David Lennon: WBC has provided plenty of big hits . . . and some misses

FORT MYERS, Fla. — In case you’re late to the party, the World Baseball Classic has turned into a must-see event this year, thanks to a decade’s worth of momentum-building and maybe an unprecedented appetite for real, competitive games in mid-March.

From Japan’s Tokyo Dome to Puerto Rico’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium, the roar was deafening during pool play, and the WBC has ridden that wave right through the quarterfinals to set up a Final Four showdown at Miami’s loanDepot Park.

And for the holdouts — those still griping about an exhibition tournament putting All-Stars at risk for the regular season — how’s this for a Sunday night spectacle in the semifinal round: Paul Skenes, starting for Team USA, against the powerful Dominican Republic, whose 14 homers already have matched Mexico for the WBC record (they’ve also scored 51 runs in five games).

In the meantime, here’s a look back at a few memorable moments, with some of the greatest yet to come in these next climatic three days.

Things we’ve loved about this year’s WBC

*  The WBC had plenty of creative dugout celebrations, but all of them finished a distant second to Italy having an espresso machine on the bench — and pouring shots for home runs. That led to the tourney’s best postgame interview, after Vinnie Pasquantino delivered the first three-homer performance in WBC history for a 9-1 rout of Mexico. “I’m caffeinated — I’m beaned up right now,” Pasquantino told FS1 on the field. The victory also ensured that the U.S. would advance to the quarterfinals despite losing to Italy the previous night. “You’re welcome, USA,” Pasquantino said. “I’m glad you guys are joining us in the party.”

*  The Buckingham Palace guard outfit — complete with the tall black furry hat (it’s actually called a bearskin) — for Britain’s home run celebrations.

* Joseph Contreras, the 17-year-old son of former major-leaguer Jose Contreras, pitched for Team Brazil on his spring break from Blessed Trinity Catholic High in Roswell, Georgia. Contreras allowed two hits and a run in 1 1⁄3 innings, and the highlight was getting three-time MVP Aaron Judge to roll over a 94.4-mph fastball for a bases-loaded double play that ended the second inning. “Impressive,” Judge told reporters afterward. “I know I wasn’t doing that at that age.”

*  Bay Shore’s Greg Weissert striking out Gunnar Henderson and Judge to save Italy’s shocking 8-6 victory over the U.S.

*  Shohei Ohtani leaving Japanese fans and players awestruck upon his return to the Tokyo Dome for his first batting practice session (something he rarely does outside during MLB’s regular season). He followed it with a grand slam vs. Chinese Taipei to key a 10-run inning (his five RBIs that inning set an WBC record).

*   In the first decade of the WBC’s existence, the tournament never had a walk-off homer. This year, there were two — on the opening night alone! The first was hit by the Netherlands’ Ozzie Albies, followed by Puerto Rico’s Darell Hernaiz only hours later, with Hernaiz’s blast turning Hiram Bithorn Stadium into a raucous, riotous mosh pit.

*  The Tokyo Dome ice cream sandwich, a ballpark treat designed to replicate the iconic downtown stadium. The viral sensation, which was offered with vanilla or chocolate flavors, was enclosed by a mochi-wafer shell.

* Syosset’s Harrison Cohen, a former Cold Spring Harbor star, pitching two scoreless innings for Israel, striking out five of the six batters he faced against the Netherlands. “It was unbelievable,” he told Newsday’s Erik Boland.

*  South Korea’s arms-outstretched airplane celebration after home runs in pool play, meant to signify a flight to the quarterfinals in Miami, where they eventually lost to the Dominican Republic on Friday.

*  Canada’s first-ever WBC quarterfinal appearance, coming on the heels of the nation’s crushing loss to the U.S. in men’s hockey in the Olympic gold-medal game last month (via a three-on-three overtime session). Canada was beaten by the U.S. again, albeit in another white-knuckle ride, this time by the score of 5-3.

* With the Dominican Republic one run away from mercy-ruling the Netherlands, Juan Soto convinced manager Albert Pujols to let him stay in the game before hammering a first-pitch homer that ended it. Pujols planned to rest some of his starters with a nine-run lead but Soto had other ideas, delivering a 419-foot blast for the finisher.

