SI:AM | Joyful Venezuela Triumphs Over Dour Team USA in Thrilling WBC Final

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m bummed that the World Baseball Classic is over, but I’m glad there won’t be another baseball game important enough for me to subject myself to John Smoltz’s commentary until October.

In today’s SI:AM:
🇻🇪 Venezuela takes WBC crown
🇺🇸 Team USA offense falls flat
🏀 All 68 men’s tournament teams, ranked

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Historic win for Venezuela

I wasn’t rooting against Team USA in last night’s World Baseball Classic final, but I wasn’t exactly broken up when Venezuela won.

Venezuela was the more entertaining team and better encapsulated what makes the WBC special by showcasing the country’s joyful, passionate baseball culture. The tens of thousands of Venezuelan fans who packed the stands in Miami for the knockout rounds were key to making the viewers at home feel the magnitude of what was at stake. It’s unnatural to get deeply invested in a baseball game in mid-March, but it was impossible not to when you heard how much the fans cared.

Give the U.S. fans credit, though. They erupted when Bryce Harper crushed a no-doubt homer to dead center to tie the game at 2–2 in the bottom of the eighth. Harper was amped up, too, judging by the way he launched the biggest bat flip of his career as the ball soared over the fence.

But the scene after Daniel Palencia struck out Roman Anthony to seal the victory was more compelling than any celebration that would have followed a U.S. win. Many Venezuelan players had tears in their eyes. They crouched on the ground for an impassioned celebratory speech by team captain Salvador Perez. The fans danced in the stands while waving the country’s flag.

LOOK WHAT IT MEANS TO TEAM VENEZUELA! 🥹🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/Ex6MM3rwfU
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 18, 2026

“We are family here,” Eugenio Suárez told Fox’s Ken Rosenthal on the field after the final out. “That’s why we play with passion, with love. Because we feel that jersey, we feel our country in front of us. That’s why this is a lot for us as players, as people, as human beings and as Venezuelans. Now, we are the champions.”

The joy of Venezuela’s victory is rooted in the despair the country’s people have felt for years. The country is currently in the midst of what the United Nations has said is “the largest forced displacement crisis ever in Latin America.” Approximately 8 million Venezuelans have been displaced, fleeing rising crime rates, hyperinflation and shortages of food and medicine under the country’s authoritarian government.

“When we play,” said third baseman Maikel Garcia, “we play not just for ourselves. We play for 30 million people.”

The Venezuelan team clearly felt immense pressure to represent its country, but also tremendous pride. They wanted to win, but they also played with emotion and excitement. It was a joy to watch. The vibes around Team USA, by comparison, were depressingly sour.

“We’re America, we’ve got to assert our dominance over everybody else,” Paul Skenes told reporters before the tournament started. “That’s what we do.”

Between manager Mark DeRosa’s near-fatal misunderstanding of the tournament’s rules and subsequent tiff with the media, Cal Raleigh’s absurd refusal to shake the hand of Mariners teammate and Mexico outfielder Randy Arozarena and the team’s decision to invite the man who claims to have shot Osama Bin Laden into the clubhouse for a pep talk before the semifinal, Team USA simply wasn’t having as much fun as everyone else. If the team is looking for things to change before the next WBC in 2029, maybe start there. You can take the game seriously without being dour and invoking the military at every turn. Other teams seem to have success with that approach. Why can’t Team USA?

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The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. Blackhawks defenseman Louis Crevier’s goal on the fastest slapshot of the season (102 mph).
4. A nifty reverse dunk by the Heat’s Keshad Johnson.
3. LaMelo Ball’s preposterous shot while falling to the floor.
2. A tough shot by Howard’s Bryce Harris to beat the shot clock and extend the Bison’s late in their First Four game against UMBC. It was Howard’s first NCAA tournament win in school history.
1. Tramon Mark’s last-second game-winner for Texas against NC State in the First Four.