How Derek Jeter’s support ‘opened a door’ for the World Baseball Classic to succeed
The World Baseball Classic as it is currently known might not have come to fruition if not for Derek Jeter.
As Jim Small and a small group of colleagues created the idea for essentially a baseball version of the World Cup, he polled a group of Major League Baseball players to gauge interest in the possibility of such an event.
“We didn’t know if it was going to work,” Small, the president of World Baseball Classic Inc., said. “We didn’t know if the world was ready for country vs. country baseball. We didn’t know if our players were ready to participate in a tournament like that.”
The first person Small remembers raises his hand in support: Jeter, a superstar in the prime of his career with the New York Yankees.
Fast forward to this week and Jeter, now the CEO and a part-owner of the Miami Marlins after concluding his Hall of Fame career, is still playing a critical role in the World Baseball Classic. Marlins Park is a host venue during all three rounds of the 2021 tournament, including the semifinals and championship game. It’s a first in World Baseball Classic history.
The United States, with Jeter as its starting shortstop, made it to the quarterfinals before losses to South Korea and Mexico in their bracket resulted in elimination in the inaugural tournament. The tournament overall, though, turned out to be a success. It picked up again in 2009 and has taken place every four years since.
“We didn’t know what to expect. It was in its infancy stages. ... [But] I couldn’t wait,” said Jeter, who also played in the 2009 tournament. “The only uniform that I had worn throughout my professional career was a Yankee uniform. It was the first time I had put another uniform on. When you put on the uniform that’s representing your country, it’s a pretty good feeling.
“It was a fun experience just to play teams from other countries — countries you didn’t even know played baseball coming in and showing up. It was a fun atmosphere, and it’s just grown bigger and better since then.”
And it was a goal of the Marlins ownership group, led by majority owner Bruce Sherman and Jeter, to have the international tournament back at Marlins Park in an expanded role.
The ownership group took over in October 2017, months after Marlins Park hosted one of the WBC’s opening-round pools. The highlight game from that round, at least from an audience perspective: The Dominican Republic’s 7-5, come-from-behind victory against the United States in front of a Marlins Park-record crowd of 37,446.
”The energy and the passion in the building was electric,” Jeter said. “Numerous visitors from around the world [were there], but quite a few from South Florida. That’s the passion of the game that we know exists in this market. And we want to grow, and that’s what we’re building toward. To get to the point where every day here at Marlins Park is a WBC Championship Game-type atmosphere with as many cheering section and musical instruments we can get in the building.”
The new ownership group has also done its part with making enhancements to the ballpark. In 2019, the Marlins opened two standing-room-only spots in AutoNation Alley and The Social: Estrella Jalisco. A synthetic playing surface will replace natural grass this year at the retractable-roof facility. The outfield walls have been moved in from 407 feet to 400 feet in center and from 399 feet to 387 feet in right-center. Marlins Park will also open another social area this season, the Biscayne Brew Hall.
But the continued success of the tournament might not have happened if not for a nod of approval from Jeter all those years ago.
“To have someone like Derek Jeter vote yes on international baseball, vote yes to country vs country championships meant everything to us because it opened a door,” Small said. “It opened a door for six other would-be hall of farmers to vote yes to play in this tournament. It opened the door for the 2017 event to have 30 MLB All-Stars playing in that event. So everything that we have enjoyed, all the success we’ve enjoyed with this tournament started with your vote yes.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 10:50 AM.
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