Heading into the tournament, the USA had the greatest team in World Baseball Classic history, at least on paper. It was looking like a straight shot to the finals for a 2023 rematch against Japan - the best of the best - with the Dominican Republic, right behind them, who proved to be a powerhouse of their own, both on the field and off of it, with their infectious energy.
And with many underdog stories heading into it all, it was gearing up to be something special for the world of baseball.
Yet, even with the USA in the championship on their home field of Miami, Florida, the hype around their fans has seemingly died off. To many fans, rooting for them has come to feel like an obligation by association, nothing more. Is there a legitimate case for why this is?
What caused this attitude toward a USA team following a Winter Olympics where the entire country was 100% behind their men's and women's hockey teams?
Well, let's look at the course of events.
The Matchups
First off, the road to their third straight World Baseball Classic championship appearance has been anything but picture-perfect. They started out on a roll, taking down Brazil and Great Britain by a combined score of 24-6.
But as the Pool stage progressed for the U.S., they began to have a couple of wake-up calls. They barely got by a scrappy Mexico team, beating them 5-3, then were upset by Italy 8-6, a game in which many are considering the greatest upset in World Baseball Classic history.
They clinched a quarter-finals birth thanks to an Italy win over Mexico, which led them, once again, to win a 5-3 matchup, this time eliminating Canada from the WBC, a team that made their first QF appearance in their country's history.
Now, coming off a 2-1 semi-finals win over the powerhouse Dominican Republic, who hadn't scored fewer than seven runs in a game all tournament, they're back in the championship game once again, looking to claim their second WBC title ever as they await the winner between Venezuela - one of the most electric teams of the tournament - and Italy - the WBC's Cinderella story.
So, they stopped the power bats of the DR. They're in the championship again. Yet, it feels almost like a disappointment to some, and that's because of the stacks of controversy this USA team has brought to the tournament.
They didn't do anything illegal. They didn't play dirty. Rather, it was their entire attitude that everyone had, and still has, problems with.
The Controversy
For starters, ace pitcher Tarik Skubal announced he would only pitch in one game for Team USA so he could go back to the Detroit Tigers Spring Training camp to focus on the upcoming MLB season.
He would do so, just as he said. However, conflict piled on when he would go back and start a game for the Tigers a day before Team USA's semi-finals game against the Dominican Republic, leaving USA fans with their hands up in the air questioning that if he can pitch 4.1 innings of exhibition baseball for the Tigers, he could've done so again for the U.S. in a tournament game that matters.
Skubal would later admit that he figured the WBC didn't matter at all, saying, “I just assumed (the World Baseball Classic) would be an All-Star Game type of vibe, and it’s absolutely not. It couldn’t be farther from that," but would also say "it's not fair" that he was receiving an onslaught of criticism for his decision.
In another interview in front of the media, Skubal even admitted that he simply "walked away" from the tournament of his own decision.
And it doesn't stop there with the players...
Bryce Harper was also at the forefront of major criticism after he said that the Olympics is more important to the game of baseball than the World Baseball Classic is, despite being right in the middle of the tournament. He would later admit and sort of backtrack by saying that it's "awesome to see all of these cultures come together."
His initial comments received a ton of backlash as the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles are already under heavy scrutiny for their format that will restrict who can and can't play in the Olympics. They will host only six teams, with the USA (automatically in as host), Dominican Republic, and Venezuela already claiming their bids, leaving three more teams.
One spot will go to an Asian top finisher, the other to a Europe top finisher, then the final going to a 2028 qualifier - that's it.
It's a good reminder that the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 had only six teams - the World Baseball Classic had 20 this year - and the baseball viewership was down a whopping 43% from the 2016 Olympic Games. Meanwhile, the World Baseball Classic viewership of Team USA this year is reaching record highs due to their star power alone and is expected to see record numbers overall once the tournament is over.
Manager Mark DeRosa has also been under constant fire almost the entire tournament. Heading into their game against Italy, DeRosa admitted that he and his team had been up late, drinking and celebrating following their win against Mexico.
Why? Because he admitted on MLB Network that they had already punched their ticket to the quarter-finals before facing Italy - that was not the case at all. The result? Italy won, putting the USA on the brink of elimination, as they would need Italy to beat Mexico in the final game of the Pool stage to actually move on to the quarter-finals.
Luckily, for their sake, Italy managed to pull it off with ease. But fans wish they could say the facepalming moments with their American squad stopped there.
Despite being caught on live TV, DeRosa backtracked, called out the reports of him not knowing the place his team was in as false, and then said the U.S. and Italy were both 2-0 heading into their matchup - when they were actually 3-0 following their wins over Brazil, Great Britain, and Mexico.
