The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Freeman’s participation was ‘well worth it’
Games featured playoff atmosphere, Braves first baseman says.
It’s LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. — fashionable to dismiss the World Baseball Classic, which settles little about which country really is best at baseball. It deserves ridicule for being birthed as a marketing vehicle. It’s not even very good for that because many of the world’s best players, especially Americans, don’t participate.
Freddie Freeman, the Braves’ best position player, did participate in the WBC. His Canadian team went 0-3 in pool play in Miami. Yet he returned to Braves camp Tuesday morning wondering why more major leaguers don’t do the WBC.
“Well worth it,” Freeman said. “I felt like I was back
playing games like I did in 2013 in the playoffs (with the Braves). It felt ‘playoff-ish.’ It was probably a top-three baseball experience I’ve had. I don’t know why people say no to that. In my opinion, that was one of the best experiences I’ve had.”
So many players say no for the same reasons many fans are apathetic about the WBC. As Angels star Mike Trout told the Los Angeles Times, he views the WBC as akin to the home-run derby at All-Star weekend. Ouch.
But Trout said he’s open to the idea of playing in the next WBC, in 2021. He said he was persuaded while watching the Dominican Republic rally to a victory against the United States on Saturday night before a rowdy crowd in Miami.
“The games have been good, fun to watch,” Trout told the Times. “The park in Miami was sold out. That’s good for baseball. A lot of people are saying baseball is falling off the map, but with the World Series last year and now the WBC, it’s definitely helping out.”
Still, at least in Braves camp, the WBC seems to be background noise. There is the occasional clubhouse television tuned in to a game. You can hear sporadic bouts of trash-talking, especially among Latino players. Other than that, the WBC seems far removed from the rhythms of spring training.
If WBC games are meaningless, the counter-argument is that spring training games are, too. But spring games have a clear purpose for players (getting ready for the season) and teams (talent evaluation, both their own squad and others). Ballplayers love routine, and spring training is a big part of that.
However, spring-training games are inconsequential. The games are not official and, often what big leaguers do in spring often has very little correlation to what they do when the games count.
For established major leaguers, WBC games might rank somewhere between the Grapefruit League and the big leagues in gravity. That was a sweet spot for Freeman, who got to play “meaningful games in March” while preparing for the big league season.
Regarding the latter, Freeman saw more at-bats against quality pitchers at the WBC than what he would get at this point in the Grapefruit League. Those included Cardinals right-hander Carlos Martinez and Braves teammate Julio Teheran, whose Colombian team also was eliminated from pool play.
“I don’t think I faced a guy (throwing) over 92 or 93 mph in spring training here,” Freeman said. “There, every guy I faced was 95, 96. I think it’s only going to benefit you, for a position player.”
Freeman is back in the fold for the Braves, who need him to anchor the lineup again in 2017. He said his swing feels just “OK,” at this point, good only five times out of 10 rather than the eight he wants.
“I’m seeing the ball great, and that’s all I care about,” he said.
The WBC won’t end up being very disruptive to Freeman’s routine. The lengthier spring training means the Braves still have two weeks of Grapefruit League play left.
Freeman returned from Miami at about 4 a.m. Monday, took the field for workouts Tuesday and plans to be back in the lineup against the Tigers today in Lakeland.
“I’m not taking days off,” he said. “I’ve got a World Series to get to.”
That’s the biggest prize in baseball. The WBC can’t come close to that. But maybe it’s not so meaningless, after all.