Mexico pitcher Patrick Sandoval in the game against Japan at the World Baseball Classic Wilfredo Lee (AP)
Mexico touched on the feat in baseball’s greatest showcase. The Mexico team had reached historic semi-finals at the World Baseball Classic, only needing to beat Japan to face the king of the sport, USA, in the finals. It was the dream game for the World Cup. However, the Japanese were the favourites. Throughout the game, which lasted more than three hours, the Mexicans were on the scoreboard until the ninth inning when the Japanese gave the Mexicans a hard return (6-5).
The ninth Mexican delivered a solid game. The pitcher who was in unstoppable mode was Patrick Sandoval. The baseball tri’s ability to defend against the Japanese was key to keeping the score clean. Luis Urías hit a massive home run to give Mexico a 3-0 lead. Randy Arozarena, a Cuban who chose to represent Mexico, capitalized on the night by catching the ball at the ideal moment, like in the sixth inning when the Japanese had an opportunity to level the score and caught the ball before he left the garden. Arozarena celebrated as if nothing had happened.
In the seventh inning, Mexico’s Jojo Romero couldn’t avoid a drive from Shohei Ohtani. Arozarena hit a raging whiplash in an instant response that complicated the Japanese outfielders. That sparked another Mexican run to a partial 4-3. El Tri had an opportunity to open the distance but they only added one more run after being beaten (5-3). The Asians closed the gap and by the end of the eighth inning, Gerardo Reyes made the night bitter for Kensuke Kondoh. It was all in the ninth inning. There, the Mexicans failed to extend their lead. Bad mistake leaving badly injured some Japanese who have built their sporting success on bats. The Japanese took the deck in the ninth inning and rallied the game. Hard darts for the Mexicans, who couldn’t do anything more (6-5). The Mexican fans who packed LoanDepot Park in Miami surrendered to their own.
The Mexican team dealt a major blow to the baseball world when they came back in the semifinals (5-4) from a game that seemed lost to Puerto Rico, one of the powerhouses. Previously, they had already caused the upset by beating the United States (11-5), who defeated Cuba to reach the final. However, the Mexicans’ path began with a setback against Colombia (5:4). In the first round they also beat the United Kingdom (2-1) and Canada (10-3).
The Mexican baseball team has found great harmony among its players thanks to the fact that more than 90% belong to the major leagues in the USA, with Julio Urías, a Dodgers player, as a great figure. The Mexicans also witnessed the birth of a star. Born in Pinar del Río, Cuba, Randy Arozarena represented the island on minor baseball and soccer teams until immigrating to Mexico on a raft. He was signed to a junior baseball academy in Tijuana and there began his journey through various teams in the Mexican Pacific League. In 2016, the Cardinals signed him to the United States. It took him three years to make his major league debut, and a year later he landed with the Tampa Bay Rays. He played the World Series against the Dodgers, which he would lose.
Arozarena set up a broadcast with his Instagram followers in 2021. There he sent an unusual message: “I only ask one favor, my people. Send a message to the President [Andrés Manuel López Obrador] that he gives me the nationality and does me the favor of representing Mexico in the World Classic, that’s all I want.” The president assured in a conference that his case would be referred to the migration director. In April 2022, the Baseball player the letter of naturalization that accredited him as a Mexican. López Obrador, a self-confessed fan of bats and gloves, has made baseball his biggest bet. In 2019, he founded the Office of the Presidency for the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico (Probeis), the received 1,054 million pesos
Mexico looks at baseball with nostalgia. It is one of those sports in which there have been great legends worldwide such as Fernando Valenzuela, Adrián González or Esteban Loaiza (who was serving a sentence for distributing cocaine). Baseball had its great success with two competing leagues related to Latin America and the USA, but the biggest problem was television due to the length of the games and the impossibility of a tie. Mexican television stations preferred the football business model. Above all, Major League Baseball (MLB) had the greatest influence on the Mexicans.
The World Classic is considered the largest baseball tournament for countries. It started in 2006 thanks to the impetus of the MLB, the leagues of Japan and South Korea. Of the four editions played, Japan won those of 2006 and 2009. The Dominican Republic was crowned in 2013 and in 2017, the tightest edition, the US overtook Puerto Rico. The Mexicans had never reached the semifinals until the ninth, led by Benjamín Gil, did so this year. Excited despite losing to Japan, Mexico showed its best face in decades. He’s left with a great generation of baseball players to harvest, with Arozarena as the new Mexican idol.
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