TOKYO -- One pitch changed Ondřej Satoria’s life -- and he thought it was a mistake. Facing Shohei Ohtani in the Tokyo Dome three years ago, Satoria -- an electrical controller at ČEZ Group in Ostrava, a city on the border of Poland – threw his changeup, which he calls

Japan has already a clinched a quarterfinals berth and will be hopping on a plane to Miami when this game is over. Czechia will finish last, even if it pulls off one of the game’s greatest upsets, and is ticketed for a Qualifier. That makes Tuesday night at the Tokyo

TOKYO -- Czechia catcher Martin Červenka is known as “Barry” by his teammates, a nickname he picked up as a child because of his love for watching Barry Bonds. While Bonds owns the Major League home run record with 762, before the start of Czechia’s must-win contest against Chinese Taipei

TOKYO – When Curtis Mead was growing up, his father, Tim – himself an Australian Baseball League player – tried to push him toward Australian Rules Football. Coming from Australia, a country not traditionally known for its baseball, his father thought a career in the Australian Football League was a

TOKYO -- Korea had one goal when entering the Tokyo Dome for the World Baseball Classic this week: Be on the flight to Miami for the quarterfinals when the week is over. It’s why it celebrated every home run by pantomiming airplane wings as it rounds the bases. On Thursday

Before the 2023 World Baseball Classic, we went to Prague to shoot a "Behind the Flag" feature on Czechia's national baseball team. There, in the cradle of Central Europe, we met this team of mostly amateur players who each have day jobs ranging from firefighter to electrical engineer to neurologist

Get ready to dive into World Baseball Classic pool play. The 2026 tournament, which gets underway this week, features four pools: A, B, C and D. Each of those pools consists of five teams battling it out in a round-robin format. The top two teams from each pool then advance

The following is an excerpt from my upcoming book, “We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball,” which follows the story of how a team of amateur ballplayers from the Czech Republic reached the World Baseball Classic and proved themselves to the entire world (Shohei Ohtani included). The following excerpt takes place before

With a roster almost entirely homegrown and with players having day jobs ranging from firefighter to teacher to electrician (even the manager, Pavel Chadim, is a noted neurologist in Brno), Czechia became fan favorites at the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Despite having just one Major Leaguer on its roster --

The fan favorite Czechia -- a team consisting almost entirely of amateur players born and developed in the Czech Republic -- has a new Major Leaguer joining the team for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Though second baseman Eric Sogard will have to miss the tournament due to injury (his

Below is a list of the players in every Major League organization who have been included on the rosters for the 2026 World Baseball Classic. Pitchers denoted with ^ are part of the Designated Pitcher Pool (DPP), a reserve of up to six pitchers per federation that can be called

The World Baseball Classic begins on Wednesday, March 4, at 10 p.m. ET in a game between Australia and Chinese Taipei. It will kick off a fortnight of absolute madness, with the best baseball players on the planet highly motivated by patriotism, pride and plain old competitiveness squaring off in

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

Daisuke Matsuzaka carving up batters en route to back-to-back MVP Awards; Nelson Cruz’s triumphant blast; Adam Jones’ leaping home run robbery; Javier Báez’s no-look tag; and Shohei Ohtani vs. Mike Trout with the championship on the line -- these are just some of the World Baseball Classic’s indelible moments that

This is an excerpt from the latest edition of the Michael Clair's International Beat Newsletter, bringing global baseball news to your inbox every month. Sign up for future installments HERE and check out the full newsletter HERE.

You can forgive the Braves for thinking they could turn just about anyone into a frontline ace back in the '90s. After all, in addition to the Hall of Fame trio of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, the team also saw starters like Kevin Millwood, Steve Avery and

If the most memorable moment of the World Baseball Classic was when Shohei Ohtani faced Mike Trout with a world championship on the line, then the second-biggest moment may have been its most unexpected. For who at home could have predicted that Ohtani -- the massive 6-foot-4 slugger with arms

Europe's baseballing nations made a statement at the World Baseball Classic this spring. Often overlooked, the success of Italy -- which reached the quarterfinals at the expense of the Netherlands -- along with victories by Great Britain and the Czech Republic that confirmed their place in the 2026 tournament, helped

In the days leading up to the 2023 World Baseball Classic, players on the Czech national team, making their first appearance in the tournament, were asked which of their opponents they were most excited to face in the first round. The answer was unanimous -- everyone wanted a crack at

TOKYO -- With everything on the line and a chance to reach the second round for the first time in each country’s history, Australia and the Czech Republic turned to their veteran stars. When all was said and done, Australia moved on to the quarterfinals with an 8-3 victory.

Roki Sasaki can throw the ball harder than almost anyone in the world. Facing the Czech Republic in Japan's 10-2 victory on Saturday night, Sasaki topped 100 mph 21 times out of just 66 pitches. Unfortunately for young outfielder Willie Escala, one of those pitches hit him right in the

TOKYO -- Korea’s World Baseball Classic dreams were almost dashed. Through two games, its pitchers had given up eight runs in a loss to Australia, and another 13 runs in the defeat against Japan – using an astonishing 10 pitchers along the way. • Box score Facing the surprising and

TOKYO -- It didn’t even look like he was working. With the languid ease of a man going on an evening stroll, 21-year-old Roki Sasaki rocked back and threw triple-digit heat on repeat. The right-hander topped 100 mph a remarkable 21 times -- in just 66 pitches -- during Japan’s

TOKYO -- When the Czech Republic took the field for the first time in World Baseball Classic history in a dramatic 8-5 win on Friday afternoon, there were two noticeable changes from the team that qualified in Regensburg: First, there was former MLB infielder Eric Sogard in the lineup. It's

TOKYO -- Some 200 fans sat behind home plate, decked out in jerseys, caps and flags. They chanted and clapped all game long, singing the name of their home country. They were loud when the Czech Republic -- playing its first World Baseball Classic game in the country’s history --