With a lightning-fast three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning, Japan finished
with the dream of Mexico in the World Baseball Classic. The big favorite, who had been controlled by the pitching of the team led by Benjamin Gil During six innings, he woke up in the last third of the semifinal game, played in Miami, to come from behind and stay, not only with the victory, but also with the ticket to the grand final. The match was very exciting, and revealed the talent and drive of the national representative, who sold the defeat to the extraordinary Japanese very dearly. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the relay, which in general had done an excellent job in the previous five games, failed at the right time, allowing the rivals to come back, who, it must be recognized, never gave up.
The best participation of a Mexican team in the event that began in 2006 ended with a bitter taste. In fact, Mexico came from two performances in which it could not even get past the first round, to now get up from the initial setback against Colombia , to link four consecutive victories, including the beating of the United States, with everything and its stellar line-up, full of major league figures, the crushing victory against the good team that Canada presented (which is true, played without the injured Freddie Freeman), and the exciting victory in the quarterfinals, coming from behind to eliminate Puerto Rico.
Those victories allowed the Mexican ninth to reach where it had never been in the previous four participations. For this reason, we must be very satisfied with what the players have done, who played a tournament full of great teams. And it’s not about being conformist, something some people accused me of after the final out on Monday; of course you always have to aspire to win, but you have to be honest, a championship in Mexico would have been a big surprise; With this I am not saying that our team did not have enough talent to compete against any rival, I thought so before the Clásico began, and the subsequent performances showed precisely that, that there are players with the necessary level to face the best that baseball can put them in front, but you don’t have to cover your eyes either, since not even the fact of having a roster full of elements from the Major Leagues, placed Mexico among the great favorites. That is exactly why it is necessary to recognize that, even so, the performance was very outstanding.
If you want to go further, the work ahead is hard, you need not only a greater number of baseball players in the best league in the world, but it is also necessary that we have more players of the level of Julio Urías and of Randy Arozarena. But today we must congratulate our people for the role they have made and, without falling into triumphalism or excessive celebrations, it is worth being very proud.
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