Other nations danced for joy at the World Baseball Classic. Team USA played toy soldiers
March 18, 2026
Other nations danced for joy at the World Baseball Classic. Team USA played toy soldiers
29 comments
The only two I remember seeing show energy were Henderson and Harper.
The Hegsethification of patriotism has been a disaster for Team USAs across all sports.
“Chickenhawk toy soldiers” is the best description of this joyless, arrogant group of players. So happy that Venezuela won!
nothing about this team made me want to root for them. it’s as simple as that. zero swag. zero fun.
Yeah but also they made it to the finals and lost by 1 run
It was a bad vibe all around and offputting, but ultimately them pretending to be the military didn’t really matter.
“Let the kids play” doesn’t mean “you must celebrate and party in the way I deem acceptable”, and Team USA looked like they were having plenty of fun when cool shit was happening. They just didn’t have a lot of cool shit going on.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist but it felt an awful lot like what they were doing had plenty official-Government PR behind it. The shirt, the Navy Seal pre-game speech, the whole thing felt like propaganda. The goddamn hockey jerseys – which stinks to high hell after the US Government released an AI doctored video of Tkachuk talking shit about Canada.
I got downvoted saying this in another thread, but even Cal’s defense about the handshake, coming out after his first statement was fishy. He could have said “Sorry, we had a team meeting about this before the WBC started and we’re just not doing that this year. It’s a team building thing, we’re locked in. Thanks but I’d rather talk about baseball right now.” Instead we got some garble.
Anyway, let me get this straight. On your own volition, the team decided before the WBC that you weren’t going to shake hands (which is plain fucking weird to begin with as far as team priorities are concerned).
And then, apparently you decided that someone should tell Randy Arozarena. Or maybe not. Maybe Cal just wanted to extend the olive branch to his teammate.
Either way Randy Arozarena, conveniently, is the only person in the world given a heads up about this.
I mean, come the fuck on. This is the timeline they were selling:
1. At some point (before?) the WBC: they met as a team and decided “no handshakes” because they are locked in warriors.
2. Cal then went to Randy personally before a game to let him (and only him) know.
3. Well fuck me, wouldn’t you know it, that “hot headed” “hot doggin'” Randy just HAD TO DO GO AND DO IT.
4. But Cal told him specifically that the team decided NO HANDSHAKES! Randy is a savage for that, right.
5. Cal makes a statement wearing that big dumb shirt, doesn’t mention the team meeting.
6. A couple days later the news (“verified by multiple sources”) is reported that they decided against this way before the Randy thing. You just have to believe us.
I mean, I’m not making a lick of this up.
I said this the whole tournament. Every nation’s players looked thrilled to be there, Team USA looked like they were forced to be there
I’m so glad people are wising up to this obvious propaganda benefiting a for profit military complex
I love my country (USA) and wanted them to wipe the floor with anyone they played. That being said, it’s embarrassing some of the cringe shit they were doing. It’s supposed to be fun! You can have fun while also being extremely competitive. Saying hi to your boys on the other team doesn’t somehow mean you care less about beating them.
The solution is simple: have the Savannah Bananas represent the US next WBC
I agree with the overall point here but I personally can’t wait to be done with this discourse.
None of that stuff matters. You have to get runs across the plate. The US didn’t do that.
Every other team: We are doing this for all our loved ones back home and to represent our country and culture on a global stage.
Team USA: This is about the military. We made sacrifices to travel to Houston and Miami! My dad’s third cousins stepson was in the Air Force! Won’t somebody please talk about Griffin Jax or Paul Skenes attending Air Force?
Independent of the WBC, we do have an issue in this country with over the top nationalism and over-glorification of the military (just don’t ask us to properly fund veterans’ healthcare, of course!); consider the way that people lost their minds over something like Kaepernick taking a knee, and framing it as “he’s disrespecting The Troops(tm)!”.
Obviously that was a way to avoid talking about the real issues he was trying to draw attention to, but between that, playing the anthem before *every* sporting event at *every* level, and having said anthem accompanied by military formations and fighter jet flights, it makes us come across as a people primed to allow a military coup at some point, because we don’t trust our government yet we basically deify that military.
Give me guys having fun, dancing, singing, and playing a kids’ game like big grown up kids any day over that kind of stuff. On a less serious note, it just reminds me of how the Yankees were always depicted back in the day: stuffed shirts, clean-shaven, no fun allowed, etc.
I mean, I played baseball the same exact way. My face may have not shown it, but I was having the time of my life. You’re a fucking dork if you need to see grown men having flair.
