It’s possible that the best thing that ever happened to the World Baseball Classic was when Mike Trout struck out to end it.
The moment was electric, an incredible cap to the 2023 tournament, as the game’s two greatest players faced off and Shohei Ohtani closed out the championship for Team Japan. It was also a source of frustration among the Americans who had declined an opportunity to play, including righty Logan Webb, whose Giants preferred he stay with the club for spring training. Three years later, San Francisco wanted Webb to stick around again, but when national team manager Mark DeRosa called to recruit him, Webb said yes right away.
