Venezuela on Tuesday won the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time, defeating the US 3-2 in the championship game at LoanDepot Park in Miami on Eugenio Suarez’s tiebreaking double in the top of the ninth inning.
Suarez and his Venezuela teammates stood on the stage behind second base with medals draped over their chests, belting out their national anthem accompanied by tens of thousands of fans who remained in the ballpark for half an hour after the final out.
Back home, people were singing their praises, too.
Photo: AP
“They were with us here in our hearts,” Venezuela captain Salvador Perez said of his team’s supporters. “The [Major League Baseball] World Series, as you all know, is one of the most important championships in the major leagues, but when you fight for your country, that goes beyond. That feeling, the country where you were born and raised, the sacrifices made by our parents, those people that helped us, that’s why this means a lot to me and to Venezuela.”
Bryce Harper’s two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning tied the score for the US, but Suarez hit a go-ahead double in the ninth and Daniel Palencia pitched a perfect bottom half.
“Baseball wanted us to fail, to fall down,” Venezuela manager Omar Lopez said. “You put aside your individuality and you are going to achieve those results.”
Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez declared yesterday a National Day of Joy and made it a nonworking holiday except for essential workers.
“We were feeling at home. There were more Venezuelan fans than American fans,” Venezuela third baseman Maikel Garcia said.
As the Venezuela players and support staff ran onto the infield to celebrate, the dismayed US players stared while leaning on their dugout railing.
“Nobody believed in Venezuela, but now we win the championship,” Suarez said. “This is a celebration for all the Venezuelan country.”
While the US, Japan and the Dominican Republic got much of the attention ahead of the sixth edition of the 20-nation event, Venezuela’s success was not overly surprising. Sixty-three players born in Venezuela appeared on MLB opening-day rosters last year, the second-most from outside the US behind the Dominican Republic’s 100.
“They underestimated Venezuela because we had never won anything, but we are powerful,” Garcia said. “We won today, and I expect that in the new ranking, we are No. 1 and Japan [who Venezuela beat in the quarter-finals] is No. 2.”
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