The year’s signature baseball moment happened before the season even started. At least that’s how most fans and players usually look at the World Baseball Classic: It’s a fun preseason exhibition, but it lacks the intensity, the stakes and the star power of, say, soccer’s World Cup. Real baseball starts on MLB’s Opening Day.
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That perception shifted in a big way on March 21, in the ninth inning of the WBC final between the U.S. and Japan. Two outs, nobody on, Japan clinging to a 3–2 lead and the tournament coming down to an at bat the baseball world had been dreaming of: Shohei Ohtani on the mound, Mike Trout at the plate. The sport’s two best players—and, for added drama, Los Angeles Angels teammates—dueling with an international championship on the line.