* And speaking of Soto, how about that nifty swim-move slide to score in the DR’s 10-0 mercy-rule win over South Korea in the quarterfinals? As fun as that was to watch, no doubt the Mets were holding their collective breath on that one.

*  Fernando Tatis’ epic bat flip after hitting the Dominican Republic’s first grand slam in WBC competition. “I thought that was fire,” Soto said. “I think that’s everything — having fun out there.”

*  Ondrej Satoria, electrician by day, Czechia starting pitcher by night, pitched 4 2⁄3 scoreless innings against Japan at the Tokyo Dome and got a standing ovation upon his exit. Three years earlier, Satoria’s name had become legend for whiffing Ohtani while pitching on the same mound.

*   Manny Machado’s two brilliant defensive gems, on back-to-back plays, in the eighth inning against Nicaragua. The first was a backhanded grab that carried him into foul territory — on the outer lip of the infield dirt — before he made a cross-body throw that reached first base on the fly. The second was nearly a carbon copy, but this time he was staggering closer to the stands, bent over, in making the throw. Machado capped the display by high-fiving DR fans in the front row.

*  Junior Caminero’s home run “trot” against Venezuela, a festive romp around the bases that involved multiple hand-framing of the DR logo across his chest, exultations to the crowd, and high-fives and hip shimmies at home plate. “It’s beautiful,” Caminero told the media. “I cried a couple of tears when I got to the dugout.”

And some not-so-great moments

*  Nobody was having a worse WBC than U.S. manager Mark DeRosa, who not only sat a number of his stars for a critical game against Italy but didn’t seem to realize that the stunning loss carried the potential of knocking his squad out of the tournament. Before that game, DeRosa told MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” show that the U.S. already had punched its ticket to the quarterfinals, apparently unaware that a run-differential tiebreaker still could keep them out with a loss. He then sat Bryce Harper, Alex Bregman, Brice Turang and Byron Buxton for what wound up an 8-6 loss to Italy.

DeRosa’s gaffe was considered emblematic of the U.S. not taking the tournament seriously enough, as well as a knock against him as a potential MLB manager in the future (he’s been a candidate for jobs in recent years).

His explanation for the blunder?

“It’s just an overly confident statement on ‘Hot Stove,’ period, the end,” DeRosa told reporters. “And it’s my fault. I felt good about where we were after Mexico.”

Hardly a sufficient answer. DeRosa’s only way out at this point is maybe getting to Tuesday’s WBC final, at a minimum. Otherwise, the inexcusable missteps by DeRosa — whose regular gig is MLB Network analysis — are going to haunt him for a while.

*  It was definitely a buzz kill to have Tarik Skubal make only one start, especially after all the excitement over having the two reigning Cy Young Award winners — Skubal and Paul Skenes — teaming up on the U.S. squad. We get it. Skubal will be a first-time free agent at the end of the regular season and could be on the brink of being the game’s first $400 million pitcher (definitely the goal of his agent, Scott Boras).

But pitching had always been the weak link of past U.S. squads, and seeing Skubal bail after his one outing (five strikeouts in three innings) made his cameo feel inconsequential. They certainly didn’t need his help to handle Britain (a 9-1 rout for the U.S.), and Skubal could have been a difference-maker in the higher-stakes rounds.

He did admit to having second thoughts about his original one-start plan but stuck with it nonetheless. “Obviously when I got here, my emotions kind of changed a little bit,” he said. “My thought process changed a little bit and tried to make it work but just couldn’t. And I hate it, but it’s all right.”

*  Sort of a head-scratcher that Cal Raleigh refused to fist-bump with his Mariners teammates who were WBC opponents before they stepped into the batter’s box, but also understandable. On one hand, the no-fraternization policy makes sense. And Raleigh, as a catcher, wants to be respectful of the guy on the mound trying to get his Seattle buddy out.

In the spirit of competition, though, you still can acknowledge a teammate before trying to beat him between the lines. Those don’t have to be mutually exclusive concepts, but hey, it’s added to the drama of the WBC, and you can never have enough storylines, right?

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.