In the fall of 1935, Mann and future Hall of Famer Max Carey took a group of college players, sponsored by Wheaties, to Japan for what turned out to be a successful 20-game exhibition tour. The following summer Mann began the selection process for the US Olympic baseball team. After tryouts around the country, Mann took his Olympic hopefuls to Baltimore in early July for the squad’s final workouts. Each player who made the team was required to put up $500 to cover his expenses.

The head coach of Olympic baseball team was Harry Wolter, the Stanford University head coach. The other coaches and advisers were Dinty Dennis, Miami Herald sports editor; George Laing of the Penn Athletic Club in Philadelphia; Linn Wells, baseball coach at Bowdoin College in Waterville, Maine; and Judson Hyames, baseball coach at Western State Teachers College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. George “Tiny” Parker and veteran baseball scout John “Poke” Whalen were selected by Mann to accompany the team to Berlin as umpires.

The team practiced at Gibbons Field in the Irvington section of West Baltimore. These grounds, which are adjacent to Mount Saint Joseph High School, are now called Slentz Field. In order to give local players an opportunity to make the squad, nearly 60 of Baltimore’s best amateurs were asked to try out. Four teams were selected from this group, then matched up in a doubleheader at Bugle Field in East Baltimore. A dozen of the best players from those two games were placed on a team called the Pimlico All-Stars. On July 4 the Olympians played the All-Stars at the Pimlico Oval. Team USA won the contest 12-9, scoring five runs in the top of the ninth to secure the win. Baltimorean Bill Kidd, star backstop for the Chesapeake Baking Company, caught part of the game for the Olympians.

On July 7, the US Olympic baseball team went to Washington to play a fundraising game against the Quantico Marines at Griffith Stadium. Team USA came out on top 15-2 in front of several thousand patriotic supporters.

The next day the Olympians squared off against the Baltimore City Police Department baseball team at Bugle Field. The Police roster was made up almost entirely of former professional baseball players who left Organized Baseball to pursue a career in law enforcement. The manager of the police team, Polly Martin, chose Edward “Augie” Schroll as his starting pitcher. Schroll pitched for the Cambridge Canners in the Class D Eastern Shore League in 1922. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 10-9 record with 146 strikeouts while leading the circuit in innings pitched (205). Team USA manager Harry Wolter countered with Eldred Brittsan from Wren, Iowa. Brittsan played two seasons in the minor leagues before joining the US Army in World War II. He was killed on January 28, 1945, while fighting with 80th Infantry Division in Luxembourg.

Mann’s charges took an early 1-0 lead when Grover Galvin drilled Schroll’s second pitch of the game over the right-center-field fence. Unfazed by the early long ball, Schroll retired the next three batters in order. The Police countered with four runs in the bottom of the first on two walks and four hits. Brittsan lasted two-thirds of the inning before being relieved by University of Oregon pitcher Bill Sayles. A tall right-hander, Sayles later pitched for three major-league teams.

From that point on the Police never relinquished the lead, eventually coming out on top 9-5. Schroll worked seven innings for the police, giving up four runs while walking three and fanning five. Bill Runge pitched the eighth and ninth, allowing one run on two hits. Runge was a 14-game winner for the Youngstown Buckeyes in the Class B Central League in 1932. Hard-throwing Fred Heringer from the University of Nebraska pitched the last four innings of the game for Team USA, holding the Police to one final run. Of Heringer, the Baltimore Sun wrote, “He is a right-hander with plenty of smoke and looked like the best hurler Mann has on his staff.”1

The Police held the Olympians to just six hits. Second baseman Les McNeese went 1-for-3 with a double. McNeese, who replaced Galvin at second base early in the game, was a standout player from the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area. Shortstop Dow Wilson, from Dover City, Iowa, connected for a pair of singles. Iowa native Galvin, Hubert Shaw of Bowdoin College, Paul Amen from the University of Nebraska, and Don Hibbard from Western State Teachers College all had one hit.

Police third baseman Jimmy Lyston and center fielder George Klemmick each contributed two hits for the victors. Lyston broke into professional baseball in 1921 with Jack Dunn’s Baltimore Orioles in the Double-A International League. Lyston was playing for Joe Cambria’s Hagerstown Hubs in the Class C Mid-Atlantic League in June of 1931 when he resigned to join the Baltimore police force.

Klemmick was a pitcher and batterymate of catcher Jimmie Foxx on the 1924 Easton Farmers in the Class D Eastern Shore League. Both were signed by the Philadelphia Athletics at the end of the season. On April 25, 1924, Klemmick had struck out 21 Severn batters while pitching for Polytechnic High School in Baltimore.

Schroll, who played the infield when he wasn’t on the mound, helped his cause with two safeties in three trips to the plate.

Henry Sherry, another member of the police squad, was a former pitcher-infielder-outfielder in the Class D Blue Ridge League. He and Runge pitched as the police team captured two pennants in 1936. The first was in the local Interclub League, where the Bluecoats finished with a record of 14-3. The second championship was earned in what was called the John Law Series, games played between police-department baseball teams from Baltimore, Washington, Alexandria, Virginia, Norfolk, Virginia, and the FBI. All the teams had players with professional baseball experience so this was always a hard-fought series.

Surprisingly, no Baltimoreans were chosen to play on the Olympic baseball team. Edwin Mumma from Sharpsburg, Maryland, worked out with Team USA during the practice sessions, but he didn’t make the trip to Berlin, presumably due to an injured ankle. The Baltimore Sun noted that the Olympic squad included five members of George Laing’s Penn Athletic Club. Baseball-Reference.com shows that four of the 21 members of the Olympic baseball squad were from Wolter’s Stanford team.

On July 15 the US Olympic delegation left New York for Germany aboard the steamer Manhattan. The Japanese were scheduled to play an exhibition game against Mann’s club in Berlin but they somewhat belatedly decided to withdraw from the competition. Japan did, however, send a group of athletes to Germany to compete in other Olympic sports. The reason for canceling the baseball game lies somewhere in the chilly relationship between Washington and Tokyo at this time. This rift was due to a variety of issues including recent upheaval in the Japanese government caused by an attempted coup, as well as the country’s harsh military policies in East Asia.

On the evening of August 12, the US team played an intrasquad demonstration game on an all-grass field inside a running track at the dimly lit Olympic Stadium in Berlin. The two teams, named the World Champions and the U.S Olympics, played seven innings with the Champions coming out on top, 6-5, on a walk-off homer by Les McNeese. The crowd was estimated to be anywhere from 90,000 to 125,000.

America’s national pastime made such a favorable impression on the Olympic directors that the sport was scheduled for inclusion at the 1940 Games in Tokyo. The Games were canceled because of World War II.

Baseball was played in single-game demonstrations again at the 1952, 1956, and 1964 Olympics. Still not a sanctioned medal event, the first Olympic baseball tournament was held in 1984, followed by a similar competition in 1988. Finally in 1992, baseball became an official Olympic medal sport. The sport’s tenure on the world stage would turn out to be short-lived. In 2005 the International Olympic Committee eliminated baseball and softball after the 2008 games in Beijing. As of 2016, the Olympic ban on both sports was still in effect.

Author’s note

Baltimore Police third baseman Jimmy Lyston was the author’s grandfather.

Sources

Baseball-reference.com.

Cava, Pete. Baseball in the Olympics (PDF), 7-15.

Find-A-Grave findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi/http%22//%3C/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=86255098, accessed June 14, 2016.

Graham, Kevin. “Baseball Revisited” (blog), baseballrevisited.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/baseball-in-the-1936-olympics/, accessed June 10, 2016.

Keenan, Jimmy. The Lystons: A Story of One Baltimore Family and Our National Pastime (Self-published 2009).

Net 54Baseball.com.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=204021, Accessed June 17, 2016.

Sullivan, Dean A. Middle Innings: A Documentary History of Baseball 1900-1948 (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998).

Washington Post.

Notes

Willie Mays (#24, leaping at right) celebrates as Roberto Clemente (#21, at far left) and other Santurce Crabbers teammates look on. (Courtesy of Jorge Colón Delgado.)

Herman Franks had managed the 1953-54 Magallanes Navigators to a 39-37 record in the Venezuelan four-team Winter League and led the Santurce Crabbers to the Caribbean Series the next season.1

Franks recalled, “When Santurce arrived in Caracas, they asked me what I was doing there. They said, we [Santurce] didn’t have a chance to win as Almendares from Cuba would take it all. I told them the only reason I brought this [Santurce] team there was for them to see Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.”2

Magallanes represented Venezuela in the 1955 Caribbean Series, Phase I (1949-1960) of a four-team round-robin tournament, which also included teams from Cuba, Panamá, and Puerto Rico. Magallanes finished second (4-2), one game behind Santurce.3 Teams played each opponent twice. Phase I of the Caribbean Series was discontinued in February 1961, due to issues between Fidel Castro, the Caribbean Confederation, and the discontinuation of the Cuban Winter League.

Santurce won the Caribbean Series in 1951 (5-1), 1953 (6-0), and 1955 (5-1) and was the first team to win three titles. The Crabbers’ 1951 and 1953 squads were reinforced by players from other league teams, a common practice throughout the Caribbean. The 1955 edition, though, had only Santurce players on its 22-man roster. Six February 2022 Caribbean Series teams had 32-man rosters, 10 more than 1955.4

The 1954-55 Crabbers went 47-25 and beat Caguas in the league finals. They used 20 of 22 roster players in Caracas, 6 pitchers and 14 position players. Roberto Clemente was Santurce’s only native position player who started all six contests. Teams were allowed nine imports. Franks’ two coaches, Dick Seay and Ramón “Monchile” Concepción, once played in the Negro Leagues. Santurce’s main series lineup, including its February 12 game versus Magallanes, was:

1. Don Zimmer, SS
2. Roberto Clemente, LF
3. Willie Mays, CF
4. Buzz Clarkson, 3B
5. Bob Thurman, RF
6. George Crowe, 1B
7. Harry Chiti, C
8. Ron Samford, 2B
9. Sam Jones, P

Santurce played three “home games” in the series. Clemente was 1-for-8 in his first two games, vs. Cuba’s Almendares Blues (0-for-4) on February 10; then, 1-for-4 against Panamá’s Carta Vieja Yankees the next day.5 On opening Night, against Almendares, Clemente played in front of the largest crowd (40,000 total, paid attendance 34,000) as of that moment of his career. Rubén Gómez bested Almendares in the series opener.6

Sam Jones started and finished against Magallanes on February 12. He allowed three hits, two by Chico Carrasquel and one by Ramón Monzant.7 (Monzant was Franks’ 1953-54 workhorse with a 14-6 won-lost record, and Magallanes’ 1954-55 ace, 11-7 W-L.)8 Magallanes’ lineup for skipper Lázaro Salazar comprised the following:9

1. Chico Carrasquel, SS
2. Jack Lohrke, 2B
3. George Wilson, RF
4. Bob Skinner, 1B
5. Bob Lennon, CF
6. Luis “Camaleón” García, 3B
7. Dalmiro Finol, LF
8. Luis “Güigüí” Lucas, C
9. Ramón Monzant, P

Magallanes took a 1-0 lead off Jones when it loaded the bases, and Skinner grounded into a double play. Clemente cracked a solo homer in the first – a long drive over the center-field fence – after Zimmer was retired. Güigüí Lucas scored a go-ahead run in the second, after he walked, advanced to second on a Monzant base hit, and dashed home on Carrasquel’s run-scoring single, Crowe’s triple in the fourth scored Clarkson, to tie the game, 2-2.10 Santurce threatened in the seventh, with two-out hits by Samford and Jones, but Zimmer flied to center.11