Paul Skenes gave a loving smile to Bobby Witt, Jr. after that first great diving snag of his, and the vibes were downhill from there.
How can you not get political about baseball?
There was serious USSR hockey vibes. No emotion, no joy, and we’re that Evil Empire country that’s waging war on the world.
Contrast that with Ondrej Satoria.
Imagine playing Venezuela or PR and having to represent this fucking assclown in the WH. Not a whole lot of ways to win on that front.
You don’t have to dance for joy. This is absurd. It’s great for those that dance for joy. Some people don’t like doing that. Japan doesn’t dance for joy. They are just as great at baseball as the other elite nations. The two Latin American great teams dance. They are bombastic. However you want to express yourself, have at it!
The Americans and the Japanese aren’t like that. The Americans are animated in a different way. Same with the Japansese. People express themselves in different ways. As if dancing is why Venezuela won. Total absurdity.
And it’s not like the US was soundly defeated. They lost by 1 run in an incredibly tight game. It’s single elimination. Tip your hat to Venezuela. They are the champs, but it was very close. Everyone knows the US, Latin America, and Japan are all very close in talent these days. It’s common knowledge to anyone that has paid attention to this game over the last few decades.
There were a few players who absolutely cared (Mason Miller, Paul Skenes, PCA), but it is sort of a lose-lose proposition for the USA. If the US wins, it’s because it’s supposed to. If the US loses, it’s a disaster. The biggest takeaway wasn’t the lack of emotion, it was the lack of joy. These guys were playing a game they were playing since they were kids, for their country, and aside from avoiding injury, there was nothing at stake.
“ At the WBC, Team USA seemed not part of a baseball celebration but doing their part for a nonexistent war effort. Only the camo was missing.”
Basically.
Do you want to Bachata or do you want to ball wash the troops? I don’t think it’s hard to choose.
Here is what I will say:
This about how each country views its inhabitants. Americans don’t value their fellow Americans in the way some of these countries do. We are very individualistic and have been trained to “other” people within in our own country. The only thing that is universal within our groups is a respect for the military.
So, naturally, these baseball players choose to latch on to that rather than thinking of Americans in general. You always hear about the mythical “Real” Americans which is a coded term with racial overtones. Basically that America isn’t meant to be for all of us. So, to be mad at the US team for how they view things, is to be mad at this entire system that has been created to where the only thing people can rally around is a uniform.
Who the heck invites the dude who shot Bin Laden to hype a team? That was weird . Everyone else has pride and show it by having fun, not being super serious and militarizing it. I have no problem with Harper and Skenes etc showing emotion for their country, some of the other guys act like it’s not manly to have fun AND be patriotic. Venezuelans had grown men crying during the a national anthem. Mexicos v US game was awesome, and Americans were mad at judges comments . It’s true, that was a way better vibe than World Series. Watch how other countries sing and celebrate during the World Cup and then wat h Americans , completely dull and boring.
I blame Canada for the loss
This is probably my biggest disconnect with the new generation, this idea that you have to be demonstrative and “fun” to show you care.
Take John Olerud, my personal favorite player of all time that I modeled so much of my game after. He was a damn stoic guy, and people admired that about him. I understand that the unwritten rules have changed and players can show more emotion than ever before, but why is that the ideal all of a sudden? I feel like the pendulum has swung so far that it’s hypocritical. It’s one thing to have a chip on your shoulder and say that “a bunch of curmudgeons are stopping players from making the game fun”, but it’s entirely another to look at someone not being super expressive and thinking it’s a negative trait.
Americans are just not Latin Americans, period. They are not dancing in the dugout because they don’t want to dance in the dugout. But to attach all of these negative traits on them is beyond stupid and you have to think about it from the other lens.
Cal Raleigh didn’t shake his teammate’s hand, which you think as disrespectful and he doesn’t. Cal Raleigh would also never scream around the bases after hitting a 2nd inning home run and do a cartwheel at third base, because he would find that extremely disrespectful and you don’t. These are different social values, and it’s such a crock that people that never played the game and can’t throw a baseball 50mph are deciding what the “right” baseball values are.
For Team USA the WBC is basically an all star tournament. They treated it as such since for them there was little on the line. Most of the long time veterans were probably looking towards opening day when the baseball they’re payed to play begins. For a lot of other players this was an opprotunity to play for their home country. Or a place for players not as good to make a name for themselves. Team Italy contained mostly guys not good enough to make Team USA and they played their hearts out to show how good they could be. Venezuela played like their lives depended on it. USA played like they couldn’t care less about the tournament.
