Yankees Star Aaron Judge Says World Baseball Classic Now Tops World Series

New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge declared the World Baseball Classic has become baseball's premier event following Team USA's thrilling 2-1 semifinal victory over the Dominican Republic. The game featured 17 All-Stars and came down to the final pitch at Miami's loanDepot park. Judge praised the international tournament's passion and atmosphere, calling it superior to the World Series.

MIAMI (AP) — Following a thrilling semifinal matchup that showcased baseball’s elite talent and kept spectators on edge until the closing moments, New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge declared the World Baseball Classic has evolved into baseball’s premier competition.

“It’s bigger and better than the World Series,” Judge stated following Team USA’s narrow 2-1 victory against the Dominican Republic in a contest decided on the final pitch of Sunday evening. “The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.”

The matchup highlighted contrasting styles, with the United States displaying traditional restraint under the leadership of Judge and Bryce Harper, while their opponents brought Latin energy featuring stars like Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. When Junior Caminero launched a home run off Paul Skenes to give the Dominicans an early advantage in the second frame, he marked the moment with a dramatic overhead bat toss.

This sixth edition of the tournament, which debuted in 2006, featured starting rosters containing 17 All-Stars with a combined 56 All-Star selections among the 20 opening-game players. The talent pool included five MVP winners, one Cy Young recipient, five Rookie of the Year honorees, and three batting champions.

Playing before 36,337 spectators at loanDepot park, the Americans erased their early deficit through fourth-inning home runs by Gunnar Henderson against Luis Severino and Roman Anthony off Gregory Soto.

Anthony, the youngest American participant at 21, had purchased admission to witness the 2023 WBC championship in Miami, watching from the stands as Japan defeated the United States 3-2.

“Coming to the WBC here, you dream of representing this country and being here the next time around,” Anthony reflected.

The American bullpen dominated with two hits allowed across 4 2/3 shutout innings, culminating with Mason Miller exceeding 100 mph on 13 of his 22 deliveries. Miller’s final pitch appeared low for what could have been ball four to Geraldo Perdomo, but home plate umpire Cory Blaser decisively called strike three.

“Just a game we’ll remember forever, right?” U.S. skipper Mark DeRosa commented. “We understood this was going to be a talked-about game, probably one of the most watched games of all time.”

Spectacular defensive plays occurred throughout the contest.

While trailing by one run in the third inning, Judge fired a 95.7 mph throw from right field to third base, eliminating Fernando Tatis Jr. for the frame’s final out. Judge followed with a spectacular diving catch to deny Soto, his former Yankees colleague, in the fourth.

Julio Rodríguez robbed Judge of a potential home run with a spectacular leaping grab at the center-field barrier in the fifth inning, 407 feet from home plate.

“I was like, OK, maybe we got a shot here,” Judge remembered. “But hit it to a guy like J-Rod, who’s one of the best if not the best center fielder in the game, he’s going make exciting plays like that in big moments.”

Shortstop Bobby Witt covered significant ground toward the right field territory to field Soto’s weak grounder in the fifth, hustled back to touch second base and delivered an off-balance throw to first for an inning-ending twin killing. The following inning, Witt threw out Manny Machado at first from the outfield grass.

The pitching performances provided equally memorable moments.

Dominican starter Luis Severino left runners at second and third during the third inning after striking out Judge and Kyle Schwarber, while Skenes worked out of a bases-loaded situation in the fourth when Austin Wells flew out.

Wells doubled with one out in the seventh inning, but the relatively slow-footed backstop was held at third on Perdomo’s single to Crow-Armstrong in center field. David Bednar then struck out Tatis Jr. and Ketel Marte on breaking pitches below the strike zone.

Before Miller secured the final strikeout in the ninth, Perdomo had fouled off two full-count offerings.

“The whole world saw in two teams some of the best players in the game,” stated Dominican manager Albert Pujols, a probable future Hall of Fame inductee.

Team rosters featured 18 of the 41 players who earned MVP consideration last season.

Judge addressed his teammates in a postgame speech, focusing on Tuesday’s championship game against either Venezuela or Italy. He recognized the special atmosphere from the evening’s opening moments.

“You get chills standing there on the line, hearing them announce all the names,” he explained. “It was like an All-Star team they got over there.”