The clock struck midnight when Clemente stepped to the plate and singled in the home half of the 11th. Enriqueta Marcano Zorrilla, niece of Santurce owner Pedrín Zorrilla, remembered the crowd mocking Mays, 0-for-12 until then, with a whispering sh … sh … sound, as if to say, he “was being silenced.”12 Mays’ walk-off 385-foot homer to left-center, at 12:03 A.M., ended the 2-hour 25-minute contest. Clemente scored the winning run, followed by Mays, in the 4-2 win.13

Santurce was the “home team” vs. Almendares on February 13. The Crabbers were losing, 6-0, in the sixth when Zimmer singled and Clemente doubled. Mays tripled and Crowe singled to cut the deficit in half.14 Thurman’s eighth-inning double drove in Mays to make it 6-4. Almendares’ Red Munger retired Chiti and Samford in the ninth, but Alfonso Gerard drilled a pinch-hit single, followed by Zimmer’s two-run homer, to tie the game (6-6).15

Clemente drew a two-out walk. Bobby Bragan, Almendares’ skipper, summoned Al Lyons to pitch. Mays singled to right, and Clemente never stopped running. Right fielder Lee Walls bobbled the ball but got it to second baseman Al Federoff, who threw it wide of the plate.16 “That winning run by Clemente from first was terrific,” recalled Zimmer. “What a great effort!”17

Clemente’s two triples vs. Carta Vieja on February 14, after Magallanes beat Almendares, propelled Santurce and Bill Greason to an 11-3 series-clinching win. His first three-bagger sparked a three-run rally in the top of the first, followed by a third-inning triple. The Crabbers lost a meaningless game to Magallanes the next night.18

Table I has Clemente’s hitting stats. He scored one-fourth of Santurce’s 32 runs, per Table I. The Crabbers’ winning share was $650 apiece. Total attendance was 122,000, with $206,000 in gate receipts.19 Zimmer, the Series MVP, called these Crabbers “the greatest Winter League ballclub ever assembled.” He got emotional recalling Clemente as a Santurce teammate and someone he managed with the 1967-68 San Juan Senators. “I appreciated his hustle and dedication as a Santurce teammate, and as someone I managed with San Juan.”20

Thurman, a Santurce role model for Clemente in 1952-1956 during 3½ Winter League seasons, noted, “We were just like a big family; everyone would do something for somebody else.… It just jelled ‘cause we had the talent to play the game. I often thought that we could beat any major-league club with the set-up we had. Roberto played left field because I had a better throwing arm than he did.”21

Clemente arrived at Santurce’s Isla Grande Airport at 3:26 P.M. on February 16. Over 50,000 fans waited for the plane’s arrival. Enriqueta Marcano Zorrilla recalled that “Santurce, Campeón Séptima Serie del Caribe” (Santurce Champion Seventh Caribbean Series) was inscribed on the plane.22 A day earlier, Pedrín Zorrilla received this congratulatory telegram from Puerto Rican governor Luis Muñoz Marín: “I commend Puerto Rico’s representative for their resounding triumph.… It exemplifies the fighting spirit of our people.”23

The championship and welcome home concluded a special winter for Clemente, who led all 1955 Caribbean Series players with eight runs scored, including the game-winning dash from first on Mays’ single on February 13. Clemente developed a special bond with Mays, via late-morning practices during the 1954-55 season at Sixto Escobar Stadium, with Luis Olmo, Franks, and batboy Orlando Cepeda, who also attended these practices.24

The tournament, played in September 1972, featured a balky five-way round-robin setup that included the champions of the three Triple-A minor leagues, Honolulu’s Triple-A team as host, and an unaffiliated team of Latino minor leaguers. All games were played in Honolulu, so most out-of-town fans couldn’t go if they wanted to. Attendance was poor; the leagues reportedly took “quite a financial bath”; and the event was never repeated.1

But while the tournament was a fiasco off the field, the action on the field was robust and exciting. The Latino team, known as the Caribbean All-Stars,2 faced elimination at the end of the first round before winning three straight games to reach the championship against the favored Albuquerque Dukes, the Pacific Coast League farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a tense extra-inning matchup, the underdogs rode timely hitting and gutsy pitching to a dramatic 6-2 win.3

The World Baseball Classic looked great on paper. The idea of a “minor league championship of the world” held enough prestige to draw sponsorship by Eastman Kodak, whose photography empire spanned the globe. An all-star team from the winter Caribbean League represented baseball-loving Latin America, and a team from Japan was reportedly being considered for future tournaments. Rumored future sites for the event included Mexico City; Tokyo; Caracas, Venezuela; and Seattle.4

As for Honolulu, it had solid credentials to host the first tournament. The Hawaii Islanders of the PCL had led the minors in attendance for four straight seasons, drawing 305,878 fans in 1972 despite their 74-74 record.5 Hawaii manager Rocky Bridges made a sage prediction of the Classic’s outcome: “Whoever gets hot will take it.”6

The tournament, however, failed to stir interest in Honolulu or most anywhere else. Support was mixed among Triple-A teams, with some general managers openly blasting the idea.7 The final days of the Munich Summer Olympics overlapped with the first few days of the tournament, diverting fans’ attention. Then football season took primacy. A local high-school football game drew 10,000 fans on a night when the Classic drew fewer than 1,300.8

The unfamiliarity of the teams also dampened interest. While the Dukes, the Tidewater Tides (International League), and the Evansville Triplets (American Association) won their respective leagues, fans in Honolulu felt little connection to them.9 And the Caribbean All-Stars had even less name recognition—although their ranks included players with major-league experience, including infielders Gus Gil and José Martínez, first baseman Ramon Webster, and outfielder Ossie Blanco. The Caribbean team was managed by former minor-league infielder Tony Pacheco, who had skippered Oklahoma City of the American Association to a 57-83 record in 1972.10 Pacheco subsequently coached with the Cleveland Indians and Houston Astros.

When the first round of play ended on September 16, Albuquerque and Tidewater had won three games each and Evansville two, giving them a pass to the win-or-go-home second round. Hawaii and the Caribbean All-Stars, with one win each, faced off on the 17th for the fourth and final spot.

Unexpected player departures and some failures to report had reduced Pacheco’s squad to only 16 players, including five pitchers. Still, they won two games in one day, eliminating Hawaii 4-3 and knocking off Evansville 6-5. Former Met Ed Bauta, 37 years old and pitching with a 102-degree fever, saved the first game, then won the second with 4⅓ innings of shutout relief. The Caribbeans reveled in their scrappy success: “The odds aren’t in our favor, but we have a lot of enthusiasm,” catcher Jorge Peña said.11

Having eliminated the Hawaii Islanders, the All-Stars press-ganged Islanders pitcher Aurelio Monteagudo into service to start their game against Tidewater. The Cuban hurler had made 58 appearances in 1972, all in relief. In front of 454 fans, the veteran of six major-league seasons almost threw a complete game, going 8⅔ innings to beat the Tides 2-0.12

That left the final showdown against manager Tom Lasorda’s Albuquerque team, whose 92-56 record was far and away the best in the PCL. Lasorda’s lineup was loaded with names that would soon become familiar to big-league fans, including second baseman Davey Lopes, left fielder Von Joshua, first baseman Tom Paciorek, third baseman Ron Cey, and catcher Joe Ferguson.13 The hard-hitting Dukes led the PCL in batting average and on-base percentage, and finished second in home runs, slugging average, and total bases.  

Lasorda’s starting pitcher, righty Rick Rhoden, later pitched parts of 16 seasons in the big leagues and made two All-Star teams. The four pitchers used by Lasorda that day—starter Rhoden and relievers José Peña, Geoff Zahn, and Charlie Hough—combined for 1,636 major-league appearances and 485 wins.14

Pacheco gave the start to Cuban righty Oscar Zamora, who was working on one day’s rest and had pitched in both games on September 17. A few days shy of his 28th birthday, Zamora had never pitched in the majors, although he later played parts of four seasons with the Cubs and Astros. Zamora pitched for Pacheco in Oklahoma City in 1972, going 7-9 with a 3.36 ERA in 48 games. He’d made only one start that season, but it was a great one: On September 2 Zamora had thrown a seven-inning perfect game against the Denver Bears.15 Zamora had also beaten Albuquerque for the All-Stars’ only win in the first round.

With 992 fans on hand, the first five innings passed without a run by either team. In the sixth, the All-Stars loaded the bases on a line single off Rhoden’s leg, a force play at second, a walk, and an error by Dukes first baseman Paciorek. Left fielder Rafael Batista, who later played briefly with the Astros, laced a single to left field for one run. The hit chased Rhoden in favor of José Peña. Shortstop Martinez greeted the reliever with a fly to deep center to make the lead 2-0.16

Zamora had allowed only two singles going into the seventh inning, but surrendered Paciorek’s fourth home run of the series that inning. After the All-Stars wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the eighth, Dukes shortstop Steve Huntz led off with another solo shot to tie the game, 2-2.17

The game stayed knotted into extra innings, with knuckleballer Hough on the mound against the dogged Zamora. The All-Stars, who collected 16 hits in the game, loaded the bases again in the 10th inning on a walk, a hit batter, and an infield hit. But Hough retired the next two hitters to end the inning. (Hough was 24 and had had several cups of coffee with the Dodgers, but didn’t become a regular major-league pitcher until 1973.)

Zamora encountered a rough spot in the bottom half, giving up one-out singles to center fielder Larry Hisle and Huntz. He retired Ferguson and right fielder Paul Powell to end the threat. Pacheco said it was the only time he considered taking out Zamora: “It was going to be do-or-die with him.”18

The All-Stars settled the “do-or-die” question with two out in the 12th inning. Left fielder Blanco hammered a double to right field, and Hough intentionally walked right fielder Julio Linares—who was 2-for-2—to set up a potential force play at every base. Shortstop Martinez crossed up the strategy, flaring a single into short right field to score Blanco. Second baseman Pedro García, 0-for-5 so far, followed. For an infielder, Garcia had power: He led the short-season Class A New York-Penn League with 14 homers in 51 games in 1970. Garcia pounded a Hough knuckler over the center-field fence, giving Pacheco’s squad a 6-2 lead and setting off a raucous home-plate celebration.19

A few minutes later, Zamora retired Huntz on a foul pop for the final out, and the elated All-Stars mobbed the field again.20 “It’s one of the happiest moments of my life,” Zamora told reporters. “I’m tired, but I feel no pain.” The pitcher had allowed the Dukes just seven hits and no walks, while striking out two. In the Albuquerque clubhouse, the losers tipped their caps. “That Oscar’s tough, man,” Paciorek said. “He’s got a good slider and he kept the ball where he wanted to.”21

Pacheco was voted the tournament’s outstanding manager and Zamora its Most Outstanding Pitcher. Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and Hall of Famer Bob Feller presented their respective trophies. Members of the tournament all-star team also received Kodak movie cameras.22 The Caribbean All-Stars claimed five positions on the all-tournament team, while the Dukes claimed two. One position—first base—was a tie between Paciorek and Webster. “We proved we’re the best,” Webster said. “We play for one cause—to prove that Latin baseball is pretty good.”23

The All-Stars proved their point, but they would never get a chance to make it again—at least, not on this stage. The tournament lost more than $80,00024 and drew just 10,923 fans, as compared to initial estimates of more than 40,000.25 The American Association and International League formally killed it in June 1973 when they voted to resume their Junior World Series postseason matchup.26

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the specific sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for general player, team and season data.

Neither Baseball-Reference nor Retrosheet provides box scores of exhibition games, but the October 7, 1972, edition of The Sporting News published a box score.

