SCOTTSDALE, Arizona — One by one, their bodies hit the earth.
As Daniel Valencia’s glove hovered towards the heavens, the likes of Ronald Acuña Jr., Jackson Chourio and Salvador Perez fell to their knees. Valencia, the closer who fired the fastball that delivered Venezuela its first World Baseball Classic title, unleashed a guttural roar and pounded his chest before he, too, dropped to the grass and spread his arms out wide.
During the celebration, Logan Webb tracked down Luis Arraez to offer his congratulations. On Tuesday evening, Arraez and Webb were opponents with a championship on the line. Teammates, once again, they’ll resume working toward creating another reason to celebrate in October.
“When you see the videos, you see the people crying,” said second baseman Luis Arraez. “As soon as I open my phone, I start crying again. It’s so big for me, my family and my country.”
“You can see how much they care,” Webb said. “We cared a lot, too. I couldn’t tell you I was happy about it, but I was happy for my teammates. Him and José (Buttó). … Then we all flew back together, which was fine, but it was kind of weird saying congratulations to all these guys. There was some ragging going on today. I didn’t really particularly like it, to be honest.”
Webb was only a spectator for Venezuela’s 3-2 win in the final after two excellent outings against Team Brazil in pool play and Team Canada in the quarterfinals, but Arraez set the stage for Venezuela to score the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth by drawing a walk. Arraez was then lifted for pinch-runner Javier Sanoja, who stole second and scored on a double by Eugenio Suárez.
Both Arraez and Webb were deservedly named to the All-Tournament Team. Arraez had a .308 batting average and 1.059 OPS with 10 RBIs, becoming the first player in WBC history with two multi-homer games. Webb, meanwhile, was one of the best pitchers in the tournament, allowing one run over 8 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts.
“I want to win a World Series because the major leagues pay me good money, but representing your country, it’s one of the best things (I can do),” Arraez said.
Right-handed reliever José Buttó played an invaluable part in Venezuela’s championship run as well, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings in the tournament and putting up a zero in the sixth inning of the final.
“He was amazing,” Arraez said. “I’ve faced Buttó a lot of times, and I’ve said this guy’s one of the nastiest relivers right now. If it were up to me, I’d put him at starting pitcher. He’s one of the best relievers in the league. … He’s got good stuff: changeup, slider, sweeper, everything. He can be a starting pitcher, but I’m excited. I’m happy to play close to him.”
Arraez, Buttó and Webb didn’t have much time to linger with their respective teams after the tournament.
Team Venezuela celebrated deep into the night after winning the title, but Arraez and Buttó had to board a flight back to Arizona around noon on Wednesday. While Arraez and Buttó didn’t play on Thursday, Webb started against the Colorado Rockies and allowed six runs over 4 1/3 innings to Colorado, leaving midway through the bottom of the second before reentering for the bottom of the third.
One consequence of the tournament for Webb is that he only has a couple of days in Arizona before leaving for California. Webb would like to participate in the tournament again, adding that he’s open to having the WBC in the middle of the season. The two-time All-Star said he would definitely pitch for the United States in the Olympics in 2028 if major league players are allowed to participate (and he’s asked).
While countries such as Venezuela, Korea and the Dominican Republic wore their emotions on their sleeves, the United States was much more reserved in its celebrations. This contrast led to a narrative that the Americans didn’t care about the tournament as much as other teams — a narrative that Webb countered.
“I feel like there’s a narrative that we didn’t care. That’s complete [expletive],” Webb said. “I think we probably cared the most out of every team, to be honest with you. We do things in different ways than some of the other teams, but we care a lot. It was like a brotherhood for two weeks. It was really fun. We’re all pretty upset that we didn’t win. I felt like we should have.”
The two-time All-Star also expressed his surprise that he became the face of another small controversy. Webb was one of several players who took off his silver medal shortly after receiving it, countering that the whole ordeal was blown out of proportion.
“I got the medal, I said hi to (Team USA manager Mark DeRosa) and then we were going into the clubhouse. It’s not like we were standing out there with the medal on,” Webb said. “I mean, do I have to wear it all the way to my locker? … It sucks that I’m the picture of that. I did it right before I got in the dugout. It kind of sucks. Yeah, I was pissed off, but if I was sitting out there and then I did that, it’d be a different story.”
Still, Webb enjoyed the experience as a whole.
Webb enjoyed being around future Hall of Famer and Giant tormentor Clayton Kershaw, though he conceded that he knows “Giants fans don’t want to hear that.” He described the game against Team México as “crazy” and that “there was something different” about the final two games of the tournament against the Dominican Republic in the semifinals and Venezuela in the finals.
“I played in the first-ever playoff series between the Giants and Dodgers, and that was a little bit more,” Webb said. “The Venezuelan crowd was yelling the entire game. It’s just loud. It’s different. I don’t know if you ever repeat that in Major League Baseball, but hopefully. I think it’s great for the game. All the guys love it and it was a ton of fun.”
While the final itself was amazing, it was impossible to avoid what had unfolded between the two countries earlier this year.
The United States conducted an operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores on Jan. 3. Maduro and Flores remain in U.S. custody; Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s vice president, is the acting president.
Team Venezuela avoided discussing the situation during the tournament, but Venezuela manager Omar López spoke about the issue following the game.
“This maybe was an example to show everyone that we’re not bad people and we’re fighting to have a united Venezuela again, a Venezuela that is peaceful, a Venezuela that can grow,” López told reporters in Miami. “In all parts of the world, the same things that they say about us, those countries have the same problems, but they look at us like we’re bad people. That was more fuel for me, to demonstrate that this team, working together, we can unite 30 million people.”