Welcome to what might very well be the best day of the World Baseball Classic. Quick, can you think of another time when there's so much elite talent gathered in one place?
OK, there's a certain Sunday in Cooperstown each summer, but that doesn't count. Other than the Major League All-Star Game presented by MasterCard, this might be it on Saturday when Petco Park in San Diego hosts an impressive doubleheader: Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela and Team USA vs. Dominican Republic.
:: 2017 World Baseball Classic ::
There's an assortment of All-Stars, including iconic players like Felix Hernandez, Jose Cabrera and Jose Altuve of Venezuela and Robinson Cano, Manny Machado and Adrian Beltre of the Dominican Republic.
Team USA has arguably the National League's best all-around player in Nolan Arenado and an assortment of other households names, from Eric Hosmer and Adam Jones to Giancarlo Stanton and Paul Goldschmidt.
And the Puerto Ricans have two nearly slam-dunk future Hall of Famers in Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina, plus two of baseball's brightest young stars in Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor.
These four teams are part of why this Classic has been so good. Games have been close. Comebacks have been frequent. Best of all, big players have come up big, and isn't that what they're supposed to do when the lights are brightest?
Nelson Cruz of the Dominican leads this Classic with three home runs in five games and has an .882 slugging percentage, which isn't a number that's easy to get your mind around.
His Dominican teammate, Gregory Polanco, has a .588 on-base percentage. And then there's Jose Bautista.
Bautista is beginning a season that he hopes will be redemption for a 2016 campaign hampered by injuries. He has gotten warmed up for the regular season by hitting .435 in the Classic with a moon ball of a home run that had his Toronto teammates in Spring Training buzzing.
Now about Team USA. Maybe this is the year the Americans finally win at least a medal in the World Baseball Classic. Their starting pitchers entered Friday's game against Puerto Rico with 17 1/3 shutout innings. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico (4-0) entered the game as the Classic's lone unbeaten team.
"You're playing for your whole country here," Team USA/Astros reliever Luke Gregerson said. "So obviously the adrenaline's going to be a little different at times. But we've played in some pretty big games over the years, and sometimes you've got to step back, take a deep breath and keep doing what you're capable of, and good things happen."
Team USA's players have been less outwardly emotional than players on some other teams. But they said it would be a mistake to think they're any less emotional or any less motivated.
"I've got a team you don't have to motivate," manager Jim Leyland said. "These guys are professionals. They know what's at stake. There's nothing that I really need to say to motivate them.
"I'm not really a rah-rah guy, to be honest with you. I like to have fun with them. I enjoy their company. They've been wonderful. That's all I can tell you."
The Dominican Republic began WBC '17 favored to win the title for a second straight time. It could still be on course for doing that despite losing a game for the first time since 2009.
But the margin has gotten closer. The Domincans had to rally from a 5-0 deficit to beat Team USA, 7-5, in their second game. On Tuesday, they lost to Puerto Rico, 3-1, as five pitchers limited their mighty lineup to just six hits.
Team USA rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Colombia, 3-2, in 10 innings in its opener. Then came that 7-5 loss to the Dominicans. Since then, they've beaten Canada, 8-0, and rallied to beat Venezuela, 4-2.
"You know, when I got invited here I just, you know, figured it was a huge honor," Team USA/Royals starter Danny Duffy said, "and if you're here, it means you're good enough to be here, and that's enough for me."
The World Baseball Classic runs through Wednesday. In the U.S., games air live exclusively in English on MLB Network and on an authenticated basis via MLBNetwork.com/watch, while ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN provide the exclusive Spanish-language coverage. MLB.TV Premium subscribers in the U.S. have access to watch every tournament game live on any of the streaming service's 400-plus supported devices. The tournament is being distributed internationally across all forms of television, internet, mobile and radio in territories excluding the U.S., Puerto Rico and Japan. Get tickets for games in San Diego's Petco Park and the Championship Round at Dodger Stadium, while complete coverage -- including schedules, video, stats and gear -- is available at WorldBaseballClassic.com.