TAMPA, Fla. -- The realization hit Tyler Clippard long before he was part of the World Baseball Classic celebration at Dodger Stadium, confetti raining from the sky and the stars and stripes across his chest.
"It was one of the coolest things I've ever done in my career, for sure," Clippard said. "To be able to put on the USA jersey for two weeks straight and experience the camaraderie of some of the best players in America, and to take it home and win the gold, it was a fun ride."
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Clippard made three appearances for Team USA during the tournament, logging a 2.08 ERA and striking out six in 4 1/3 innings. Though he did not appear in Wednesday's decisive 8-0 victory over Puerto Rico, just being in uniform that night was memorable enough.
"Awesome. I got chills during the anthem," Clippard said. "To see the motivation that we had to win it and to dominate the game the way we did, in all facets, you couldn't have scripted it any better."
Clippard was on the mound for Adam Jones' incredible catch last Saturday at Petco Park, robbing a home run from Manny Machado in USA's 6-3 victory over the Dominican Republic. Once he realized what had happened, Clippard raised his arms and screamed, "Oh my God!"

"It was very surreal," Clippard said. "It was like he was doing a magic trick from my perspective. It looked like he pulled the ball out of the crowd, and the next thing I knew, it was in his glove. It was a fun little thing to experience and be a part of that."
Clippard said that it had been an easy call to tell Joe Torre that he was interested in playing, and sharing a dugout with Jim Leyland proved to be a thrill. The level of competition in the tournament made a statement to the public about the World Baseball Classic, Clippard said.
"I think we proved that it's a fun event and it's very enjoyable to watch," Clippard said. "We got great turnouts for the crowds. I'm sure a lot of people watched the games. You could just see it with how we played the games and how into it we were, and all the countries were. When you have that genuine passion for winning those games, fans see that. People see that."