Venezuela’s WBC title fueled by power, pitching, passion.

Never has Venezuelan baseball had a night like this. (X via World Baseball Classic)

By KATIE WOO / THE ATHLETIC

Daniel Palencia’s 100 mph fastball blew past Roman Anthony. Then came euphoria.

Palencia spun on the mound, chucked his glove toward the sky and collapsed under a sea of teammates in bright blue jerseys who had come pouring onto the field. Andrés Giménez crumpled to the ground near second base and began to sob. Over at third base, Maikel García did the same. Ronald Acuña Jr. sank to the ground in right field with his arms outstretched before scrambling to his feet and racing to the infield. Eugenio Suárez took a few slow steps out of the dugout with the Venezuelan flag. He raised it above his head and fell to his knees, his colors waving boldly behind him.

Baseball is the heartbeat of Venezuela.

Since baseball’s rapid growth there in the 1940s, which included the founding of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in 1945, the sport has been one of the country’s defining characteristics. It isn’t just the most prominent sport in the country. It is a rite of passage and a point of pride.

Never has Venezuelan baseball had a night like this.

An underdog throughout the tournament, Venezuela upended the most powerful baseball roster the United States had ever assembled. A 3-2 victory over the United States on Tuesday secured Venezuela’s first World Baseball Classic gold medal. One look at the outpouring of emotion from the players, coaches and thousands of fans in attendance at loanDepot Park in Miami showed it meant so much more.

“Thirty million people around the world were watching this game today,” said Salvador Pérez, the team’s captain. “The World Series, as you all know, is one of the most important championships in the major leagues, but when you fight for your country, that goes beyond. That feeling, the country where you were born and raised, the sacrifices made by our parents, those people that helped us. That’s why this means a lot to me and to Venezuela.”

Throughout the first few editions of the World Baseball Classic, skeptics dismissed it as nothing but an exhibition tournament. There were concerns about the risk of injuries, the timing and whether people would care about a two-week international competition that was not the Olympics.

But based on the scenes from Tuesday’s finale, that argument is over. A capacity crowd of 36,190 shook the ballpark as Venezuela erupted with joy. Manager Omar López had tears running down his face as he celebrated with his coaching staff. William Contreras and Willson Contreras — brothers playing on the same team for the first time — held each other in embrace, both crying.

Eduardo Rodríguez, the starting pitcher who shut down the U.S. team’s offense with 4 1/3 scoreless innings, wiped away tears during his postgame interview. Suárez, the hero of the night after his go-ahead double in the ninth inning, spoke at length about Venezuela’s camaraderie and the privilege of representing your country.

“The unity,” Suárez said on the Fox Sports broadcast. “We are together the whole time. We’re not just teammates, we are family. This team is awesome. We are family here. That’s why we play with passion, with love, because we feel the jersey. We feel our country in front of us.

“Nobody believed in Venezuela, but we won the championship today.”

The World Baseball Classic reached new heights this year, as television ratings surged. The semifinal game between the United States and the Dominican Republic was the most-watched game in tournament history, with 7.369 million viewers, outdrawing the 2025 MLB All-Star Game. Viewership records for the final were not immediately available.

The WBC set an attendance record with a total of 1.6 million fans, topping the previous mark of 1.3 million in 2023. Several capacity crowds were recorded in each of the four host sites: Miami, Houston, Tokyo and San Juan. The event has grown so popular in Miami that the city is pushing to be the tournament’s permanent home.

Scenes like Tuesday’s showed why.

“They underestimated Venezuela because we had never won anything, but we are powerful,” said García, who was named the WBC’s most valuable player.

After spending most of the tournament being criticized for its perceived lack of emotion, the U.S. team showed plenty of it after the game. The frustration, disappointment and disbelief were palpable. Players removed their silver medals from their necks nearly instantly after receiving them, their heads low and faces somber. In the early editions of the tournament, the United States arguably did not take the WBC as seriously as other countries, with many of its top stars opting to sit out the tournament to stay focused on the MLB season.

That is no longer the case. The WBC’s global impact far surpassed expectations. It has changed how federations construct their teams — and the standards to which they hold those teams. In an attempt to avenge its gold medal loss to Japan in 2023, the United States responded by recruiting its most accomplished roster yet. When Venezuela knocked out the defending champion, Japan, on Saturday, Manager Hirokazu Ibata abruptly resigned. Italy’s surprising run captured the interest of its nation, and could spark a foundation for the next generation.

Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, on Wednesday declared a national holiday to celebrate the championship.

“This WBC has become a tidal wave of emotion for a lot of guys,” said Mark DeRosa, manager of the U.S. team. “You get them in the room representing their country, coming together for two and a half weeks, the buy-in. It’s infectious in there.”

Debates will continue about how the WBC compares to the World Series, if the formatting of the tournament should change and whether MLB should limit pitcher use. But is this tournament really important?

Take in the tears streaming down the faces of Venezuela’s players as their national anthem played during their gold medal ceremony — and consider the matter settled.