What Next?

With the U.S. failing to qualify for the final round of the WBC this begs the question of what will happen next? We often get the impression that in order for the game to be recognized the Americans will have to take an interest. This hasn't been the case at all.

I get the impression, from my experience as a U.S. citizen and in my expat life, that American's just don't care that much about international competition in the most popular sports. Whether they lack interest because the U.S. has failed to put decent teams on the field or if the fans really don't care is a difficult to say. I have a feeling it is a combination of both.

In the long run I think it is a good thing the U.S. team didn't make it in. First, it shows the world that others can play the game. I know I know, the argument will be that the U.S. team didn't have its best players. Well, neither did Japan. Cuba has a smaller population to choose from as does Korea, and the smaller countries also have less development opportunities at the professional level compared to the U.S. which has rookie, A, AA, AAA ball and academy's located throughout the Dominican. It's fair to say Cubans and the Japanese play great baseball and have shown they are better than the U.S. Second, without the U.S. in the finals maybe the rest of the world can now see how big the game is to other countries. Lastly, if the U.S. national program (does one even exist?) doesn't care enough to put together a well prepared club then I don't want them in the final!

The WBC has been a great stage for international baseball. It will be interesting to see it develop in the coming years. This truly is the boost baseball has needed, hopefully it will carry over to the Olympic voting.