Image of 1975 Topps card #604 downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Jim Castor, “Baseball Classic Flops at Gate,” Rochester (New York) Democrat and Chronicle, September 19, 1972: 1D. The quote was attributed to Dave Rosenfield of the Tidewater Tides, the International League’s representative on the event committee.

2 The team was also referred to in some news coverage as the Venezuelan All-Stars, though not all its players hailed from Venezuela.

3 Associated Press, “Venezuelans Beat Dukes, Win Classic,” Spokane (Washington) Spokesman-Review, September 21, 1972: 30.

4 “Kodak Named Sponsor of Minor League Series,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, July 26, 1972: 3D.

5 “Baseball Classic Flops at Gate.” The 1972 Islanders were a San Diego Padres affiliate. Their attendance came out to about 4,133 fans per game. By comparison, the lowest-drawing major-league team, the Milwaukee Brewers, averaged about 7,601 fans per game.

6 Ferd Borsch, “Islanders Vs. Venezuelans in Opener,” Honolulu Advertiser, September 10, 1972: E2. The article noted that Caribbean All-Stars manager Tony Pacheco agreed with Bridges’ assessment.

7 Jim Castor, “Sisler ‘Knows Game, But He’s a Weak Leader,’” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, February 13, 1974: 1D. This article named Rochester Red Wings GM Carl Steinfeldt as an especially vocal critic of the tournament.

8 “Baseball Classic Flops at Gate.”

9 Tidewater was affiliated with the New York Mets and Evansville with the Milwaukee Brewers.

10 Oklahoma City was a Houston affiliate in 1972.

11 Bill Kwon, “Venezuela Stars Prove Spoilers in Tournament,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 1972: C3.

12 Ferd Borsch, “Venezuelans Into Finals,” Honolulu Advertiser, September 19, 1972: D1.

13 Another Dukes starter, center fielder Larry Hisle, would already have been familiar to major-league fans in 1972, as he’d played several years with the Philadelphia Phillies, including two as a starter. After hitting .197 in limited duty with the Phillies in 1971, he spent 1972 in Triple A before reviving his big-league career with Minnesota in 1973.

14 The breakdown: Hough had 858 appearances and 216 wins; Rhoden had 413 appearances and 151 wins; Zahn had 304 appearances and 111 wins; and Peña had 61 appearances and seven wins.

15 “Zamora Smokes a Perfecto,” The Sporting News, September 23, 1972: 32. Coincidentally, the Astros announced that day that they would move their Triple-A team from Oklahoma City to Denver for 1973.

16 Ferd Borsch, “Venezuelans Classic Kings,” Honolulu Advertiser, September 20, 1972: C1.

17 “Venezuelans Classic Kings.”

18 “Venezuelans Classic Kings.” Also, Bill Kwon, “‘Oscar-Winning’ Feat for Venezuelan Stars,” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 20, 1972: C1.

19 “‘Oscar-Winning’ Feat for Venezuelan Stars.” Garcia led the American League with 32 doubles as a rookie with the 1973 Milwaukee Brewers, and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Baltimore’s Al Bumbry.

20 Ferd Borsch, “Caribbeans Triple-A’s Best—The Hard Way,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1972: 31.

21 “Venezuelans Classic Kings”; “’Oscar-Winning’ Feat for Venezuelan Stars.”

22 Ferd Borsch, “Classic Champs Place Six on All-Star Squad,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1972: 31.

23 “‘Oscar-Winning’ Feat for Venezuelan Stars.”

24 Jim Castor, “Red Wings Bid for All-Star Game,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, February 12, 1973: 1D.

25 “Classic Comments,” The Sporting News, October 7, 1972: 31.

26 Jim Castor, “League Votes to Resume World Series,” Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, June 12, 1973: 1D.

It was November 14, 1999, at Homebush Stadium, the site of the 2000 Sydney Olympic baseball tournament. A tight game ended for the Australian players and their fans, who saw the home team emerge victorious over eight-time champion Cuba.

With major leaguer David Nilsson the starting Australian catcher — and the series Most Valuable Player — backup catcher White saw limited action through the seven preliminary games and the 2-0 semifinal victory over Japan. But in his nation’s hour of need, he came through in perhaps the highlight of his baseball career.2

The score was deadlocked 3-3 after 10 innings; Cuba batted last, thanks to a pregame coin toss. In the top of the 11th, the first two Aussies were outs, as Grant McDonald went down swinging and Nilsson’s fly ball was caught by center fielder Yasser Gomez on the warning track.

American Ron Johnson, a former minor-league pitcher in the Toronto and Texas systems, who came to Australia in 1989 and developed into one of the Australian Baseball League’s best hitters, batted next in the cleanup spot. Johnson, who turned 37 at the start of the tournament, took a strike before collecting a walk on four straight pitches from Cuban hurler Carlos Yanes.3

Australian manager Mike Young then made two crucial changes. First, he sent in the speedy Peter Vogler to run for Johnson. Then, after Paul Gonzales walked, he sent in White to pinch-hit for designated hitter Michael Moyle. Although Moyle was selected to the All-Tournament team as DH and belted a home run in Australia’s 2-0 semifinal win over Japan, he had slumped in the gold medal game with four strikeouts.

White hit a sharp single to center field, just out of reach of Cuban second baseman Macias Oscar. Vogler came sprinting home from second base, well in advance of the throw, putting Australia ahead 4-3.

Tom Becker, who had come on in relief at the bottom of the eighth inning, was still there in the 11th, needing three outs for the gold medal. Cuba’s Gabriel Pierre battled the right-handed fireballer for an eight-pitch walk, but Oscar Macias, who hit three home runs in the tournament, struck out. Young then made a pitching change, bringing in Cam Cairncross, who was similar to Becker in most aspects, except left-handed. After inducing pinch-hitter righty Michael Abreau into grounding out to shortstop for the second out, with Pierre moving to second, Cairncross gave an intentional walk to catcher Ariel Pestano.

The cat-and-mouse game between the managers continued. Cuban head-honcho Carlos Marti had righty hitter Juan Moreno pinch-hit to face Cairncross, which Young countered by bringing in ace reliever Grant Balfour — a right-hander and prospect in the Minnesota Twins organization. Moreno took a called strike, fouled one straight back, took a ball before another foul, then, with a big sweeping cut, missed — strike three, game over, gold medal Australia.

Through the seven preliminary rounds Australia lost only once, to Japan, while Cuba went down to a young South Korean side and 5-1 to Australia in the final day before the playoffs. In the semifinals, the Aussies reversed the result against Japan in a 2-0 victory, while Cuba was untroubled in defeating the US 7-0.

Australia lost a coin toss and batted first in the gold medal game. Cuban starter Jorge Machado mowed down the Aussies in the first three innings, facing the minimum nine batters and striking out three.

In contrast, Cuba looked as though it was setting up for another gold medal, as it scored a run in the opening inning. Leadoff batter Michel Enriquez doubled and scored on number-two hitter Leonard Danel Castro’s single. Danel Castro stole second base and advanced to third on Gabriel Pierre’s bunt, but the next two batters flied out to Aussie right fielder Chris Snelling.

The first three batters in the bottom of the second inning caused more trouble for Australian starter Phil Brassington. Chapelli walked, Ariel Pestano singled to left field and Roberquis Videaux had an RBI hit to right field. Veteran pitcher Adrian Meagher entered the fray for Australia, and a bunt out and two strikeouts saw the advantage held at 2-0 for the Cubans.

Australia finally found some form with the bat in the top of the fourth. Adam Burton hit a leadoff triple, and after an out, scored on Nilsson’s grounder to first base. Ron Johnson and Paul Gonzalez hit back-to-back doubles and the score was tied, 2-2.

Meanwhile Meagher had been brilliant on the mound, retiring 12 consecutive Cubans to keep the game tight. But in the bottom of the sixth, Yobal Duenas hit a leadoff single and stole second base. He scored on Oscar Macias’s single to left field for a 3-2 Cuban lead.

Except for the fourth frame, Australia could not collect a hit through the first seven innings, while also picked up only one walk.

Something special was about to happen.

And it did in the top of the eighth inning, as Brendan Kingman led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second base on an error. Out went Kingman and in came speedy pinch-runner Ben Utting, who went to third base on Snelling’s groundout to first. After Matt Buckley hit back to the pitcher for the second out, Burton came through with another big hit, an RBI single to right field — again, game tied, 3-3.

Meagher was done, after throwing six innings, allowing two hits and no walks and striking out seven in an outstanding relief appearance. Coming in to pitch was Tom Becker, who was solid in the eighth, ninth and 10th, conceding just one hit and a walk.

Australia could have scored the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, but an unsuccessful bunt attempt by Burton, with runners on second and third with one out proved costly, with the runner, Snelling, out at the plate.

A two-out double by Danel Castro in the bottom of the 10th had everyone in attendance on the edge of their seats, but Becker induced Duenas to fly to right fielder Snelling, who made his sixth putout of the game.

That set the stage for White’s heroics in the 11th. Almost 12 months earlier, after starting the 1998-99 Australian Baseball League season with the Sydney Storm, White was diagnosed with testicular cancer and missed a fortnight of games after an operation. After returning to the game, he underwent four weeks of radiation therapy. White went on to be runner-up for the ABL’s batting title and MVP — an award he had also collected in 1996. He also snared the league’s gold glove as best infielder, the first catcher to be so honored. In 2009 he was inducted into the Australian Baseball Hall of Fame.

White said, “Honestly, just to represent your country is a thrill. It was good to just be there.4

“Baseball is about taking your opportunities and you just need to prepare for when those moments happen. I was working in the batting tunnels to make sure I was ready.

“With matchups the way they were, lefty versus righty etc., there were slots I could see where I might be used, but it wasn’t until Michael Moyle was on deck when Mike (Young) looked at me on the bench and gave me the nod.

“To be honest, from when my name was announced until I was on first base with coach Greg Jelks, it was all a blur. I can’t remember any of it. You can’t think, you just see the ball and hit it.

“I remember reading about how athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods talked about the zone and how everything goes blank, everything just goes dead quiet, you don’t hear anything — that’s how it was in that situation for me.

“But when I reached first base, all I could think about was how we (the Australian team) had been together a few years and this was reward for our effort. We knew we had good relievers, like Grant Balfour, so we were looking good.

“It was fantastic for baseball, it was fantastic for Australia, it was a big moment and one I’ll never forget.”

The gold medal game featured seven players who would make the tournament All-Star squad, with Nilsson, Moyle, and Meagher from Australia and Cubans Faustino Corrales (pitcher), Macias (second base), Danel Castro (shortstop), and Duenas (outfield).

Author’s note

This tournament represented the best in Australian baseball, which was played as a warm-up event for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where Australia, as host nation gained automatic seed, but won only two games to finish seventh in the eight-team competition. Two of the nation’s most celebrated major leaguers, Dave Nilsson and Grant Balfour, played in the gold medal game.

Nilsson toiled for the Milwaukee Brewers, mainly as a catcher, from 1992-99 and was the first Australian to make an All-Star side, in 1999 (one at-bat, one strikeout). He played more major-league games (837) than any other Aussie in the modern era (nineteenth-century player Joe Quinn played more), with a career .284 batting average.

As for Balfour, while Nilsson was at the end of his US major-league career when he starred with the Australian national team at the 1999 Intercontinental Cup, Balfour had his glittering major-league career in front of him. He played with Minnesota, Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and Oakland between 2001 and 2015, pitching in 534 games for 30 wins, 23 losses and 84 saves. He was the second Australian to make the All-Star Game, in 2013, pitching the sixth inning (four batters, a walk, popup to shortstop, fly out to center field, and swinging strikeout).

