The 2023 World Baseball Classic was simply incredible. In an era where rules have changed and ratings have declined, the WBC found a way to bring the game of baseball to millions of sports fans world wide. The last WBC was in 2017, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, fans had to wait even longer for the event.
The wait was worth it, as fans across the world felt how much they missed the WBC. The championship game between the U.S. and Japan drew 4.97 million viewers on FS1 — by far the largest audience in the history of the event. Speaking of the matchup between U.S. and Japan, I was lucky enough to attend the game as a fan. I would love to describe my experience in an effort to not just entertain, but to inspire both baseball fans and people in general to attend or at least watch the next World Baseball Classic in 2026.
My Experience
I woke up early on Tuesday morning; I was excited about what was to come that day. I bought tickets to the World Baseball Classic Final between Team USA and Team Japan. I could not stop thinking about the fact that I would see the greatest baseball players in the world on one single field in just a few hours. On Team USA, I would be able to see Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and other studs. And then, of course, Team Japan featured the greatest of them all: Shohei Ohtani.
I arrived at loanDepot Park in Miami, FL at 4:00 PM, just as the gates opened. Even though first pitch was at 7:00 PM, I arrived early to avoid the always-terrible Miami traffic. I also arrived early to see batting practice. And let me tell you, this was the best batting practice performance I have ever witnessed, and I have been to tons of baseball games.
As soon as I got into the stadium, I ran up the stairs to the second deck in right field down the line. Guess who was batting? Shohei Ohtani. I knew I was in the right spot to catch a special BP home run. Well, I ended up being in the wrong spot because Ohtani had too much power. Ohtani was blasting home run after home run to deep right center field. One ball landed three rows from the top. And another ball hit the scoreboard in deep center field. There is a 400 foot fence. A huge batters eye. A second deck. A concourse. Tons of signs. But Ohtani managed to hit every bit of 500 feet. Insane. I was starstruck. I have never seen such power at the plate, and I have never seen a ball land that far in the Marlins’ stadium.
Ohtani got a huge round of applause at the end of his batting session, and that is when I knew, things were just getting started – the following game would go down in history.
I got into my seats as the ceremonies begun. It was an amazing experience to say the least. Every participating country in the WBC had their flag out on the field.
Then, to everyone’s surprise, an all-time moment happened for the game of baseball. Trout led out Team USA while holding the American flag while Ohtani led out Team Japan while holding the Flag of Japan.
Already getting chills.
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) March 21, 2023
Mike Trout leads @USABaseball to the field. Ohtani leads Team Japan.
🇺🇸 | 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/VdBZhKCBkt
The game finally begun with everyone in their seats. It was a sold out crowd yet again at loanDepot Park. There were 15 WBC games at this location, with a total attendance of 475,269. There were only 907,487 fans in attendance at 81 Marlins home games last year. Fans were obviously showing up to the ballpark because of the stars the WBC presented.
How do the Marlins build off this? Can they? It’s the same ballpark (beautiful), food and parking options. The team has done a nice job offering ticket packages and specials for those attending WBC games. They’ve showcased Sandy, Arraez and some of other Latino players.
— Will Manso (@WillManso) March 21, 2023
I was amazed by how many Japan fans there were; tons of baseball fans from Japan flew across the country just to see their country play. Meanwhile, I took a look at the press box and there was barely any room for reporters to move. The amount of reporters and national media struck me, especially being an aspiring sports media member.
I felt even more excitement when USA’s Trea Turner hit a solo home run to give America a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Japan provided us fans with a quick answer, as Munetaka Murakami struck a solo homer to tie things up at 1.
With both teams on the scoreboard, I was able to feel the energy in the building. After every play, fans did their respective chants for their country. Many fans were waving their respective country flags in the air, too. It was simply an atmosphere that had an amazing dynamic: representing your country while showing love for baseball.
In the fourth inning, Team Japan hit another home run. Kazuma Okamoto gave his country a 3-1 lead over the USA.
Fast forwarding to the eighth inning, the building saw less energy from the fans. However, that is common in baseball; it is hard to keep fans screaming the entirety of nine innings. The last three innings were scoreless and Team USA fans were starting to doubt their team. Luckily, Kyle Schwarber hit a 436 foot nuke to the second deck in right field to cut America’s deficit to 3-2.
The ninth inning arrived with Japan leading USA 3-2. Fans quickly became aware that they were about to witness the best matchup in baseball history. Shohei Ohtani trotted out from the bullpen in left field out to the mound to close out the game and try to notch a save for Team Japan.
The script writers could not have scripted it any better. Due up third in the inning was Mike Trout, the best hitter in the MLB. But even more special was the fact that Trout was a teammate of Ohtani’s, so they have never faced each other.
Fast forwarding, there were two outs in the ninth inning. Trout slowly walked up to the plate ready to face Ohtani for the first time. Fans were watching across the world as the historic matchup took place. If there was no pressure on Trout or Ohtani, the scoreboard told the story. Team Japan was only one out away from winning the WBC Championship. Meanwhile, Team USA was down by only one run and all Trout needed to do was hit a home run to tie things up and keep America’s chances alive of winning the WBC Trophy.
Well, the matchup surely lived up to the hype, with Ohtani throwing a nasty pitch to strikeout Trout and notch Team Japan’s third WBC Championship.
Approximately 97.4% of TVs in Japan were tuned in to watch Shohei Ohtani strike out Mike Trout to end the World Baseball Classic. YES, 97.4 PERCENT. And I was lucky enough to see the matchup live in person, without having to watch on TV.
Everything about the WBC was amazing. There’s a reason why this year shattered previous attendance and viewership records. The players, fans, and baseball world knew the significance of last night’s game. I was astonished to be in attendance to watch the game unfold in person.
As USA manager Mark DeRosa said, “The baseball world won tonight.”
Overall, it was an unimaginable World Baseball Classic experience. And yes, it was the greatest “sho” on Earth!
