GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The crowd in the back corner of the White Sox clubhouse was gathered around a shimmering bit of bling the likes of which had never been seen in a Team USA player's hands before. It was Nate Jones' World Baseball Classic gold medal, and though he was happy to show it to his White Sox teammates, he wasn't letting go of it anytime soon.
"I don't want to stow it away or put it in a safe box just yet," Jones said. "It's a pretty exciting thing. I want to keep it on me and keep it safe."
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Jones and teammate Player Page for David Robertson rejoined the White Sox Friday, two days after Robertson got the call to pitch the ninth in USA's title-clinching 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico.
"That was a surprise to me," Robertson said of the ninth-inning duty that typically went to closer Luke Gregerson. "When they told me I was going out there, I didn't really know what to do. I was like, 'just throw strikes and get three outs.'"
Robertson's one-hit inning secured the USA's first Classic championship.
"It feels awesome," Robertson said. "We didn't think we were going to win. Shoot, we took two losses and still managed to win that thing. We had to fight our way back in every bracket, then get to the end, and all we had to do was win two games, and we managed to get it done."
Robertson already had a World Series ring from his sophomore season with the Yankees in 2009, but for Jones, it was his first taste of success at the highest level. The chance to play alongside All-Stars and Gold-Glovers was a highlight eclipsed only by the feeling when the final out was made.
"It's just pure excitement, everybody going crazy," Jones said of the moment Nolan Arenado fielded a grounder and threw to Eric Hosmer to seal the championship. "We knew we hadn't won it before and hadn't been to that game before, and to get there and win it, it was unreal."
Given the way the team meshed so quickly, Robertson noted the oddness of turning around and facing those players from the opposite side of the diamond. Even odder was squaring off against their White Sox teammates in meaningful games like the first-round game against Colombia; Sox ace Jose Quintana held them hitless for six innings.
"That was something special," Jones said. "He definitely kept the USA on their toes, that's for sure. He went about it just like how he does his business during the season. He was throwing strikes, getting guys out and letting the defense work."
The intense break in the midst of an otherwise quiet Spring Training routine left Robertson looking to wind down as opposed to the typical ramping up that proceeds Opening Day, but the experience certainly served to prepare him for the season.
"It gets you ready quick," Robertson said. "You better be ready, because those guys are coming. Those other teams wanted to win it just as bad as we did. I definitely feel readier, more prepared going into the season than I have been ever before."
For Jones, he's hoping he can parlay the experience into another chance at taking home a title.
"That was my first taste of a championship, a tournament or a postseason, anything like that." Jones said. "It was an awesome experience, and you want to do that here on the South Side. That's one of our goals. That drives us to do that."