The winning hurler in the semifinal against Japan was Shayne Bennett (3-0 for the tournament), who pitched three seasons for the Montreal Expos, compiling a 5-7 won-lost record in 83 games over three seasons (1997-99) with an ERA of 5.87.

In the commentary booth for the gold medal game were Chris Maitland, Mark Shipley (brother of Craig Shipley), and Pat Kelly. Maitland is a Sydney baseball lifer, while Shipley’s brother was the first modern-day Australian to play in the major leagues (1986-98, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, San Diego, Houston, and Anaheim), batting .271 in 582 games, playing as a utility infielder. As for Pat Kelly, an American, he played nine years in the major leagues, mostly for the New York Yankees, and was a teammate of Aussie Graeme Lloyd on the 1996 world champions — Lloyd started his major-league career in 1993 with Milwaukee, as a teammate of Nilsson.

Baseball’s Intercontinental Cup started in 1973 and was played every two years up to 1999 (with the last tournament in 2010). The baseball World Cup, which started in 1938, became a biannual event in even years, except when the Olympic Games had a baseball tournament in 1992, 1996, and 2000, which saw international baseball played every year from 1969 to 2000. Between 6 and 12 countries were invited to compete in the Intercontinental Cup each tournament. Both competitions petered out in the first decade of the twenty-first century, as the World Baseball Classic, which started in 2006, became the major competition at this level.

Hits: Australia — Burton 2, Johnson 2, Gonzalez, Kingman, Buckley, White; Cuba — Danel Castro 2, Enriquez, Duenas, Macias, Pestano, Videaux. WP: T. Becker; LP: C. Yanes.

Notes

1 Robert Laidlaw’s scrapbook, which included reports from “Whiff of Success,” The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), November 16, 1999: 56; “Field of Dreams,” Daily Telegraph, November 15, 1999: 27; “Aussies Snatch 11th Inning Win,” The Herald Sun (Melbourne), November 15, 1999: 1, 40-41; “Aussies Bask in Golden Glory,” The Advertiser (Adelaide), November 15, 1999: 52. As of January 2021, this championship remains Australia’s only gold medal in an international competition.

2 The video vision from Channel 7, Sydney, was used as an extra source.

3 Robert Laidlaw’s scorecard.

4 Phone interview with Gary White, January 13, 2021.

Excitement was building for the Mexican hosts of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, the fourth iteration of the 16-team, two-round international baseball tournament. The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association.

Mexico had reached Round Two in the first two WBCs, held in 2006 and 2009, but was eliminated in Round One in 2013. Italy scored two runs in the top of the ninth to beat Mexico in the opening game in 2013; Mexico recovered to beat the United States, but lost to Canada, and was eliminated from the tournament.

As a result, Mexico had to play in a qualifying tournament in 2016. Wins over the Czech Republic and Nicaragua earned a spot in the 2017 WBC and, along with a 2016 Caribbean Series championship, fired up the national fan base.

The first game of the 2017 WBC in Pool D was a rematch between Mexico and Italy. In the 2006 and 2009 WBCs, Italy had been easily eliminated, so it was a surprise to many that it defeated both Mexico and Canada and moved on to Round Two in 2013, where it lost to eventual champion Dominican Republic and runner-up Puerto Rico.

Preparations were underway at Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco in Zapopan, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. Estadio Béisbol Charros de Jalisco was built in 2011 for the Pan-American games. This was the first time the WBC was held there. For the 2017 Classic, the capacity was increased to 16,000, and new artificial turf was installed on the field and warning track. Every surface of the ballpark was given a fresh coat of paint, including the perimeter grassy areas.

Opening ceremonies included all four teams in Pool D (Venezuela and Puerto Rico being the two others). Each country or commonweath had a large flag on the field, a color guard, and a band to play its national anthem. Venezuela and Puerto Rico lined up outside the infield with Mexico and Italy along the infield lines.

While the Mexican national anthem (the last to be performed) was played, the young woman holding the Venezuelan flag fainted. The Venezuelan color guard saved the flag while the Mexican players tried to break her fall. Medical personnel and a cart came onto the field as the anthem continued. When the anthem ended, the players from Italy and Mexico came together for handshakes, carefully avoiding the woman who was being helped up onto the cart.

The aficionados (fans) from Mexico were excited for a rematch with Italy. Adrian Gonzalez, who entered 2017 with 308 career home runs in 13 major-league seasons and four consecutive postseason appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers, was the biggest name on Mexico’s team. Like his brother and team manager Edgar Gonzalez, Adrian was born in California.1 Players from Mexico on the squad included Yovani Gallardo, Roberto Osuna, Oliver Perez, Sergio Romo, and Joakim Soria, in addition to coach Fernando Valenzuela.

Italy had established itself as one of the top European teams in international play and was led by Marco Mazzieri, a longtime manager of Italy’s national teams. Its standing made it the home team.2 The WBC squad was bolstered by a number of major leaguers of Italian descent including Drew Butera (son of Italy coach Sal Butera), Francisco Cervelli, Brandon Nimmo, Daniel Descalso, and Gavin Cecchini. Former Seattle outfielder Alex Liddi was one of the players who was born and raised in Italy, as was Alessandro Maestri, the team’s starter in the first game.

Esteban Quiroz homered to left off Maestri on a 3-and-1 pitch to start the game, which brought the Mexican aficionados to their feet. Many were dancing el terremoto (the earthquake) in the aisles, a dance that requires one’s entire body to shake. Between the music, shouting, clapping, frenzied dancing, and fireworks, one could easily believe there was an earthquake.

In the bottom of the first, John Andreoli tied the score with a homer off Gallardo and quieted the fans, but not by much.

Sabastian Elizalde reached on a throwing error by shortstop Cecchini to start the third. Elizalde scored on a one-out double by Quiroz, who was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple.

Tiago Da Silva relieved Maestri with one out in the top of the fourth, and Japhet Amador, Mexico’s designated hitter listed at 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds, greeted him with a line-drive homer to left. Da Silva gave up a single to Efren Navarro, hit Luis Cruz with a pitch, and then allowed a run-scoring single by Elizade, which put Mexico ahead 4-1.

In the bottom of the inning Rob Segedin hit a two-run homer to right. One out later, Chris Colabello homered to right and the game was tied, 4-4.

Switch-pitching Pat Venditte relieved for Italy in the fifth. His request to have his pitch limit separated for left- and right-handed throws had been turned down.3 3 Venditte faced eight batters, pitching left-handed to left-handed hitters Quiroz, Alex Verdugo, Gonzalez, Navarro, and Elizade and right-handed to right-handed hitters Laird, Amador, and Cruz. He hit Quiroz with a pitch, allowed singles to Verdugo – a 20-year-old Dodgers farmhand who entered 2017 as Baseball America’s 58th-ranked prospect in baseball – and Amador, walked Navarro with the bases loaded, and gave up a two-run double to Cruz. The onslaught broke the tie and left Mexico leading, 7-4.

Fernando Salas took over for Gallardo, the Mexico starter, in the fifth and got two strikes on Butera, who lined the next pitch to left for a home run. Cecchini hit a ground-rule double to left-center. Vidal Nuno took over for Salas and got out of the inning with Mexico still up by two runs at 7-5.

With a two-out, two-run single by Elizalde in the seventh, Mexico increased its lead to 9-5.

Leading off the ninth against Osuna (one of the majors’ top closers), Cervelli hit a grounder to left-center and legged it to second when the Mexican outfield was slow in fielding the ball. Colabello doubled off the fence in left-center. Sebastian Pomo, running for Cervelli, held up to make sure the ball was not caught and stopped at third.

Liddi grounded a double inside the third-base line, scoring two. The score was 9-7 with no outs.

Butera hit a grounder to the right of Cruz at shortstop. Liddi, on second, broke for third. Cruz, possibly thinking about throwing out Liddi, booted the ball for an error, allowing the tying run to reach first.

Andrew “Drew” Maggi walked, and the bases were loaded for Nimmo. Southpaw Oliver Perez, heading for his 15th major-league season and pitching in his fourth WBC, came in to face the lefty. Nimmo – who had made his major-league debut with the New York Mets in 2016 – hit a drive to right-center. For a moment it appeared that a lunging Verdugo had caught the ball, but he could not hold on. Liddi scored to cut the lead to one run; the bases remained loaded.

Andreoli hit a grounder toward the hole in right. Second baseman Luis Urias, playing in, dived for the ball, only to have it bounce off his glove and roll into right. Urías raced after the ball and threw home, but it was too late to get Maggi as two runs scored on the play to end the game with Italy winning, 10-9. Triple-A reliever Jordan Romano pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn the win.

Mexico had requalified for the WBC but lost again to Italy. For their second games in Pool D, Mexico played Puerto Rico, and Italy faced Venezuela.

Author’s Note

For security reasons, the main press box was used for government officials and dignitaries. This resulted in the official scorer – or anotador ofícial – sitting in the control booth on the first-base side, with the personnel who controlled the scoreboard and music, while the rest of the press were up a level. This created a challenge as there were no direct communication wires from the official scorer to the throng of reporters covering the event.

The fix was to have an assistant to the official scorer sitting with the press, equipped with a radio, microphone, and local speaker. The official scorer made the hit or error call and relayed this information to the assistant, who then made the announcement to the press in English and Spanish. The author handled press box announcing in English and Spanish after getting the information from the anotador oficial, who is also her husband.

When, for example, Sabastian Elizalde reached on Gavin Cecchini’s throwing error in the third, “Error six,” said the official scorer into his radio. “Error seis,” said the assistant in Spanish, but this could barely be heard over the noise of the fans.

Sources

The information in this article primarily came from the author’s scorebook and memories from her role as press-box announcer, as well as notes and the scoresheet from the official scorer, the author’s husband, SABR member Stew Thornley. Some of the information came from the 2017 World Baseball Classic media guide. The author also consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for relevant information.

Notes

1 The tournament features the best players from around the world competing for their home countries and territories. Players are qualified if they previously appeared on the final roster of a Federation Team, if the player is a citizen of or is eligible for a passport from the team’s country or territory, if the player is a current resident of or has one parent who was born in that country or territory.

2 The Pools in Rounds One and Two are designated by letters. In the 2017 WBC Pool A was in Seoul, Pool B was in Tokyo, Pool C was in Miami, and Pool D was in Jalisco. Teams are assigned to Pools based on their current world standings as determined by the WBSC. These standings also determined who would be the home team, which is why Italy was the home team in this game.

3 The pitch limits for the first round were 65 pitches per game. The other requirements were that a pitcher must not pitch until a minimum of four days have passed since he last pitched if he threw 50 or more pitches when he last pitched; not pitch until a minimum of one day has passed since he last pitched, if he thew 30 or more pitches when he last pitched; and not pitch until a minimum of one day has passed since any consecutive day on which the pitcher pitched. In this game Venditte threw 20 pitches left-handed and 10 right-handed. Since he wasn’t allowed to have his pitch total separated by arm, his 30 pitches made him ineligible to pitch the next day. However, it didn’t matter since Italy didn’t play again for two days.

Hernández, the American League’s Cy Young Award recipient in 2010, started for Venezuela. With his 31st birthday just weeks away, the right-hander had anchored the Seattle Mariners’ rotation for over a decade, winning 11 or more games in all but one of the previous 11 seasons and already owning franchise records in career wins and strikeouts.

