Sandy Looks For DR To Be World Baseball Champs
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Joshua Garcia
With the Super Bowl and Rhianna’s umbrella squarely in the rear-view mirror, we head full speed into baseball. Ready? For those baseball aficionados uninterested in pitchers and catchers reporting and guys hitting in cages, your birthday is coming early.
Move out of the way because the big dog called the 2023 World Baseball Classic is out. In short, it’s like playing a dream-team tournament on PlayStation with the best players in the world on your roster. Even the people who try to utter the despicable, “baseball is boring” phase, are ready for the adrenaline professional International baseball provides.
There are some juicy matchups in the first round for what have been decided as the favorites to win the illustrious tournament. Reigning Champions the United States won’t have to wait long to get into the thick of their group in Arizona. The USA will play Mexico and Canada on back to back days likely featuring Lance Lynn and the Yankees’ own Nestor Cortes on the mound to oppose Mexico’s Julio Urías of the Dodgers and Canada’s Cal Quantrill of the Guardians.
Meanwhile in Miami, for the lack of interest in the Heat you will see an absolute party looking like Mardi Gras and Carnival as the tournament’s “group of death” takes the International stage. Group D is absolutely stacked, featuring most of the top athletes in MLB facing off in the most intense baseball competition you will ever see. If you think guys go hard for their contracts, you need to see how they fight to represent their country and people, it’s a sight to be seen.
Favorites to win the entire tournament the Dominican Republic enter with a gaudy lineup and the NL Cy Young in Sandy Alcantara, and will be opposed by formidable Puerto Rico and Venezuela teams that feature countless MLB All-Stars. Wednesday March 15th all eyes will be on the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as two powerhouses will square off at the Marlins Park. Undoubtedly, the waves of this game will be felt from South Beach to the Bronx.
Puerto Rico is looking to grab its first Championship after losing in back-to-back trips to the Final, while the Dominican Republic is fighting to tie Japan with their second Championship in the famed event. The two teams that emerge from each group in Tokyo, Phoenix, and Miami will all move on to the single-elimination knockout stages at Marlins Park to decide the 2023 winner. As it stands BETMGM has the odds to win as follows: Dominican Republic (+210), USA (+225), and Japan (+300), with Puerto Rico and Venezuela decidedly behind the trio.
If you are looking for the highest level of baseball with the electricity of FIFA’s World Cup, you will definitely be scratched where you itch, because these playoffs in March might just show college basketball about some madness. Enjoy!
