Angels News: Team USA Manager Believes Baseball Won with Mike Trout Vs Shohei Ohtani Final Matchup
The baseball world was gifted one of the most cherished matchups in history Tuesday night. With the World Baseball Classic only taking place once every four years and a lot of criticism surrounding the timing of it, stars participating had an extra chip on their shoulders in this championship game. They were looking to show all the doubters why representing their country in this tournament mattered to them so much.
Team USA vs Team Japan did not disappoint at all. The construction of these two rosters before the WBC kicked off had them among the favorites to take the trophy home. America's squad was led our very own Mike Trout along with Dodgers' Mookie Betts and Phillies' Trea Turner. Shohei Ohtani headlined Japan and had help from Boston's Masataka Yoshida and Padres' Yu Darvish.
In what felt like the conclusion of a classic sports film, it was Trout who stepped up to the plate in the US's final chance to make a play and either tie or win the game. Staring him down from the pitching mound was his star teammate Ohtani and he proved to know Trout's swing well as he struck him out to secure Japan's third WBC title.
In a postgame interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Team USA's manager Mark DeRosa cracked a few jokes but ultimately praised both Ohtani and Trout for competing.
"It was kind of scripted," said DeRosa. "I just wish it went the other way, the baseball fans won tonight."
DeRosa was eluding to a hot topic on Twitter right now that professional leagues may get scripts prior to a season and have to follow everything down to a crisp. Two of the biggest stars to ever play the game of baseball matching up for that final pic h certainly seemed like a fantasy but we all witnessed it last night.
The retired infielder is not wrong in saying that the baseball fans were the real winners. In any competition, you want your two best teams to face off and have it go down to the wire. That is exactly what happened in the WBC and I cannot wait for the next one in 2026.