Pitchers were limited to 65 pitches in the first round of the tournament, but Hernández didn’t even approach that number. Although he retired the side in order the first two innings, he didn’t make it through the third. Eddie Rosario led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by T.J. Rivera. Reymond Fuentes singled, and, with two out, Lindor walked. Prado fumbled Correa’s grounder to third; when his throw to first was too late, he was charged with an error and the bases were loaded.

When Beltrán walked to force in an unearned run, Hernández, after 51 pitches, was relieved by Gregory Infante, who got Molina to fly out to Ender Inciarte in deep center to end the inning with Puerto Rico leading 2-0.

Seth Lugo, born in Louisiana but possessing Puerto Rican ancestry,2 started for Puerto Rico and stymied Venezuela with his off-speed pitches, particularly with an impressive spin rate on his curveball. The 27-year-old right-hander, a rookie with the New York Mets in 2016, retired the first 11 batters before Cabrera hit a grounder up the middle with two outs in the fourth. Báez, the second baseman, moved to his right and got in front of the ball behind the infield dirt (or, in this case, the brown paint used to designate the infield on the artificial surface). Báez fumbled the ball, but the official scorer credited Cabrera with a hit on the basis that Báez might not have been able to throw out Cabrera even if he had fielded it cleanly.

Venezuela did not get another runner until Inciarte grounded a single to left with one out in the sixth, right after Lugo was relieved because he had reached his pitch limit. Altuve, winner of his second career batting title in 2016, drew a walk off Giovanni Soto, and Prado hit a hard grounder down the third-base line. Correa—Altuve’s Houston Astros’ teammate and an emerging star at age 22—made a diving backhanded stop and one-hopped a throw to first to get Prado as the runners advanced. After Cabrera was intentionally walked, González struck out on a pitch in the dirt, and Molina stepped on the plate to force Inciarte, ending the inning with Puerto Rico still holding a two-run advantage.

Venezuela got two more runners against Joe Jimenez in the seventh—Martinez on a walk and Odúbel Herrera on an infield hit—but by this time it was in a bigger hole. Correa had led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run to center off Jhoulys Chacin, who was starting his third inning of work. Beltrán, who had joined Altuve and Correa on the Astros by signing as a free agent in December 2016, walked, and Molina went to the opposite field with a home run to right to give Puerto Rico a 5-0 lead.

Puerto Rico put the game away in the seventh. Lindor was hit by a pitch with one out and forced at second by Correa, who stole second and scored Puerto Rico’s sixth run of the game on a single by Beltrán. That was it for Chacin, and Deolis Guerra took the mound. Singles by Molina and Báez brought in Beltrán (with Báez taking second on the throw home), making the score 7-0.

Rosario lined a double to right to drive in two more runs and bring Puerto Rico to within a run of ending the game on the mercy rule: a 10-run lead in the last of the seventh or after seven innings. Rivera—like Lugo a Mets rookie in 2016—finished it three pitches later, driving a two-run homer to left for an 11-0 win.

The anticipated matchup of the two most decorated teams in the pool (Italy and Mexico were the others) was close for a while and then blew up when Venezuela pulled away with nine runs over the sixth and seventh innings. 

Lugo, who allowed only one runner in 5⅓ innings and struck out three, was the winning pitcher. Hernández took the loss, done in when he labored through the third; he threw 29 pitches that inning, only 14 of them strikes. Rosario led the hitters with a single, double, and triple; he scored two runs and knocked in two, as did Molina, who had a home run and single, and Beltrán with a run-scoring single and a bases-loaded walk.  Rivera, with a sacrifice fly and game-ending homer, had three runs batted in.

Unlike most of the games in the Jalisco pool, this one had a relatively snappy pace. The time of the seven-inning game was 2:43. The average time of the other six games (one of which was 10 innings) was 3:49.3  The game ended a few minutes before 11:00 on Friday night, giving the Venezuelans a bit more than 15 hours to rest and try to get their bats woken up for their next matchup, against Italy.

Puerto Rico was scheduled for the night game on Saturday, against Mexico, which had blown a ninth-inning lead to Italy in the Thursday night opener. 

Epilogue

The intentional walk to Cabrera in the sixth was the result of Soto throwing four pitches outside the strike zone. Even though Major League Baseball adopted automatic intentional walks starting in 2017, the World Baseball Classic still did it the old-fangled way.

The loss put Venezuela in a hole in a couple of ways. Two of the four teams in each pool advanced to the second round with a tiebreaker game played if needed to determine the second-place team. If three teams tied for second, the first step in deciding which teams would play a tiebreaker game and which team would be eliminated was fewest runs allowed per the number of innings played in the field in the games in that round between the teams tied. In addition to having a loss on its record, Venezuela had allowed 11 runs in 6⅔ innings, a bad first outing.4

Lugo was the winning pitcher against the United States in the second round but was the losing pitcher in the championship game, also against the United States. Lugo, who had pitched 64 innings for the New York Mets in 2016, missed the first two months of the 2017 regular season after partially tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow near the end of spring training. Mets general manager Sandy Alderson thought the injury might have been related to Lugo’s workload in the World Baseball Classic.5

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Evan Katz and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

Scoresheet, notes, and memories of the author, the official scorer for the games in Jalisco, who agonized a bit over the hit for the slow-footed Cabrera but didn’t sweat the possibility of its ruining a no-hitter since it was only the fourth inning (not yet realizing that this was the equivalent of the sixth inning when the game ended in the last of the seventh).

Brenda Himrich (related to the author by marriage) made the press-box announcements in Spanish in Jalisco and contributed to this article.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic media guide was also a helpful resource.

Notes

1 The four-team pool also included Italy and Mexico. The 2017 WBC was the fourth iteration of the 16-team, two-round international baseball tournament. The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. The tournament features the best players from around the world competing for their home countries and territories.  Players are qualified if they previously appeared on the final roster of a Federation Team, if the player is a citizen of or is eligible for a passport from the team’s country or territory, if the player is a current resident of or has one parent who was born in that country or territory.

2 Lugo’s paternal grandfather, José “Ben” Lugo, was Puerto Rican. Lugo has referred to himself as a “Quarter-Rican,” sometimes as the “Cajun Quarter-Rican.”

3 The time allotted between innings was 2:55 on Thursday and Friday, which had only one game each night. The allotted time was reduced to 2:25 for the first games on Saturday and Sunday.

4 Venezuela did end up in a tiebreaker scenario, although the runs it gave up to Puerto Rico in this game did not factor into it. Venezuela finished in a tie for second with Mexico and Italy, and the runs allowed applied only in the games between these three teams.

5 Chris Iseman, “Righty Lugo Optimistic Tear Won’t Need Surgery,” Passaic (New Jersey) Herald-News, April 6, 2017: 5S.

The night before, Puerto Rico had destroyed Venezuela 11-0 in a game stopped by the mercy rule in the last of the seventh.

This time, Puerto Rico again jumped out to a big lead, and Mexico rallied, but a critical ninth-inning error enabled Puerto Rico to pull away for its second win in two games.

Angel Pagan led off the game for Puerto Rico by lining a single to left, and Francisco Lindor – at age 23 coming off his first career All-Star Game appearance and a Gold Glove recipient with the Cleveland Indians – followed by hitting a 1-and-2 pitch from Miguel Gonzalez for a home run to right. Mexico got one back in the bottom of the first when Brandon Laird singled home Esteban Quiroz with two out.

Pagan started another rally in the third, singling with one out and stealing second. After a two-out walk to Carlos Correa, Carlos Beltran, recently signed to be Correa’s teammate on the Houston Astros, singled to center to score Pagan for a 3-1 lead.

Puerto Rico upped the edge in the fifth when Reymond Fuentes and Pagan – an 11-year major-league veteran who had played in what turned out to be his final professional season in 2016 – led off with walks, sending Gonzalez to the showers. Jacob Sanchez got Lindor to force Pagan at second, but Fuentes went to third on the play and scored on Correa’s sacrifice fly.

Jorge Lopez pitched well for Puerto Rico, giving up only a third-inning walk after allowing three runners in the first. He reached 59 pitches when he retired Luis Cruz for the first out in the last of the fifth. With Lopez nearing the first-round pitch limit of 65,2 and a left-handed batter coming up, manager Edwin Rodriguez brought in southpaw Hector Santiago, who finished the fifth and put down the side in order in the sixth.

Puerto Rico threatened in the top of the sixth against Giovanny Gallegos. Javier Báez, who claimed National League Championship Series co-Most Valuable Player honors in October 2016 during the Chicago Cubs’ drive to their first World Series title in 108 years, led off with a double and stopped at third on Eddie Rosario’s single to right. But when right fielder Alex Verdugo threw home, the always aggressive Rosario tried to take second and was gunned down by catcher Xiorg Carrillo. T.J. Rivera then fouled out and Fuentes flied out.

Lindor extended Puerto Rico’s lead to 5-1 with one out in the seventh on his second homer of the game. As it happened, the Islanders needed all of that margin when Mexico, which had been held to three hits through six innings, finally rallied against Santiago in the bottom of the inning.

Laird led off with a double and stopped at third on a single by Efren Navarro. The runners held when Cruz flied out, but Chris Roberson – who had hit for Sebastian Elizade when Santiago was brought into the game in the fifth, then remained in the game in center – lined a single to left to bring in Laird.

Carrillo grounded to third; Correa went to second for a force but sailed the ball over Baez and into right field. Navarro scored from second on the error with Roberson going to third. Roberson then came home on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 5-4.

Mexico threatened to continue its comeback in the bottom of the eighth after Luis Juarez singled to start the inning, but Joseph Colon got Adrian Gonzalez (whose 308 major-league home runs in 13 seasons through 2016 made him one of the most accomplished power hitters in the tournament) to fly to left and struck out Laird. Alex Claudio relieved and struck out pinch-hitter Japhet Amador to end the inning.

The tension in the game, suddenly a close struggle, extended into the stands at the end of the eighth. Family members of the Puerto Rican team were seated beyond the team’s dugout, down the left-field line. Accounts varied on the particulars, but the families were being harassed by some of the Mexican fans. The Puerto Rican players swarmed out of their dugout to check on their families and milled on the field as security personnel moved in and relocated the Puerto Rican fans to other seats.

Puerto Rico ended any on-field drama with four unearned runs in the ninth. With two out and Lindor on first, Beltran hit a pop foul near the third-base dugout. Carrillo got under it but dropped the ball. Still alive because of the error, Beltran walked. Molina singled to drive in Lindor with an insurance run, and Baez provided even more insurance with a three-run homer.

Edwin Diaz pitched the bottom of the ninth, giving up a walk but retiring the other batters, and Puerto Rico had a 9-4 win. Lopez was credited with the win even though he went only 4⅓ innings; WBC rules do not require five innings from the starter to be the winning pitcher.

Lindor led the offense with three hits, three runs scored, and three driven in. Beltran was on base four times with three singles and a walk. Baez had three runs batted in with his home run in the ninth.

A long day, and early morning, of baseball was done. After a 4:43 extra-inning game in the afternoon, the Puerto Rico-Mexico game lasted 3 hours 40 minutes and ended at 12:20 A.M. Puerto Rico was now 2-0 in the tournament. Mexico, winless with two losses, was going to need a big performance against Venezuela the following night to be one of the two teams to advance to the second round.

Author’s Note

Above the batter’s eye at Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco are the numbers 21 for Hector Espiño (the minor-league homer king, whose number has been retired by all Mexican summer and winter league teams) and 34 for Fernando Valenzuela, who pitched for Jalisco in the 1990s.

Sources

Scoresheet, notes, and memories of the author, who was the official scorer for the WBC games in Jalisco.

