While they showed some fight late—or at least one player did: Harper, who thumped a dead-center-field home run to tie things up in the eighth inning—the Americans ultimately went quietly into the Miami night. The US offense wasn’t just flat across the board, it was boring. The insistence on approaching the World Baseball Classic with stoic professionalism, instead of the outward jubilation of their peers, meant that the red, white, and blue faded away sadly rather than burning out favorably.
The nation on the other side, for whom the WBC meant everything, got to leave with everything. Venezuela earned their first World Baseball Classic trophy, the tears of joy, the national pride, the satisfaction of besting the baseball team from the country that just captured their president. “Our country, they’re going to celebrate for about a week,” Venezuelan manager Omar López shouted from the postgame podium. For the USA, today will just be another Wednesday at work.
