Big League Identity Crisis

March 17, 2006
By: Dave Zirin

The World Baseball Classic, March

The World Baseball Classic, March’s unprecedented tournament involving 16 nations, has become an autopsy of the current state of Major League Baseball. Before the first pitch was tossed, we had to hear from the dominant personality in the game: George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner, the canker sore who owns the New York Yankees, griped,  “It was [Commissioner Bud] Selig's idea and he wants to do it, so I suppose we're going to do it." Then, in front of the Yankees Spring Training complex in Florida, a sign was put up that read, “The New York Yankess [yes, the sign was misspelled] did not vote to support this event. Any comments you have regarding the World Baseball Classic should be directed to either The Commissioner of Major League Baseball or The Major League Baseball Players Assoc."

Big George looked at the World Baseball Classic and saw an exercise in superfluous drivel. But MLB’s aspirations for the heavily-hyped tournament extend beyond the Boss’s narrow perception. The official line from Selig’s office is,  “The reason for the WBC is to further promote grassroots development in traditional and non-traditional baseball nations. The tournament's primary objectives are to increase global interest and introduce new fans and players to the game.”

But this like saying George Lucas created Jar Jar Binks to promote multiculturalism. The WBC, in the mind of this writer, is baseball’s way of coming to terms with its own identity crisis. Baseball, as we are endlessly told, is “America’s Pastime.” Yet increasingly, baseball’s “America” is not from California to the New York Islands but Caracas to Saipan. Baseball has undergone a profound demographic shift, where the number of players born in Latin America has risen to 36%. Moreover, an Asian wave, led by the great Ichiro, has had a tremendous impact.  Twenty years from now, according to Sergio Rodriguez, host of ESPN Radio's Orlando Sports Caliente, more than half of all players will be from Latin America. Currently 30% of roster spots in the minor leagues hail from the Dominican Republic alone.

This stubbornly provincial sport now has an international roster of superstars. But unlike the NBA, Major League Baseball brand is financially non-existent as a global commodity. MLB wants to be like the NBA: synonymous with the sport itself.  The World Baseball Classic is meant to deliver that new reality. Yet as it extends its hand to the world, Selig and company also want the WBC to showcase US might, assuaging fans that while the face