Brenda Himrich (related to the author by marriage) made the press-box announcements in Spanish and English in Jalisco and contributed to this article.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic media guide was also a helpful resource.

Acknowledgments

This game was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin

Notes

1 The 2017 WBC was the fourth iteration of the 16-team, two-round international baseball tournament. The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. The tournament features the best players from around the world competing for their home countries and territories. Players are qualified if they previously appeared on the final roster of a Federation Team, if the player is a citizen of or is eligible for a passport from the team’s country or territory, or if the player is a current resident of or has one parent who was born in that country or territory.

2 A pitcher could exceed the limit if more pitches were needed to complete a plate appearance.

Exactly what was required, however, was the subject of confusion that extended an early-morning finish in Mexico’s 11-9 win into several more hours of convocation. Mexico thought it had to win the Sunday night game by at least two runs to move ahead of Venezuela in the WBC’s tiebreaker and stay alive.

But the situation was more complicated. Part of the conundrum was over what constituted a partial inning in the WBC’s tiebreaker formula. Did a team receive credit for an inning when it took the field on defense, or did it have to retire a batter to receive credit for that inning (or credit for a partial inning)?

Entering the Mexico-Venezuela game, Puerto Rico, undefeated in three games, had clinched the pool’s top spot and a berth in the second round, which would include the top two teams in each pool. With a 1-2 record, Italy had also completed scheduled play.

Venezuela (which was 1-1) could earn the second spot with a win over Mexico, which had lost its first two games. A Mexico win, however, would leave three teams—Italy, Mexico, and Venezuela—tied for second and require a tiebreaker game the next night. Before that game could be played, a tiebreaker system was required to eliminate one of the three teams. The first tiebreaker criterion was runs allowed by each team per inning in the field, in the games between the three teams that were tied.

Italy had given up nine runs against Mexico in a nine-inning game and 11 against Venezuela in 10 innings. Venezuela had allowed 10 to Italy in 10 innings.

Mexico, in what turned out to be the tiebreaker’s sticking point, had given up 10 runs to Italy after taking a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth but allowing five runs before retiring a batter.

A low-scoring game on Sunday night, no matter which team won, would eliminate Italy. A higher-scoring game won by Mexico could tighten things up all around.

And a high-scoring game it was before another sellout crowd of more than 15,000, a group that was perhaps louder than in any of the other games in which the host team had played. Mexico surged in the top of the second against Yusmeiro Petit.  Brandon Laird walked, went to second on Alex Verdugo’s single, and scored on Japhet Amador’s double. After Efren Navarro walked, Luis Cruz drove in another run with a sacrifice fly. One out later, Esteban Quiroz hit a three-run homer to right-center for a 5-0 Mexico lead.

Venezuela answered with a run in the third on a one-out walk to Robinson Chirinos2 followed by singles from Jose Altuve and Martín Prado. Altuve went to third on Prado’s hit, but Miguel Cabrera grounded into a double play to end the inning. 

Mexico made it 8-1 in the top of the fifth on Laird’s three-run homer off Wilfredo Ledezma. Venezuela got those back in the bottom of the inning when Alcides Escobar  and Ender Inciarte led off with doubles. With two out, Prado doubled home Inciarte and scored on Cabrera’s single. 

Adrián González’s sacrifice fly in the sixth restored one run of Mexico’s lead, but Venezuela came back with two more in the bottom half of the inning. Chirinos’s two-out single scored Victor Martinez from second, and Altuve beat out a grounder to short that scored Escobar. The play was close enough to bring Mexico manager Edgar González out to argue.3 Sergio Romo came in for Vidal Nuño and walked Prado to load the bases before getting Cabrera to ground into a force out to end the inning with Mexico ahead 9-6.

Both teams put up crooked numbers in the seventh. Mexico got two on a two-out single off Altuve’s glove by Chris Roberson for an 11-6 lead, but Venezuela then jumped on Romo. Carlos González started it with a single, and Martinez homered. Rougned Odor and Escobar singled, prompting another pitching change with Jacob Sanchez relieving.

Inciarte bunted for a single on the first pitch from Sanchez, who then hit Chirinos to force home Perez, cutting the deficit to 11-9. Venezuela had the bases loaded with no out and the reigning American League batting champion up, but Altuve grounded the next pitch to third, and Laird threw home to force Escobar. Prado then grounded into a double play started by shortstop Luis Urias.

The barrage completed the scoring, although Venezuela threatened again. Cabrera led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk. Carlos González hit a hard grounder that Adrián González fielded on first base. Adrian stepped on the base to force Carlos and went after Cabrera, who had started for second and then stopped.  Gonzalez tagged him for an unassisted double play. Martinez lined out to Sebastian Elizade in left to end the inning. 

Oliver Pérez retired Odor to open the bottom of the ninth and was relieved by Roberto Osuna.  Escobar singled and Inciarte walked on a 3-and-2 pitch that was close enough to draw a strong reaction from Edgar González, strong enough that plate umpire Quinn Wolcott ejected him. González had been arguing with the umpires the entire series and had received a firm warning from Doug Eddings to knock it off in Mexico’s game against Puerto Rico the previous night.

Once again, Venezuela had the tying run on base, but Osuna struck out Chirinos and got Altuve on a fly to right to preserve Mexico’s 11-9 win.

The game, which lasted 4 hours 44 minutes, ended at 12:52 A.M., and the managers (Edgar González and Venezuela’s Omar Vizquel) remained at the ballpark with WBC officials over the tiebreaker system, a meeting that lasted several hours. With Mexico, Venezuela, and Italy tied for second with 1-2 records, two of the teams would play the next night with the other eliminated, based on how many runs per inning each team had allowed to the other two teams.

Edgar González, probably already not pleased after being ejected late in the game, had his mood worsen in the postgame conference. Mexico thought it had scored enough runs in the just-completed game to knock Venezuela out. But Venezuela, though its rallies had fallen short, had put up enough runs to leave Mexico with the short stick. 

Adrián González, who was present at the postgame meeting with Edgar, his brother, said he thought that a two-run win over Venezuela would be enough for Mexico.4  It was—to a point. A win of 2-0, 3-1, or anything up to 8-6 would have left Mexico in a favorable position vis-à-vis Venezuela and Italy. A 9-7 win would favor Venezuela but still leave Mexico ahead of Italy in the tiebreaking system. A two-run victory with more runs than that worked against Mexico. 5

Perhaps because of this misunderstanding, Mexico did not press for another run in the top of the ninth when it had an 11-9 lead.  It was later pointed out that Mexico missed a chance at an additional run that inning after putting runners at first and second with no outs. The number-eight hitter, Cruz, did not try to sacrifice and instead hit the first pitch for a long fly to left-center. Manny Rodriguez didn’t tag up and advance to third on the fly, so he was still on second when Xorge Carrillo hit a deep-enough fly to Inciarte in center that would have scored Rodriguez from third. 

Part of the confusion on Mexico’s part was that the criterion was based on runs allowed per innings in the field, including partial innings. Mexico thought it should receive some kind of credit for a partial ninth inning in its opening game, when its pitchers faced seven Italy batters but did not retire any of them. The tiebreaker, however, counted an “inning in the field” in the same manner as baseball calculates innings pitched, where a pitcher needs to retire a batter to receive credit for a partial inning.

Had Mexico been able to get even one out in the last of the ninth in that game, it would have been enough to drop its average to 1.10 and eliminate Venezuela.6

By giving up 11 runs to Mexico, Venezuela had allowed 21 runs in 19 innings for an average of 1.11 and fell behind Italy, which averaged 1.05 on 20 runs allowed in 19 innings.  But Mexico had given up 19 runs in 17 innings for an average of 1.12. 

It was a sad exit for Mexico and its fans, who had planned to fill the ballpark again the next night.  But with Mexico out, fewer than 1,800 showed up, and the ballpark was much quieter for the Venezuela-Italy tiebreaker game.

Author’s Note

As the official scorer, I had tallied the runs allowed by each team against one another coming into the game.  During the game, a WBC official came into our booth and asked about the concept of partial innings since it appeared that it could end up as a critical interpretation. The official agreed with my assessment that a partial inning is one-third of an inning for each out recorded.

A story on mlb.com the next day pointed out that there was precedent for such a ruling, as officials cited a situation from the 2006 World Baseball Classic “involving a three-team tie in the standings between Mexico, Japan and the United States. In that instance, each team had a 1-2 record after the second round of pool play. Japan had taken a 4-3 walk-off loss to the United States after recording two outs in the ninth inning. Japan was credited with two-thirds of a defensive inning in the tiebreaker calculation.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

Scoresheet, notes, and memories of the author, who was the official scorer for the games in Jalisco. Brenda Himrich (the author’s wife) made the press-box announcements in Spanish and English and contributed to this article.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic media guide was also a helpful resource.

Notes

1 The 2017 WBC was the fourth iteration of the 16-team, two-round international baseball tournament. The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. The tournament features the best players from around the world competing for their home countries and territories.  Players are qualified if they previously appeared on the final roster of a Federation Team, if the player is a citizen of or is eligible for a passport from the team’s country or territory, or if the player is a current resident of or has one parent who was born in that country or territory.

2 Chirinos became Venezuela’s starting catcher when Salvador Perez was hurt in a home-plate collision the previous day.  With Perez out, Venezuela activated Jesús Flores, its bullpen catcher, although Flores did not get into any games in the Jalisco pool. 

3 In the first and second rounds, video review was used only for plays involving home runs or potential home runs.

4 Associated Press, “Dodgers’ Adrian Gonzalez Criticizes WBC Organizers over Mexico Exit,” espn.com, https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18917684/los-angeles-dodgers-adrian-gonzalez-criticizes-world-baseball-classic-organizers-mexico-elimination, accessed March 13, 2017.

5 A 9-7 Mexico win would have left Mexico and Venezuela at 1.0 for runs allowed per innings in the field.  The next step was by earned runs, in which the teams would also be tied (all the runs in their game were earned), bringing the next step, batting average, in which Venezuela had a significant edge. So a 9-7 game would have left Mexico behind Venezuela in the tiebreaker protocol. However, Mexico would have still been ahead of Italy, which allowed 1.0526 runs per inning. A 10-8 win would have left Mexico at 1.0588 and Venezuela at 1.0526, eliminating Mexico. 

6 Manny Randhawa, “Statement Issued on Pool D Tiebreaker Ruling,” mlb.com, https://www.mlb.com/news/world-baseball-classic-statement-on-tiebreaker-c219245542, accessed March 13, 2017.

In a Sunday night game that lasted until 12:52 A.M., Mexico had beaten Venezuela, 11-9. One of the teams in the pool, Puerto Rico, had won all three of its games to earn a berth in the second round. The others – Mexico, Italy, and Venezuela – were tied for second with one win and two losses, and two of them would play Monday night to determine who would advance along with Puerto Rico.

First, however, a tiebreaker was needed to eliminate one of those three teams. The WBC used a formula based on how many runs each team had allowed per inning in the field among the tied teams.

Mexico thought it had put up enough runs against Venezuela to eliminate them. Mexico was also under the impression that it would receive some credit for a partial inning in the field in its opening game. In that one, Italy scored five runs in the last of the ninth for a 10-9 win. But since it hadn’t retired a batter in the last of the ninth, Mexico received no credit for a partial inning; as a result, by a thin margin, Mexico was eliminated, leaving Italy and Venezuela to play in the tiebreaker game.

With Mexico’s nationalist fervor sidelined, attendance and fan spirit at the tiebreaker were significantly diminished. Instead of another full house, fewer than 1,800 fans showed up for the game, and the atmosphere was eerily quiet in contrast to the raucousness of the first four days of games in Zapopan.

