The United States is set to square off against Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic final on Wednesday night, and one team will emerge with its first-ever WBC title.
Both teams have been executing at a high level and have employed a style that has been successful against their opponents, and they both also excel at getting in their opponents’ heads with some good old-fashioned trash talk.
Team USA’s leadoff man Ian Kinsler appeared to do just that ahead of the team’s game, in some recent comments he made to Billy Witz of The New York Times.
“I hope kids watching the W.B.C. can watch the way we play the game and appreciate the way we play the game as opposed to the way Puerto Rico plays or the Dominican plays,” Kinsler said. “That’s not taking anything away from them. That just wasn’t the way we were raised. They were raised differently and to show emotion and passion when you play. We do show emotion; we do show passion. But we just do it in a different way.”
So basically, Kinsler wants Latin American teams to act like they’ve been there before, which we can understand. There’s a lot of emotion in the World Baseball Classic, as these games mean so much for certain countries. But is throwing — not flipping — a bat really necessary like Carlos Correa once did after a home run?
Now that's a bat flip.
Carlos Correa launching his 2nd home run of the WBC for Puerto Rico against Italy on Sunday night. pic.twitter.com/JobYtj2Qg4
— Tim Gibbons (@LineDrivePro) March 13, 2017
Kinsler’s comments will probably be well-received by the older generation, while the new-school approach is to make sure you’re noticed and get recognition for a big hit or play. Social media factors in here, too, as some players want their reactions shared on timelines so they can go viral.
These comments probably will fire Puerto Rico up and serve as bulletin-board material ahead of the big game. But Kinsler does raise a valid point.
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