This team was so hard to root for. Happy Venezuela won, they at least seemed to enjoy themselves.
29 comments
The only two I remember seeing show energy were Henderson and Harper.
The Hegsethification of patriotism has been a disaster for Team USAs across all sports.
“Chickenhawk toy soldiers” is the best description of this joyless, arrogant group of players. So happy that Venezuela won!
nothing about this team made me want to root for them. it’s as simple as that. zero swag. zero fun.
Yeah but also they made it to the finals and lost by 1 run
It was a bad vibe all around and offputting, but ultimately them pretending to be the military didn’t really matter.
“Let the kids play” doesn’t mean “you must celebrate and party in the way I deem acceptable”, and Team USA looked like they were having plenty of fun when cool shit was happening. They just didn’t have a lot of cool shit going on.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist but it felt an awful lot like what they were doing had plenty official-Government PR behind it. The shirt, the Navy Seal pre-game speech, the whole thing felt like propaganda. The goddamn hockey jerseys – which stinks to high hell after the US Government released an AI doctored video of Tkachuk talking shit about Canada.
I got downvoted saying this in another thread, but even Cal’s defense about the handshake, coming out after his first statement was fishy. He could have said “Sorry, we had a team meeting about this before the WBC started and we’re just not doing that this year. It’s a team building thing, we’re locked in. Thanks but I’d rather talk about baseball right now.” Instead we got some garble.
Anyway, let me get this straight. On your own volition, the team decided before the WBC that you weren’t going to shake hands (which is plain fucking weird to begin with as far as team priorities are concerned).
And then, apparently you decided that someone should tell Randy Arozarena. Or maybe not. Maybe Cal just wanted to extend the olive branch to his teammate.
Either way Randy Arozarena, conveniently, is the only person in the world given a heads up about this.
I mean, come the fuck on. This is the timeline they were selling:
1. At some point (before?) the WBC: they met as a team and decided “no handshakes” because they are locked in warriors.
2. Cal then went to Randy personally before a game to let him (and only him) know.
3. Well fuck me, wouldn’t you know it, that “hot headed” “hot doggin'” Randy just HAD TO DO GO AND DO IT.
4. But Cal told him specifically that the team decided NO HANDSHAKES! Randy is a savage for that, right.
5. Cal makes a statement wearing that big dumb shirt, doesn’t mention the team meeting.
6. A couple days later the news (“verified by multiple sources”) is reported that they decided against this way before the Randy thing. You just have to believe us.
I mean, I’m not making a lick of this up.
I said this the whole tournament. Every nation’s players looked thrilled to be there, Team USA looked like they were forced to be there
I’m so glad people are wising up to this obvious propaganda benefiting a for profit military complex
I love my country (USA) and wanted them to wipe the floor with anyone they played. That being said, it’s embarrassing some of the cringe shit they were doing. It’s supposed to be fun! You can have fun while also being extremely competitive. Saying hi to your boys on the other team doesn’t somehow mean you care less about beating them.
The solution is simple: have the Savannah Bananas represent the US next WBC
I agree with the overall point here but I personally can’t wait to be done with this discourse.
None of that stuff matters. You have to get runs across the plate. The US didn’t do that.
Every other team: We are doing this for all our loved ones back home and to represent our country and culture on a global stage.
Team USA: This is about the military. We made sacrifices to travel to Houston and Miami! My dad’s third cousins stepson was in the Air Force! Won’t somebody please talk about Griffin Jax or Paul Skenes attending Air Force?
Independent of the WBC, we do have an issue in this country with over the top nationalism and over-glorification of the military (just don’t ask us to properly fund veterans’ healthcare, of course!); consider the way that people lost their minds over something like Kaepernick taking a knee, and framing it as “he’s disrespecting The Troops(tm)!”.
Obviously that was a way to avoid talking about the real issues he was trying to draw attention to, but between that, playing the anthem before *every* sporting event at *every* level, and having said anthem accompanied by military formations and fighter jet flights, it makes us come across as a people primed to allow a military coup at some point, because we don’t trust our government yet we basically deify that military.
Give me guys having fun, dancing, singing, and playing a kids’ game like big grown up kids any day over that kind of stuff. On a less serious note, it just reminds me of how the Yankees were always depicted back in the day: stuffed shirts, clean-shaven, no fun allowed, etc.
I mean, I played baseball the same exact way. My face may have not shown it, but I was having the time of my life. You’re a fucking dork if you need to see grown men having flair.
Paul Skenes gave a loving smile to Bobby Witt, Jr. after that first great diving snag of his, and the vibes were downhill from there.
