Following a three-year hiatus, the World Baseball Classic made its grand return to the international baseball stage. Japan entered the tournament as the odds on favorite to take home the gold medal. However, just like the 2017 United States team, they were unable to repeat as champions. This year’s gold medal game saw the United States facing off against Venezuela. Immediately upon the matchup being solidified, it became impossible not to mention the nuclear-sized elephant in the room. The Venezuelan national baseball team had the opportunity to defeat the same country’s national team that only two months earlier, illegally kidnapped their democratically elected leader, still holding him in a New York prison to the moment of writing. 

This Jan. 2026 escalation happened on the mountain of economic sanctions against the South American country going all the way back to George W. Bush’s second term in 2005. Threats against Venezuela from Washington D.C. continued under the Obama administration. An executive order was signed in March of 2015 which declared Venezuela a national security threat to the United States. All of this set the stage for current President Donald Trump to pummel the country in both of his terms – both legislatively and violently through the ongoing bombing campaigns of the last calendar year. 

This historical background adds an unmeasurable amount of weight to not only the gold medal matchup between both teams, but Venezuela’s WBC run as a whole. The gold medal  faceoff was a slow paced, tight contest, with Venezuela holding a 2-0 lead headed into the eighth inning. With Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper up to bat in the bottom of the eighth for the United States, he sent a ball into orbit, driving in himself and Bobby Witt Jr., tying the game at 2 apiece. Venezuelan third baseman Eugenio Suárez came up to bat in the ninth, where he doubled in the go ahead run eventually sealing the cathartic victory for team Venezuela, erupting the country into a celebration-filled solace. 

 It’s not dissimilar to the importance of the 2001 World Series for the United States following 9/11. Derek Jeter’s “Mr. November” walk-off home run as the calendar switched from Oct. 31 to Nov. 1 in game four of the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks was a culturally significant moment that brought solace to millions of grieving Americans. Putting ourselves in the shoes of the Venezuelan people, we can only imagine how they are feeling at this moment. Having your country completely ravaged by a never ending sanctions regime, plummeting your community into oblivion in the name of might is right. 

From the American perspective, I found Team USA hard to root for. Much like the men’s hockey team, the baseball squad embraced the militaristic patriotism that has turned a lot of fans away from supporting them. Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh wore a “front toward enemy” shirt in pre-game warmups. For those unfamiliar with the phrase Raleigh sported, front toward enemy is a slogan plastered on claymore mines developed by the United States military.

 One can only wonder about the horrors inflicted by this type of weaponry, which is why I find it abhorrent that Team USA embraced this slogan. Between the ethos being endorsed in both the WBC tournament and the Olympics, the United States national teams have driven up an increasingly abhorrent image, that is costing it valued support here at home.