"This is year that the WBC has broken containment. This is the year that the non-baseball watching people in my life are asking me about it. This is the year that it's been discussed on social media more than the NCAA tournament. This is the year that the WBC haters - who were decidedly in the majority when this thing started back in 2006 - now sound out of step with the rest of the baseball world."
"In fact, it seems pretty clear to me that, based on the trajectory we're currently on, the WBC is going to be bigger than the World Series at some point. I would probably put the timeframe on that at about 20 years or so, which, coincidentally, is how long the tournament has already been around."
The World Baseball Classic has transitioned from a niche tournament into a major cultural phenomenon. Beginning in 2006 with significant skepticism, the WBC has gained unprecedented mainstream attention, with non-baseball fans now inquiring about it and social media engagement exceeding NCAA tournament discussions. The 2023 Shohei Ohtani-Mike Trout at-bat marked a pivotal moment. International players, particularly non-Americans, increasingly view the WBC as more significant than the World Series. Current trajectory suggests the WBC could surpass the World Series in prominence within approximately 20 years, potentially even sooner.
Read at Over the Monster
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