WBC opens up a whole new world Honor, sportsmanship added plusses

Here in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the World Baseball Classic games for this venue ended Wednesday night with as good a baseball game as you’ll ever see, or, in the case of most in the U.S., never got to see.

Cuba defeated Puerto Rico 4-3 to advance to the semifinals in San Diego. It was a fitting conclusion to a celebration of baseball in Puerto Rico that was second to none.

Major League Baseball hopes the playing of the WBC will expand the interest in baseball on the world stage. Anyone who saw the games from Puerto Rico over the past two weeks got to see some stage show.

There are no more passionate and knowledgeable fans of the game than Latinos. The average attendance for the two rounds here was 15,000 in the 20,000-seat stadium.

However, when the home Puerto Rico team was playing, the seams of the ballpark were bursting, and all over the island, fans watched and cheered the game on television.

They celebrate the game, the players, and themselves in the most joyful way. The noise at the ballpark was deafening and constant. The energy to maintain that crescendo for hours came from their sheer love of the game. It was wonderful.

For the players, the honor of playing for their countries was genuine. Many from the Caribbean have played on teams that compete in winter ball and in their different countries’ own leagues.

The WBC was a chance to pull the best players from their nations together to play friends, MLB teammates, and old rivals under their respective flags. It was the first time for such a competition and the players made every moment a Game 7.

For Cuba, the WBC was worth 30 years of the usual world amateur play that they have dominated for the last 50 years. This team, whose average age was 24, had never come up against teams that were comprised almost entirely of major league players.

No one knew, including the Cuban players, if their level of talent was good enough to compete with such teams.

Cuban teams have a reputation for intimidating opponents, including a lot of high inside pitches. They tried to do that in the early games of the WBC and the major leaguers responded with knockdown pitches and glares. Cuba responded by playing outstanding baseball.

Having not just competed but competed successfully against MLB talent is a lesson that will make Cuban baseball 100 times better and gain them the respect of the rest of the baseball world.

When the spine-tingling end of the Cuba-Puerto Rico game came on Wednesday, the Cuban players ran onto the field, jumping and celebrating. The Puerto Rican players sat quietly in their dugout watching.

Then a beautiful thing happened. Spontaneously, the entire Puerto Rican team walked toward the Cuban players and the handshakes and hugs began. Suddenly, cameras were out and players were taking pictures of players, arms around one another, and big smiles on their faces.

The WBC is already a complete success.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.