He received even more criticism after the Italy loss for not stacking the roster with its best lineup and pitching the team's weakest relievers in moments when they needed the complete opposite.
The worst part? The controversy keeps going.
During their Pool stage matchup against the USA, Mexico's star Randy Arozarena went up to bat and offered USA's Cal Raleigh a handshake before stepping into the box - the two are teammates for the Seattle Mariners in the MLB.
Raleigh refused his handshake, and Arozarena didn't take too kindly to his attitude about everything, not sugarcoating a single word. Arozarena would double down on his comments, saying that, saying, "the only thing (Raleigh) should be thankful for is having such great parents."
When asked if he respected Raleigh's decision, DeRosa said, "I wouldn't have had a problem if he dapped him up. But, he chose not to. I'm good with that, too."
Raleigh would later go on to say that he spoke with Arozarena via text messaging about the situation, but didn't go into further detail. Canadian Josh Naylor, who is also Raleigh's teammate on the Mariners, offered him a fist bump when he went up to bat during their quarter-finals match, which Raleigh also refused.
But Naylor admitted that he even texted Raleigh the night before, saying he was going to do it to mess with him. Some say Naylor was being a great teammate and doing damage control of the situation that happened between two of his teammates, others still took Raleigh's attitude to heart and thought it would've been a chance to redeem himself.
This was all in stark contrast to how Venezuela catcher William Contreras greeted the Dominican Republic's Fernando Tatis Jr. at the plate during their final Pool stage game. The Raleigh-Arozarena controversy took the baseball world by storm, even the beloved Savannah Bananas made fun of the situation.
For those new to the WBC, sportsmanship is a huge part of the tournament. South Korean and Japanese players laughed and talked with each other before their matchup in the Pool stage. Players from Venezuela and the Dominican Republic did the same when they first showed up at the tournament.
The tournament, above all else, is supposed to be fun - something that every team in the tournament has shown except the United States.
Between their ignorant attitudes towards opposing players, the blatant lack of respect to the World Baseball Classic in and of itself, and players not fully committing, Team USA has made it even harder for their home fans to root for them in the tournament, despite making the championship round.
And while it may not have been as player-focused, even the ending to the Dominican Republic matchup ended with a very questionable strike three called on a pitch that was out of the zone.
Had the ump called ball four, the game would've remained alive to give the DR one last chance to tie the game up in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. But he called it the other way, sending the USA to the championship, which just added to the controversy surrounding the entire team for the tournament.
It's more than just a tournament
The World Baseball Classic has shown this year, possibly more than ever before, just how much this means to players from other parts of the world. Dominican Republic centerfielder Julio Rodriguez admitted before facing the USA that winning the World Baseball Classic would mean more to him than winning the World Series with the Seattle Mariners.
Team USA's own Aaron Judge, who has actually been in the World Series before with the New York Yankees, even admitted that the World Baseball Classic is "bigger and better" than the World Series.
But it's not just about winning the World Baseball Classic that matters; other countries and their players showed that simply having the opportunity to be there in the first place and staying in the fight for as long as they could already means the world.
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) players broke down in tears when they upset South Korea to avoid elimination in Pool play.
South Korea's Jung-hoo Lee also broke out in tears when his team advanced to the quarter-finals of the WBC, where they eventually lost to the Dominican Republic.
Then there are more heartbreaking moments with players who played their last games ever and they made sure the World Baseball Classic was the stage they wanted to do it on.
Nicaragua pitcher and 39-year-old Carlos Teller, who officially retired from baseball, broke down in tears during his team's press conference after going 0-4 in Pool play (0-8 all-time), saying, “I tried to do everything for a win.”
Panama's Paul Espino received a standing ovation during Pool play down in Puerto Rico after walking off the diamond for the last time in his life as a player.
And, what was one of the top five greatest moments of the entire tournament, the Czech Republic's own Ondrej Satoria received a standing ovation from the entire crowd at the Tokyo Dome after coming off the field for the very last time, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
"Ending my national career in a game against the best team in the world is always special, especially here in Tokyo," said Satoria.
A potential sour championship
With both the Dominican Republic and Japan now out of the tournament, the USA are the favorites to win the entire thing just as they were at the start of the tournament. However, considering everything that has happened to this point, it could be hard for fans not to feel as excited as they originally thought before the first game was played.
With the exciting and electric personalities on the Venezuela team, and the underdog story of Italy, many fans are turning to those two to hopefully end the USA's run after all they've done and said up until this point.
We'll just have to wait and see what that fateful night on March 17th brings. Will the USA be the victors that receive headshakes and side eyes, or will Venezuela or Italy be the ones to shock the world?