'Best experience of my life': Sox players return to camp after emotional Classic

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Willson Contreras arrived back at the Fenway South complex on Thursday afternoon sporting what looked like a permanent smile and a new hat which said, “WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ‘26 CHAMPIONS.”

There was a Venezuelan flag below the words.

Not long after, Roman Anthony, the 21-year-old emerging star for the Red Sox, walked through the clubhouse and exchanged soulful hugs with the many teammates he hadn’t seen in weeks. Sure, Team USA came up just short against Venezuela in the final, but the experience is one he will never forget.

Later in the day, underrated right fielder Wilyer Abreu no longer appeared underrated as he was swarmed by a media scrum to discuss his unofficial role for Venezuela: Home run hero.

Lefty Ranger Suarez, just five days after the bitter taste of his rough outing against Japan was wiped out by Abreu’s game-turning three-run homer, was pitching in front of a decidedly quieter atmosphere. This was a live batting practice session at JetBlue Park.

“I pitched a couple games in front of 30-35,000 people,” said Suarez. “Today I pitched in front of 13 people. I counted. But it’s all about getting the work in, building my workload up.”

The fifth Red Sox member from the WBC finals matchup, ace setup man Garrett Whitlock, went through the paces of a workout, eager to pitch again after being on the hook for the loss in that epic last game against Venezuela.

The emotions and memories swirled around the clubhouse, nearly all of them positive. Here were some stories that stuck out.

ABREU’S FLAIR FOR THE DRAMATIC
Already the owner of two Gold Glove Awards in his first two full Major League seasons, Abreu has flown under the radar because of his low-key personality. But he let it all out so much after his solo homer against Team USA that his helmet flew right off his head as he rounded second.

“To be honest, I can't describe that because that feeling is something different, something that you can’t describe in words,” said Abreu. “It’s very difficult to describe it, because there's nothing compared to that feeling.”

Abreu was playing for a baseball-crazed country that has been in turmoil, and doing all he could to put smiles on people’s faces.

How focused was he?

“I think the concentration that I had, it was something different because we were playing for Venezuela,” Abreu said. “We knew we had to be more focused and had to be locked in, 1,000 percent.”

ANTHONY SOAKED IT IN LIKE A SPONGE
Sure, Anthony belted a couple of pivotal home runs that helped propel Team USA to the title game. But it was the camaraderie he built with some of the most established stars in the game that figures to be what helps him most in the long run.

“Watching them, watching what makes them so good, it’s no wonder those guys are who they are,” Anthony said. “Everyone gets to see the on-field stuff, but I think the off-the-field stuff, hanging out with the guys, getting dinners, things like that, those are the memories that I’ll remember forever.”

Anthony and his Team USA teammates had a hard time vacating the clubhouse at the conclusion of the tournament.

“For me, being the young guy, I was trying to soak in every last moment that I could,” Anthony said. “We stayed a while after every game. We enjoyed each other's company. We hung out in the hotels. We got a lot of dinners. It was amazing.”

BEST CHEERLEADER IN WBC
Contreras, Boston’s starting first baseman and cleanup hitter, thought he would get more playing time. But due to the performances of Luis Arraez, Gleyber Torres and Eugenio Suárez, he wound up with just 12 at-bats, nearly all of them during pool play.

For some players, that would have been a letdown. However, Contreras embraced the chance to represent his country and play on the same team as his brother William for the first time. There was no more cheerful presence in the Venezuela dugout than Contreras, who always was dangling on the railing, ready to hop onto the field for a big moment.

“It was for Venezuela. It wasn't about Willson Contreras,” he said. “It was about Venezuela and the whole country. I knew that everybody has their own role, and I couldn't say anything to hurt the team. I'm just proud of the team they created, the family we created in there, the chemistry that we had and everybody fulfilled their role. So I'm happy that I became a WBC champion.

“I think it's the best experience of my life. I played in the World Series in ‘16, and it was big, but playing in the WBC for your country, for 37 million people, means a lot more to me. And I enjoyed every single second, every single part of it. I soaked that in, and it was the best.”