Venezuela ended up being crowned champions of the World Baseball Classic, but it was hard to find a bigger winner of the event than the Kansas City Royals.
The Royals sent 14 players to the Classic in total, and many of them shined on the big stage by showcasing their skills and personalities to the world.
Starting with the tournament champions, Maikel Garcia took home Classic MVP honors after hitting .385 with one home run, seven RBI and three stolen bases.
Garcia is far from a household name outside of Kansas City, and maybe some parts of the rest of the state, but he’s on the trajectory to become one.
After an up-and-down 2024, Garcia put together a career year last season, totaling the second-highest WAR (5.6) of any third baseman in baseball, trailing only Jose Ramirez of the Guardians at 6.3.
With his bat-to-ball skills, elite defense and an increasing amount of pop by the year, by the time the next WBC rolls around, an MVP-level performance won’t come as big of a surprise.
The one that shouldn’t have been a surprise but seemed to be for so many was Bobby Witt Jr.
I think almost the entire baseball community knew he was a top-five player in the sport, and more realistically top three, but I was stunned to see people react to how he does.
He’s not always the flashiest inside the batter’s box, but when he puts a glove on his left hand, there is no one better.
Witt flashed that ability against Mexico with two diving plays in the hole, it showed up again versus Canada with a leaping grab over his head and he showcased it against the Dominican Republic with an athletic double play going to his right.
Every time, social media was flooded with people stunned at his ability to cover ground at one of the most important positions on the diamond.
But none of that shock came from Royals fans. If you watch the team on a normal basis, no defensive play from Witt will shock you. The highest praise you can give him is it has become the expectation.
In terms of popularity growth, though, Vinnie Pasquantino might have taken that crown.
Pasquantino is one of the most fun personalities in the sport. He toes the line of professionalism with humor and emotion, something the sport desperately needs more of.
So when he was named captain of Team Italy, it was the perfect role for that to shine.
From the espresso machine in the dugout to the first three-homer game in Classic history to his defense at first base, Pasquantino was the focal point of a team that made its furthest run in the history of the WBC.
He shined the most, though, when he got on the microphone — whether that was an on-field interview after a game or on the podcast tour he went on the day after his three homers. Almost every line he delivered was gold, whether that was telling Ken Rosenthal the espresso shots had him “beaned up” or making sure to let Team USA know that he was thinking of them at the hotel when he almost single-handily eliminated Mexico and sent the Americans to the quarterfinals.
And to quote a tweet from coworker Greg Jackson, “The Royals would be fools not to adopt the espresso shot home-run celebration for the 2026 season.”
The most heart-warming moment for Kansas City fans had to be the last out of the final.
Salvador Perez was able to take home World Series MVP honors in 2015, but he was not behind the plate when Wade Davis got the called-third strike for the final out.
But Tuesday, Perez was in his colorful catcher’s gear when Danny Palencia fired a fastball past Roman Anthony to clinch the first-ever title for his home country.
Seeing those emotions flood out of the 35- year-old captain and lifer of the Royals made it hard for any Kansas City fan not to smile, even if you wanted the U.S. to win.
The WBC is always an event I look forward to, regardless of how many Royals players compete, because of the absurdities it brings.
But it sure made it a lot more fun that you could slap the nickname “Royals Baseball Classic” on it.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.newstribune.com ’
