I'm Pitching and defense.

Pitching and defense. That's the nothing personal word of the day. It is Monday, March 16th,

2026. Forgive me because it's true. Pitching and defense, that's three words, but I couldn't go with

just pitching. I couldn't go with just defense. But if you've

been around nothing personal, how do you win baseball games? How do you build a team? How can you

confidently go into a semi-final game at Lone Depot Park right here in Miami as Team USA

against the Dominican Republic and their offense and win a game

two to one pitching and defense.

On a morning where we could talk about the Academy Awards, we could talk about college basketball and the fact that it's March and it's about to be

mad.

We are starting with the dream.

The dream when the World Baseball Classic started was for the United States to win.

That was part 1A of the dream. Part A of the dream was building an asset.

The asset would be called the World Baseball Classic. The asset would be used to show the Olympic

committee that taking baseball out of the Olympics

was a mistake. The asset was meant to provide Major League Baseball and its owners with

additional broadcast inventory. The asset was meant to replicate the World Cup of soccer. The reason I can tell you

with certainty what the goal was of the asset was when you're there upon something's creation,

you have a decent idea of both the creator and why there is a creation.

All of these years later, let's just for easy math call it 20 years, but that's incorrect.

2006, the USA team going through what could only be described as several PR blunders, several fits and starts as it relates to player participation, player availability, is one of three teams standing as we sit here this morning.

Except the way they did it is being viewed almost pejoratively

...