MIAMI — Not in dirt or sweat was the story of the World Baseball Classic written but in tears. To see these grown, hardened soldiers of baseball sobbing on the field where they had just secured their ultimate victory was to best understand what baseball and this championship mean to Venezuela.
Venezuela vanquished Team USA in the final, 3-2, Tuesday. It would be difficult to imagine a victory that would move a U.S. team to tears. That’s not a knock. It’s more reflective of how deeply the causes of baseball and country mean to Venezuela, which had never been in a WBC final, never mind won one.