Sporting a “man bun” – a hairstyle seen among young men at this time – that somehow allowed him to still get a hat on, Omar Bencomo started for Venezuela and dug a quick hole in the last of the first. John Andreoli led off by bouncing a drive over the fence in right-center for a book-rule double. He scored on a single by Daniel Descalso. Rob Segedin singled one out later, but Bencomo got Chris Colabello to line out and struck out Drew Butera, keeping the deficit at one run. Bencomo allowed one more hit – along with two walks and a balk – over the next two innings, but no more runs. Deolis Geurra provided solid relief in helping to keep Italy off the board again through the sixth.

Still, the opening marker was enough for Italy to hold a lead through the first half of the game. Starter A.J. Morris struck out four and retired all of Venezuela’s hitters his first time through the order. The perfect streak ended when Morris hit Ender Inciarte with a pitch to open the fourth, but Inciarte got too far off first on a short fly to right, and Segedin threw to Colabello after the catch, doubling off Inciarte and keeping Venezuela scoreless.

Another double play preserved Italy’s lead in the fifth. Victor Martinez walked to open the inning, but Descalso, at second, fielded a grounder by Rougned Odor, tagged Martinez, and made a slick backhanded toss to first to complete a double play. Morris got Carlos Gonzalez to look at a third strike for the third out, and Italy clung to its 1-0 lead.

Although he had not allowed a hit and had faced the minimum of 15 batters through five innings, Morris was approaching the first-round pitch limit of 65 (he had thrown 62) and was relieved in the sixth by Trey Nielsen, who found himself in an immediate jam. After Alcides Escobar drew a five-pitch walk, Odubel Herrera hit an apparent double-play grounder to second. But Italy did not turn its third double play in as many innings; Descalso made a bad throw to shortstop Gavin Cecchini for an error, and both runners were safe.

Robinson Chirinos grounded to third. Alex Liddi stepped on the base to force Escobar but missed a double play when his throw pulled Colabello off first. Inciarte then hit a hard grounder off Colabello’s glove and into right field, driving in Herrera with Venezuela’s first hit and tying the game. Switch-armed Pat Venditte relieved and, pitching right-handed each time, got Martin Prado and Miguel Cabrera to pop out.2

With one out in the last of the seventh, Italy got the lead back at 2-1 as Andreoli homered to right – his third of the Classic – off Jose Alvarado.

Tiago Da Silva retired all three batters in the eighth, and Michael DeMark took the mound to face the heart of the Venezuela batting order in the ninth. He didn’t fare well. On a 0-and-1 pitch, Cabrera – who entered the 2017 season with 446 career major-league home runs – homered to right-center to tie the game, 2-2.

Martinez walked on four pitches, and Odor hit a drive off the fence in left-center, allowing pinch-runner Yangervis Solarte to score the go-ahead run.

Apparently believing that the ball was going to clear the fence, Odor had gone into a home-run trot. When the ball landed on the playing field, he had to stop at first. He began signaling for the play to be reviewed.3 After a lengthy review, the umpires announced that the call of no home run stood, meaning that there wasn’t conclusive evidence to overturn it. Frailyn Florian relieved DeMark.

Gonzalez’s single to left sent Odor to third, but another Venezuelan baserunning mistake followed when Andrew “Drew” Maggi threw out Gonzalez trying to stretch his hit into a double.

With poor baserunning seemingly frustrating Venezuela’s hopes for an insurance run, manager Omar Vizquel decided to gamble. He called for a suicide squeeze.

On the first pitch to Escobar, Odor broke for the plate. Escobar got the bunt down, and all Florian could do was throw to first to retire Escobar as Odor scored. Jose Altuve hit for Herrera and flied out to end the inning.

The insurance run was important because Liddi led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run off the batter’s eye in center. Liddi’s homer, his second of the Classic, was off veteran closer Francisco Rodriguez, who had saved 430 major-league games in 15 seasons.

Rodriguez, however, got the next two batters on grounders to Escobar at short (the first requiring a backhanded stop and acrobatic throw). Andreoli then hit a soft grounder to third. Prado made a nice play to charge and throw on the run to retire Andreoli and end the game.

Venezuela had pulled out a narrow survival that morning in the tiebreaking protocol and pulled out a game in the ninth that night. It advanced to the second round of the WBC, in San Diego, but it lost all three of its games. Puerto Rico, the other team to advance from the Jalisco pool, remained undefeated with wins over the Dominican Republic, the United States, and Venezuela.

In the semifinal game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Puerto Rico beat the Netherlands in 11 innings, setting up a championship-game rematch with the United States, which had edged Japan. Puerto Rico, however, lost the championship, 8-0, as Marcus Stroman and three relievers combined on a three-hit shutout.

Author’s Note

The author served as official scorer for all of the games in Jalisco, including this one. He attended a post-series reception in a stadium restaurant after the game along with other WBC committee members, including Enrique Burgos Sr. and umpire supervisor Cris Jones. Jones said he knew the ninth-inning squeeze was coming. Jones explained that he noticed that Vizquel was using signs only when a play was on. Earlier he had seen a sign relayed by the third-base coach, and a runner took off on a hit-and-run (with the pitch fouled off). Jones saw the same sign in the ninth with Odor on third, so he figured Odor would be running.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Mike Huber and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

Scoresheet, notes, and memories of the author, who was the official scorer for the games in Jalisco. Brenda Himrich (the author’s wife) made the press-box announcements in Spanish and English and contributed to this article.

The 2017 World Baseball Classic media guide was also a helpful resource.

Notes

1 The 2017 WBC was the fourth iteration of the 16-team, two-round international baseball tournament. The WBC is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation and is operated as a joint venture between Major League Baseball and its Players Association. The tournament features the best players from around the world competing for their home countries and territories. Players are qualified if they previously appeared on the final roster of a Federation Team, if the player is a citizen of or is eligible for a passport from the team’s country or territory, or if the player is a current resident of or has one parent who was born in that country or territory.

2 Venditte is ambidextrous and pitches right-handed against right-handed batters.

3 Reviews were limited to home runs or potential home runs in the first and second rounds of the WBC.

From left: Ashley Stephenson, Kaitlyn Ross, and Alli Schroder celebrate Canada’s win over Team USA in the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup. (Courtesy of the World Baseball Softball Confederation)

Team Canada was looking for revenge in the Bronze Medal game of the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup. The Canadians—ranked second in the world—were facing the third-ranked squad from the United States two days after the Americans had easily defeated them, 5-1.1 The Canadian team, which had been energized by the eight teenagers on its 20-woman roster,2 was relegated to the underdog role in the rematch. But the resilient Canadians bounced back in the battle for Bronze, as the youngsters sparked a dramatic come-from-behind extra-inning victory.

This was the eighth edition of the Women’s Baseball World Cup, which had been played in the even-numbered years since 2004.3 Canada had gone 5-3 in the 2018 tournament on the strength of a high-powered offense that batted .388, the second-best mark in the 12-team competition.

The Canadian roster had only three players who were 30 or older. Two of them had participated in all eight World Cups: 35-year-old third basewoman Ashley Stephenson and 32-year-old first basewoman Kate Psota.4 At the other end of the spectrum, the two youngest players on the team, pitcher Alli Schroder and infielder Emma March, had turned 16 less than five months earlier.5

The Americans came loaded with an experienced roster anchored by 37-year-old first basewoman Malaika Underwood, who was playing in her seventh World Cup.6 Three of their players—outfielder Kelsie Whitmore, pitcher Stacy Piagno, and catcher Anna Kimbrell—had recently played professionally with men on the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association.7 The only two teenagers on the American roster, 17-year-olds Ashton Lansdell and Emily Tsujikawa, saw limited action in the tournament.8

The United States had gone 6-2 to qualify for the Bronze Medal game, largely because of its outstanding pitching staff. The American hurlers allowed only seven earned runs in eight games, and they showed good control, walking only 16 batters. Although its hitting wasn’t as deep as Canada’s,9 the United States boasted some powerful hitters, including Megan Baltzell. The 24-year-old left-handed slugger came into the game hitting .542 and leading the tournament in homers (2), slugging percentage (.958) and RBIs (11).10

The Americans handed the ball to 27-year-old right-hander Brittany Schutte. The 5-foot-10 hurler had been a catcher on the University of Florida’s softball team before joining Team USA.11 Schutte was making her second appearance of the tournament; eight days earlier she tossed three scoreless innings in a 18-0 rout of the Netherlands.

Amanda “Ace” Asay, a former softball and ice hockey player at Brown University, got the start for Canada.12 She was pitching on only two days’ rest after throwing a one-hit shutout against Venezuela, the fifth-place finisher.

The 30-year-old right-hander—the third oldest player on the Canadian roster − was participating in her seventh World Cup.13 Asay had been named to the all-tournament team at first base in her World Cup debut in 2006, which helped earn her the team’s MVP Award.14 Ten years later she won a second women’s national team MVP Award as a pitcher.

Asay got off to a rocky start in the bottom of the first. A walk and her own throwing error on a potential double-play comebacker put runners on first and third with one out for the dangerous Baltzell. After Asay fell behind in the count 3-and-0, Canadian manager André Lachance called for an intentional walk to load the bases.15 Lachance wasn’t going to let the red-hot Baltzell beat his team—this was the first of three intentional walks she was issued in the game.16

The next batter, designated hitter Michelle Cobb, hit a line drive into center field for an RBI single. With the bases still loaded two batters later, Asay hit Kimbrell with a pitch, and USA took an early 2-0 lead.

Schutte labored through the first two innings, throwing 40 pitches.17 But she got the outs when she needed them, stranding two Canadian baserunners in each frame.

Schutte faced the minimum six batters in the next two innings before running into trouble in the top of the fifth.18 A walk to 17-year-old catcher Kaitlyn Ross and a hit-by-pitch to Nicole Luchanski put a pair of runners on base with one out for 22-year-old Daphnée Gélinas. Schutte quickly got ahead in the count 0-and-2; Gélinas took the next three pitches for balls before fouling off the sixth pitch of the at-bat.

The 5-foot-3 middle infielder from Repentigny, Québec, got back into the batter’s box showing off her usual old-school style: no batting gloves, hands choked up on the bat, and a slight crouch in her stance. Gélinas used a short, compact swing to pull the next pitch over the right-field fence for a three-run homer.19 The 332-foot blast gave Canada a sudden 3-2 lead.

“I was ready for that pitch,” Gélinas recalled later. “I knew she was going to come inside.”20

Asay—needing only nine pitches − gave Canada an important shutdown inning with a one-two-three bottom of the fifth.

In the sixth, the United States put a runner on third base with one out.21 After Asay retired 20-year-old pinch-hitter Whitmore for the second out, Lachance made a bold move: He brought Schroder in to pitch with the potential tying run only 90 feet from home.22 Schroder, wearing her age (16) on the back of her jersey, calmly struck out pinch-hitter Samantha Cobb on a nasty breaking ball on the outside corner for called strike three.

Schroder went back to the mound in the bottom of the seventh attempting to nail down the victory.23 But shortstop Jade Gortarez led off with a single and was sacrificed to second,24 bringing Underwood to the plate. The San Diego native, who was four years older than the combined ages of the Canadian pitcher and catcher, made the most of her opportunity.25 She slammed a double into the left-center-field gap, tying the game, 3-3, and putting the potential game-winning run in scoring position with only one out. But Underwood could advance only as far as third base,26 as Schroder escaped the inning without any further damage, sending the game into extra innings.

Despite the international tiebreaker rule that put “ghost” runners on first and second at the beginning of each half-inning, neither team could score in the eighth or ninth.

