Venezuela’s WBC Title Opportunity Has a Greater Meaning to a Country in Flux

MIAMI — Omar López had just managed a game with the deftness of a diamond cutter or, given the unidentified voice he heard in his head in the dugout, the gift of a paranormal investigator. After the Venezuelan manager pulled his starting pitcher just four outs into the World Baseball Classic semifinal Monday, falling behind 2–0 to Italy, he called on six relievers to get 23 outs as Venezuela rallied to beat Italy, 4–2.

He knew what was coming next, as all managers in the WBC have learned over the years: instructions and complaints from major league executives about the use of their players.

“Of course, they are calling to call,” López said.

Imagine you are López. You have just guided Venezuela into the WBC final for the first time against the backdrop of a country, given the political strife it has known, that is luxuriating in the happiness and diversion of baseball. Will you abide the front office number crunchers bowing to the pseudo-science of pitch counts who tell you their guy can't pitch for their country with the title on the line?

“So, what will you do?” I asked him.

“I will turn my phone off,” he said.

He had the look of a man who meant it, or most certainly someone who knows what it means for baseball-loving Venezuela to play Team USA in the WBC final Tuesday.

“All my guys want to pitch,” he said. “They already all told me they are good to pitch.”

Watching the WBC is like seeing Angel Falls, the world’s highest uninterrupted waterfall, which is in Venezuela, in a remote park almost 400 miles from Valencia, López’s hometown. It truly needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. If you love baseball, you can only fall in love with the passion and, given the improved rate of players who wanted to sign up for it, the level of talent.

But there is a hidden downside. MLB clubs tell managers what to do. A major league center fielder wants to play left field in the WBC, but the club refuses to allow it. A 10-year minor league veteran reliever with only a sip of coffee in the majors was told he could not pitch on one day of rest. A closer was restricted to no more than 25 pitches and no mid-inning appearances. One manager, who wanted to work through an issue, said an MLB GM refused to take his call for days.

Second-guess WBC managers at your own peril. Many of the moves they make are with governors.

The WBC final is a test of these unseen strings that are being pulled. Venezuela will start lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez against the U.S. But as he showed with Keider Montero against Italy, López will not hesitate to go heavy with his bullpen, one of the team’s great strengths. In order, Ricardo Sanchez, 28, Luinder Avila, 24, Angel Zerpa, 26, Eduard Bazardo, 30, Andres Machado, 32, and Daniel Palencia, 26, shut down Italy on three hits. How do you tell any of them they are not available the next day?

In addition to not wasting time lifting Montero, López pulled Sanchez even though pitching coach Johan Santana said he looked good. López pulled him at 23 pitches to keep him available for the final.

His master move was bringing in Zerpa, a dart-throwing lefty, with a runner on second and one out in the sixth. With a warning of “don’t laugh,” he said he heard a voice instruct him.

“I don’t know who told me that,” he said.

Zerpa secured the second out on a strikeout. Then the voice told López to walk J.J. D’Orazio, a right-handed hitter, the eighth-place hitter. After a harmless infield single, Zerpa fanned Sam Antonacci in a left-on-left matchup that was the last threat from Italy.

In the postgame press conference room, when asked about his available pitchers for the final, López said, “Even Johan Santana is going to pitch.”

The championship will come down to Nolan McLean, the U.S. starting pitcher who saw his fastball ambushed in early counts by Italy. It will come down to whether Venezuela can keep the home-run hitting Americans in the park. But mostly it will come down to the Venezuela relief corps. If you believe López is not taking calls from nervous executives, then Venezuela, given energy from the crowd and purpose from their people behind them, has the firepower and depth to shut down a U.S. lineup that has never truly clicked the way it was set up. Thanks to the Team USA-friendly schedule, the U.S. comes in with a day off.

At Angel Falls, you can watch the water fall more than 2,600 feet uninterrupted. But Monday night, even such an awesome sight pales in comparison to the opportunity in front of Venezuela. It’s an opportunity no pitcher should ever let pass.

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