International Intrigue: USC and the WBC
Major League Baseball is attempting to make the sport more than just an American pastime. This past weekend, the Cardinals and Cubs continued their storied rivalry, not in Chicago or St. Louis, but in London, as part of a continuing effort to bring games to other countries like Mexico and England.
But baseball is already an international sport because of the World Baseball Classic.
Viewership of the World Baseball Classic championship in late March between the United States and Japan peaked at 6.5 million people worldwide across FS1 and Fox Deportes. The game, which Japan won 3-2, was the most viewed WBC game since the tournament started in 2006. More than 1.3 million people attended games across the four different host cities, another tournament record.
It wasn’t just Classic fans who enjoyed the games: The WBC, which brought players from across the world, had a taste of home for USC fans. Five Trojan alumni competed in the tournament across three different teams. Lars Nootbaar, who played at USC from 2016 to 2018 and for Japan in the Classic, also competed in the MLB London Series as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
CJ Stubbs, who played at USC from 2016 to 2019, played for Team Israel.
The Houston Astros drafted Stubbs in 2019 and he’s been in their minor league system ever since, and hasn’t yet played in a major league game.
“It was amazing, that park, that atmosphere,” Stubbs said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I had never played in front of 30,000 people and probably like 10 million on TV, which is amazing. And it’s cool, just relaxing in that moment.”
Stubbs had the opportunity to play in the tournament because his older brother Garrett, who played at USC from 2012 to 2015, sustained a knee injury in Israel’s first game.
“I was the only other catcher that was within 100 miles that could come play,” Stubbs said. “The third game rolls around and I’m getting ready for spring training, and they call me up and said, ‘Hey, it’s time to go. Do you wanna come play?’ And so I hopped in my car, drove an hour south down to Miami from West Palm Beach and just kinda got thrown in the fire.”
Robert Stock, who played at USC from 2007 to 2009, also played for Israel but had the opportunity to play with the team for the entirety of its stay in the tournament.
“It was a blast. [I] closed out the game against Nicaragua and that was kind of a must-win for us to automatically qualify for [the] next time around,” Stock said. “When you’re playing for a national team — or, in this case, for team Israel, a team where you all have many different shared experiences — it means a little bit more than the average run-of-the-mill team.”
Many players expressed similar experiences to Stock. Daniel Cooper played at USC from 2008 to 2009 and has represented Great Britain at the national level for over a decade.
Cooper has moved away from professional baseball, but he still played for Great Britain in this year’s WBC. It was the first time Great Britain qualified for the WBC ever.
“For how close ties are for [the] U.S. and Great Britain, the carryover did not come with baseball, and there isn’t a lot of love for baseball in that country,” Cooper said. “It’s very interesting to be a part of a program and for me to see what we’ve been able to do in the 10 years I’ve been on this program: How much we can grow the love of baseball in a country.”
Cooper pitched in two of Great Britain’s four games at the WBC, giving up one earned run across two 2/3 innings. Although he hasn’t pitched professionally in nearly a decade, he struck out Trea Turner and recorded outs against stars Mike Trout, Kyle Schwarber and Mookie Betts in Great Britain’s game against the U.S..
For a player like Cooper, whose professional career ended due to injury, the Classic was the largest stage he’s ever played on.
“[The WBC] was my big league experience,” Cooper said. “There really aren’t words that I could use to explain what it felt like to pitch at that level. [It’s] something that I always aspired to do but never had the opportunity. So, it was something really special for me.”
Stock, Stubbs and Cooper did not remain in the tournament long, with Great Britain and Israel getting knocked out of the WBC in pool play.
But even with all of the high praise for the tournament by the participants, the WBC was marred by controversy. There were cries the MLB season was too close to the WBC, with the MLB season starting March 30 and the WBC finals taking place just nine days prior. Players sustained injuries throughout the time of the tournament, including high-profile names like Edwin Diaz, Jose Altuve and Adam Wainwright.
Diaz tore his patellar tendon while celebrating a Puerto Rico win over the Dominican Republic, Altuve broke his thumb after getting hit by a pitch and Wainwright strained his groin while lifting weights prior to the WBC finals.
Even with a number of injuries, Stock thinks the positive outcomes from the WBC outweigh the bad.
“What’s gained by bringing the game to such an international crowd is very important for growing the game of baseball and that the injuries that happened would happen in spring training,” Stock said. “Edwin Diaz’s [injury] was from celebrating, jumping up and down. I don’t know, that’s a tough one. That’s an anomaly right there.”
With injury concerns and the WBC bumping right up against the MLB season, which ranges from March into early November, some have suggested moving the former to a different time.
“There just needs to be a better time to do it,” Stubbs said. “After the season would be tough, too. I definitely think the World Baseball Classic needs to happen. It blew up baseball right before baseball was about to happen, which is amazing. So, I definitely don’t know if it’s going to or not going to, but I want it to happen, that’s for sure.”
As a pitcher, Cooper said there’s no great time for the WBC and sees no better alternatives to the current format.
“There is no time that is perfect for every single person because pitchers and hitters are just so different,” Cooper said. “I feel like hitters could play at any time, and I don’t know when would be a better time for pitchers.”
With some pitchers making over 30 starts in an MLB regular season, multiple elite arms opted out of the Classic. Even though Cooper knows it is hard for pitchers to compete in the WBC, he hopes more elite pitchers will do so in the future.
“We’re in spring training. [I] totally understand pitchers not quite being ready for it, but at the same time, I don’t see why we can’t make the World Baseball Classic like how the World Cup is with soccer,” Cooper said. “I don’t get why people don’t want to represent their country and go play the sport they love for their country. It seems crazy to me.”
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has confirmed the World Baseball Classic will return in 2026. He has the backing of many players who participated in the tournament, including USC alumni.
While there are logistical problems to solve to try to prevent injuries that impact the MLB season, it seems baseball will return to diamonds around the world in just a few short years.