Luchanski opened the top of the 10th with a bunt.27 Team USA pitcher Piagno—in her fourth inning of relief − bobbled the ball and threw late to third, loading the bases with nobody out.28 The next batter, Gélinas, lined a single up the middle for her fourth RBI of the game, giving Canada a 4-3 lead. A hit-by-pitch to Anne-Sophie Lavallée and Mia Valcke’s infield single on a high chopper brought home two more runs.29 Stephenson broke the game wide open with a two-run single, and Canada led, 8-3.

Schroder surrendered two unearned runs in the bottom of the inning on a walk and a single by AJ Hamilton.30 The Americans brought the potential tying run to the plate with only one out, but Samantha Cobb hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the exciting contest.

Gélinas went 3-for-4 in the game with a walk and four RBIs, giving her a team-leading 9 RBIs in the tournament, while Schroder held the Americans to one earned run in 4⅓ pressure-packed innings of relief. “I have so much faith in the youth, in our ‘Little Frenchie’ Daphnée,” said Lachance.31

“Asay really bore down on the mound and was outstanding,” recalled Stephenson. “And then Schroder came in with nerves of steel. And she just kept dealing in extras.”32

Canada’s victory gave them four Bronze and two Silver Medals in the eight World Cups. The United States finished out of the medals for the second consecutive time, although it had previously won two Gold (2004, 2006), two Silver (2012, 2014), and two Bronze (2008, 2010).33

Later in the day, Japan defeated Taiwan (Chinese Taipei), 6-0, to claim its sixth consecutive Gold Medal. Taiwan settled for Silver, moving it into third place in the world rankings and dropping the United States to fourth.34

A few months after the Bronze Medal game, Stephenson and Psota announced their retirements from Canada’s women’s national team. “They’re pioneers, they’re legends of our sport and they will be greatly missed on the playing field,” said Lachance.35 Stephenson, a high-school teacher from Mississauga, Ontario, was thrilled to be able to transition into a coaching role on the team.

“The future is right now for this program,” Stephenson said after winning Bronze. “There’s some veterans that were key … but the young girls really are the future and they’re here and they’re ready.”36

Author’s note

This article is dedicated to the memory of Amanda Asay, who died tragically in a skiing accident in January 2022 near Nelson, British Columbia. She was 33 years old.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Kurt Blumenau and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted WBSC.org and Baseball-Reference.com. All statistics for the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup were taken from the PDF document “VIII Women’s Baseball World Cup Daily Report #9” at WBSC.org. Unless otherwise noted, all detailed play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Canada Beats USA in Ten, Grabs Bronze Medal in Women’s Baseball World Cup” dated August 31, 2018, on WBSC.org or the video of the game, which is available on YouTube. The box score can also be found at WBSC.org.

Photo credit

Courtesy of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.

Notes

1 “Baseball (Women) World Rankings,” WBSC.org, https://rankings.wbsc.org/list/baseball/women/world/2017-12-31, accessed December 15, 2022; “Women’s Baseball World Cup: USA Use Long Ball and Are Still in Play,” WBSC.org, August 30, 2018, https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2018-womens-baseball-world-cup/news/womens-baseball-world-cup-usa-still-hope-final, accessed December 15, 2022.

2 The eight Canadian teenagers were (age in parentheses): pitcher Alli Schroder (16), infielder Emma March (16), catcher Kaitlyn Ross (17), infielder Madison Willan (17), pitcher Elizabeth Gilder (17), outfielder Mia Valcke (18), pitcher McKinlee Kaulbach (18), and outfielder Emma Carr (19). “2018 – Women’s National Team Roster,” Baseball Canada, https://www.baseball.ca/uploads/files/2018%20WNT%20Roster.pdf, accessed December 15, 2022.

3 The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the Women’s Baseball World Cup in 2020 and 2021. As of 2022, the next Women’s Baseball World Cup was scheduled for 2024. “Women’s Baseball World Cup,” Baseball Reference Bullpen, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Women%27s_Baseball_World_Cup, accessed December 15, 2022; “2021 WBSC Women’s, U-15 Baseball World Cups Officially Cancelled,” WBSC.org, October 1, 2021, https://www.wbsc.org/en/news/2021-wbsc-womens-u-15-baseball-world-cups-officially-cancelled, accessed December 16, 2022.

4 “Women’s Baseball Legends Kate Psota and Ashley Stephenson Retire,” WBSC.org, March 16, 2019, https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2021-womens-baseball-world-cup/news/womens-baseball-legends-kate-psota-and-ashley-stephenson-retire, accessed December 15, 2022.

5 “2018 – Women’s National Team Roster.”

6 Alex Azzi, “Is There a Future for Women in the National Pastime? Baseball Player Malaika Underwood Hopes So,” NBC Sports, October 24, 2020, https://onherturf.nbcsports.com/2020/10/24/is-there-a-future-for-women-in-the-national-pastime-baseball-player-malaika-underwood-hopes-so/, accessed December 15, 2022.

7 All three players suited up for the Sonoma Stompers in 2016. Piagno and Whitmore returned in 2017. Whitmore became the first woman to play in a league affiliated with Major League Baseball when she suited up for the Staten Island FerryHawks in 2022. Jessica Quiroli, “Stacy Piagno, Sonoma Stompers Make History as Women’s Baseball Dream Marches Forward,” The Sporting News, July 28, 2017, https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/other-sports/news/sonoma-stompers-stacy-piagno-anna-kimbrel-kelsie-whitemore-women-in-baseball-aagpbl/jdx55kcn5pxs1hvk4qr6finyk, accessed December 16, 2022; Betelhem Ashame, “Her Baseball Journey Has Just Begun. Stay Tuned,” MLB.com, May 20, 2022, https://www.mlb.com/news/kelsie-whitmore-making-history-in-atlantic-league, accessed December 16, 2022.

8 Lansdell appeared in two of the first eight games, going 0-for-2. Tsujikawa pitched in two tournament games, throwing a total of three hitless innings.

9 The United States had a team batting average of .295 in its first eight games, which was below the tournament-wide .309 mark during the same period.

10 “Megan Baltzell,” USA Baseball, https://www.usabaseball.com/player/megan-baltzell, accessed December 15, 2022.

11 “Brittany Schutte,” TeamUSA.org, https://www.teamusa.org/usa-softball/athletes/brittany-schutte, accessed December 15, 2022; “Brittany Schutte,” FloridaGators.com, https://floridagators.com/sports/softball/roster/brittany-schutte/3145, accessed December 15, 2022.

12 Asay had several nicknames, including “Ace” and “Barb.” Canadian Press, “Longtime Canadian Women’s Baseball Team Member Amanda Asay Dead at 33,” CBC Sports, January 9, 2022, https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/baseball/canadian-womens-baseball-amanda-asay-dies-at-33-1.6309141, accessed December 15, 2022; “Amanda Asay,” Canadian Olympic Committee, https://olympic.ca/team-canada/amanada-asay/, accessed December 17, 2022.

13 “Amanda Asay,” Baseball Reference Bullpen, https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Amanda_Asay, accessed December 15, 2022.

14 Daphnée Gélinas won the MVP Award in 2018. Other members of the 2018 women’s national team who had won the award were Nicole Luchanski (2015, 2017), Kate Psota (2009, 2010), and Ashley Stephenson (2005, 2008). Canadian Press, “Longtime Canadian Women’s Baseball Team Member Amanda Asay Dead at 33”; “Women’s National Team MVP,” Baseball Canada, https://www.baseball.ca/uploads/files/Womens%20National%20Team%20MVP(1).pdf, accessed December 15, 2022.

15 Video of the bottom of the first inning can be viewed here.

16 Lachance had managed Canada in all eight World Cups. He had announced that he would be stepping down as manager after the tournament. He was replaced by pitching coach Aaron Myette. Baltzell was walked intentionally in the first, seventh, and ninth innings. Canada pitched to her with two outs and runners on first and second in the second inning. She popped out to end the inning. Baltzell finished the game 0-for-2 with three walks. Canadian Press, “Canada Beats U.S. for Bronze in Extras at Women’s Baseball World Cup,” Victoria (British Columbia) News, September 1, 2018, https://www.vicnews.com/sports/canada-beats-u-s-for-bronze-in-extras-at-womens-baseball-world-cup/, accessed December 16, 2022; “André Lachance Set to Depart Baseball Canada,” Baseball Canada, February 9, 2022, https://www.baseball.ca/andr-lachance-set-to-depart-baseball-canada, accessed December 16, 2022.

17 Video of the top of the second inning can be viewed here.

18 Video of the top of the third inning can be viewed here. The top of the fourth can be viewed here; the top of the fifth here.

19 The distance of Gélinas’ home run was provided by play-by-play announcer Craig Durham, along with its 90 MPH exit velocity and 30.5-degree launch angle.

20 “Canada Beats USA in Ten, Grabs Bronze Medal in Women’s Baseball World Cup,” WBSC.org, August 31, 2018, https://www.wbsc.org/en/events/2018-womens-baseball-world-cup/news/canada-beats-usa-in-ten-grabs-bronze-medal-womens-baseball-world-cup, accessed December 16, 2022.

21 Kylee Lahners singled to open the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Ashton Lansdell. She advanced to second when first basewoman Kate Psota threw wildly to second after a pickoff attempt by Asay. Anna Kimbrell advanced Lansdell to third with a bunt. Video of the bottom of the sixth inning can be viewed here.

22 Schroder had given up only two earned runs in 8⅓ innings pitched in the tournament, but she had struggled with her control, walking eight batters. She had pitched 4⅔ scoreless innings against the Americans two days earlier.

23 Games are seven innings in duration in the Women’s Baseball World Cup. Video of the bottom of the seventh inning can be viewed here.

24 The game story at WBSC.org incorrectly stated that Gortarez advanced to second on a fly ball by Amanda Gianelloni. It was a bunt.

25 Underwood was 37 years old, four years older than the combined ages of Schroder (16) and Ross (17).

26 The next batter, Baltzell, was intentionally walked for the second time in the game. Underwood advanced to third with two out when Schroder’s pickoff attempt got by Gélinas, who had shifted from second base to shortstop in the bottom of the fifth inning. Madison Willan, who had pinch-hit in the top of the fifth, stayed in the game at second base.

27 Video of the tenth inning can be viewed here.

28 Meggie Meidlinger replaced Schutte in the top of the sixth. Meidlinger gave up two singles in a scoreless inning of work.

29 Anne-Sophie Lavallée came into the game at first base in the bottom of the ninth. The 21-year-old made a nice defensive play to open the inning; she fielded a bunt by Amanda Gianelloni and nailed the lead runner at third base.

30 Runs scored by “ghost” runners in extra innings are treated as unearned runs. The broadcast crew did not indicate when Hamilton entered the game as the left fielder, although it was likely in the top of the eighth inning.

31 “Canada Beats USA in Ten, Grabs Bronze Medal in Women’s Baseball World Cup.”

32 Canadian Press, “Canada Beats U.S. for Bronze in Extras at Women’s Baseball World Cup.”

33 “Women’s Baseball World Cup.”

34 “Baseball (Women) World Rankings,” WBSC.org, https://rankings.wbsc.org/list/baseball/women/world/2018-12-17, accessed December 16, 2022.

35 “Psota, Stephenson Announce Retirement from Women’s National Team,” Baseball Canada, March 12, 2019, https://www.baseball.ca/psota-stephenson-announce-retirement-from-womens-national-team, accessed December 16, 2022.

36 Canadian Press, “Canada Beats U.S. for Bronze in Extras at Women’s Baseball World Cup.”