The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is underway, and the ratings are through the roof. There may not be more riveting baseball played until October of this year. The teams are comprised of the best players in every country, similar to the Olympics, and the United States went into the games as the clear favorite. That may be in doubt, as Japan looks nearly unbeatable. It’s impossible not to think about the MLB 30 years ago and wonder, what would Team USA 1996 look like in the WBC?
The first WBC was played 20 years ago in 2006. The would be after, or at least the tail end of the steroid era. This isn’t to say that the steroid era was the best in baseball history, but there was something magical about the 1990’s. The NFL was clibing, and Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dominated the NBA, but baseball was still America’s pastime. Ratings were good, and the All-Star game and home run derby were still must-see TV.
The game isn’t like that anymore, and as captivating as the WBC is now, Team USA would have been a juggernaut in 1996. Like the 1992 Dream Team, they would have destroyed any country, as the game was not as popular worldwide as it is now. Hideo Nomo was great, but he was no Shohei Ohtani, and Japan would not have posed much of a threat 30 years ago. Here is a look, possibly chock-full of wide speculation, about who would have made up the roster in 1996.