How can you not get political about baseball?
There was serious USSR hockey vibes. No emotion, no joy, and we’re that Evil Empire country that’s waging war on the world.
Contrast that with Ondrej Satoria.
Imagine playing Venezuela or PR and having to represent this fucking assclown in the WH. Not a whole lot of ways to win on that front.
You don’t have to dance for joy. This is absurd. It’s great for those that dance for joy. Some people don’t like doing that. Japan doesn’t dance for joy. They are just as great at baseball as the other elite nations. The two Latin American great teams dance. They are bombastic. However you want to express yourself, have at it!
The Americans and the Japanese aren’t like that. The Americans are animated in a different way. Same with the Japansese. People express themselves in different ways. As if dancing is why Venezuela won. Total absurdity.
And it’s not like the US was soundly defeated. They lost by 1 run in an incredibly tight game. It’s single elimination. Tip your hat to Venezuela. They are the champs, but it was very close. Everyone knows the US, Latin America, and Japan are all very close in talent these days. It’s common knowledge to anyone that has paid attention to this game over the last few decades.
There were a few players who absolutely cared (Mason Miller, Paul Skenes, PCA), but it is sort of a lose-lose proposition for the USA. If the US wins, it’s because it’s supposed to. If the US loses, it’s a disaster. The biggest takeaway wasn’t the lack of emotion, it was the lack of joy. These guys were playing a game they were playing since they were kids, for their country, and aside from avoiding injury, there was nothing at stake.
“ At the WBC, Team USA seemed not part of a baseball celebration but doing their part for a nonexistent war effort. Only the camo was missing.”
Basically.
Do you want to Bachata or do you want to ball wash the troops? I don’t think it’s hard to choose.
Here is what I will say:
This about how each country views its inhabitants. Americans don’t value their fellow Americans in the way some of these countries do. We are very individualistic and have been trained to “other” people within in our own country. The only thing that is universal within our groups is a respect for the military.
So, naturally, these baseball players choose to latch on to that rather than thinking of Americans in general. You always hear about the mythical “Real” Americans which is a coded term with racial overtones. Basically that America isn’t meant to be for all of us. So, to be mad at the US team for how they view things, is to be mad at this entire system that has been created to where the only thing people can rally around is a uniform.
Who the heck invites the dude who shot Bin Laden to hype a team? That was weird . Everyone else has pride and show it by having fun, not being super serious and militarizing it. I have no problem with Harper and Skenes etc showing emotion for their country, some of the other guys act like it’s not manly to have fun AND be patriotic. Venezuelans had grown men crying during the a national anthem. Mexicos v US game was awesome, and Americans were mad at judges comments . It’s true, that was a way better vibe than World Series. Watch how other countries sing and celebrate during the World Cup and then wat h Americans , completely dull and boring.
I blame Canada for the loss
This is probably my biggest disconnect with the new generation, this idea that you have to be demonstrative and “fun” to show you care.
Take John Olerud, my personal favorite player of all time that I modeled so much of my game after. He was a damn stoic guy, and people admired that about him. I understand that the unwritten rules have changed and players can show more emotion than ever before, but why is that the ideal all of a sudden? I feel like the pendulum has swung so far that it’s hypocritical. It’s one thing to have a chip on your shoulder and say that “a bunch of curmudgeons are stopping players from making the game fun”, but it’s entirely another to look at someone not being super expressive and thinking it’s a negative trait.
Americans are just not Latin Americans, period. They are not dancing in the dugout because they don’t want to dance in the dugout. But to attach all of these negative traits on them is beyond stupid and you have to think about it from the other lens.
Cal Raleigh didn’t shake his teammate’s hand, which you think as disrespectful and he doesn’t. Cal Raleigh would also never scream around the bases after hitting a 2nd inning home run and do a cartwheel at third base, because he would find that extremely disrespectful and you don’t. These are different social values, and it’s such a crock that people that never played the game and can’t throw a baseball 50mph are deciding what the “right” baseball values are.
For Team USA the WBC is basically an all star tournament. They treated it as such since for them there was little on the line. Most of the long time veterans were probably looking towards opening day when the baseball they’re payed to play begins. For a lot of other players this was an opprotunity to play for their home country. Or a place for players not as good to make a name for themselves. Team Italy contained mostly guys not good enough to make Team USA and they played their hearts out to show how good they could be. Venezuela played like their lives depended on it. USA played like they couldn’t care less about the tournament.
This team was so hard to root for. Happy Venezuela won, they at least seemed to enjoy themselves.