MIAMI — There’s a lot being unsaid, but really, it’s pretty evident.
The facts sort of speak for themselves.
The World Baseball Classic seems more about Japan, or at least about Major League Baseball capitalizing on a country that loves the sport.
In the tournament schedule, there’s a clear path that means Samurai Japan and Team USA can only clash in the championship, making it almost a certainty for Team Ohtani to reach the finals.
It’s as if having Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto wasn’t enough of an edge already.
If Samurai Japan beats Venezuela in the quarterfinals on Saturday at Lawndepot Park, they’ll move on to face either Italy or Puerto Rico. One might think it could have been gearing up for a semifinal match against the Dominican Republic, which sounds pretty daunting for a Japanese team that hasn’t had the best pitching lately.
How did we get here?
So, Japan was set to play a quarterfinal game Saturday night if they made it through the group stage, regardless of whether they came in first or second in Pool C. Meanwhile, Team USA was already well aware of their quarterfinal match in Houston on Friday night.
The team finishing second in Pool B was originally slated for the Saturday quarterfinals, but this changed once Team USA was identified as that team.
In this twist, it appears the Dominican Republic bears the brunt of the situation. With Paul Skeens, set to pitch for Team USA in the semifinals, encountering a tough barrier on his way to the finals.
Dominican Republic’s general manager, Nelson Cruz, kept his tone diplomatic when discussing the tournament structure designed to lead to a Japan-U.S. final.
“Right now we’re focused on South Korea,” he mentioned in Spanish.
What’s the point in voicing complaints? It’s pretty clear what’s going on.
While South Korea was practicing before their game against the Dominican Republic, a series of commercials featuring Ohtani played on the video scoreboard. And let’s not forget, the outfield wall advertisements at Lawn Depot Park showcased a lot of Japanese companies.
Samurai Japan’s next game against Venezuela is set for 9pm ET, which becomes 10am Japan time on Sunday.
They also got some prime broadcast slots for their pool games. All four of their group stage games at Tokyo Dome began at 7 p.m., contrasting with the erratic schedule of other teams in Pool C. Korea had night games followed by a day game, and Taiwan had four back-to-back days of play.
Perhaps this is due to reports that Netflix shelled out close to $100 million for exclusive rights to broadcast the tournament in Japan.
This tournament, at just 20 years old, seems to prioritize such considerations in its planning.
Running a tournament like this necessitates collaboration among various parties, including MLB and the players’ association. Franchise owners aren’t exactly eager to send their high-priced players to these events before the regular season begins, mainly due to injury risks.
Unlike soccer, baseball lacks an international governing body that can mandate player participation in tournaments. Hence, stakeholders can’t be compelled to partake. They need motivation—a massive incentive is the financial return from Japan.
In the last WBC three years ago, Ohtani’s game-winning strikeout against Mike Trout attracted 46% of households in Japan’s Kanto region, which includes Tokyo.
A moment like that could resurface next week, but it won’t be entirely organic. There seems to be some degree of assistance involved.
