Athletic, Edwin Díaz returned home to Port St. Lucie on Saturday after having surgery on Thursday. He was greeted by a trainer, nutritionist and a personal chef, courtesy of Steve Cohen and the Mets. According to a phone call between Cohen and Díaz, Cohen told him, “We’re going to do everything we can to get you better and take care of you.” This is...
We witnessed quite the classic in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday. With the United States down to their last six outs in the WBC, Mark DeRosa’s squad found a way to come back after leading by three runs multiple times in the game. Down 7-5 in the top of the eighth, Trea Turner crushed a bases loaded grand slam to left field that ended up giving Team USA a 9-7 victory over previously...
We’re getting into crunch time in the World Baseball Classic and we have a mouthwatering game to look forward to on Saturday. Team USA will take on Team Venezuela with a place in the semifinals at stake. While the WBC has come under fire this week in light of the Edwin Díaz injury news, the tournament has still delivered plenty of thrilling moments and that will only continue the deeper we...
