The fact that the Italian team beat the favorite Team USA at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournament was big news in the U.S. when it happened on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at the Daikin Par in Houston, Texas. It was even reported in the national evening TV news on NBC, and, on Saturday, March 14, 2026, it became a front cover story in The Wall Street Journal with the headline: “Team Italy Takes Over Baseball with Espresso Shots and Armani.”
On Saturday, the Italians beat Puerto Rico 8 to 3 in San Juan, one of the four WBC locations, in addition to Houston, Miami, and Tokyo. However, Venezuela beat Italy 4 to 2 to face Team USA in the final, which was won by Venezuela (3 to 2).
The WBC has been happening since 2006, but only this year, after the Americans lost to the Italians, did it become a well-known international championship. The tournament has teams from 20 countries competing for the title. This year’s event began on March 5 and ended on Tuesday, March 17.
The Journal pointed out that the Italian victory over Team USA was even mentioned by Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, during a presentation in the Italian Parliament. This follows the Italian National Rugby team’s stunning victory over the U.K.’s National Rugby team (23 to 18) on Sunday, March 7 in Rome, Italy.
In its E-Beat newsletter, VideoAge reported that “the main sports challenge for Italy is now a valid national football (soccer) team to compete in the North American FIFA World Cup starting on June 11, 2026. So far, it is unsure if the Italian National Football team will qualify for the opening match with the Canadian National Team in Toronto.” Plus, Italy’s top football league (Serie A) teams’ general losses have now reached 350 million euro (U.S. $404 million).
The Journal also pointed out that the Italian baseball team was comprised of Italian-American big-leaguers who didn’t make it onto Team USA, and that “some of them have never actually been to the homeland.” But the article concluded that that fact brings back memories of when American teams were comprised of such Italian-American players as Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto, and Joe and Dom DiMaggio.
Indeed, Italy has a long tradition with baseball, even publishing a short-lived Baseball Magazine in the 1980s. (Fun fact: This consumer publication was started by VideoAge‘s own Dom Serafini.) Now, Gary Marenzi, formerly president of MGM and Paramount International, recalls going to Italy to train and teach baseball: “I coached baseball for two summers in Italy, 1978 and 1979, right after I graduated from college. I was connected to the Italian Baseball Federation by some Italian-American ex-teammates of mine from Sacred Heart High School in San Francisco and Stanford University, who were either playing or coaching in Italy.
“In 1978, I coached the Yankees of San Giovanni in Persiceto, a small town in the Emilia region, which is a hotbed of baseball in Italy. The Yankees were one step below the highest level of Italian competition, and were a mixed bag of older veterans and teenagers — all with some good talent and baseball knowledge. The facilities in our small town were among the best in Italy, with a well-manicured field, new equipment, and a batting cage for extra hitting practice. It was fun to be in a town where baseball wasn’t viewed as a novelty.
“In 1979, I was sent to the Italian island of Sardinia to conduct teaching clinics in several towns. The experience was totally different than in Emilia, but even more fun, as Sardinia is a magical place. There were no manicured fields — in fact most fields didn’t even have any grass on them! Equipment was scarce and shared, but the athletes, team organizers, and coaches were passionate and willing to learn.
“Now that baseball fans and players in Italy can watch both Major League Baseball games and highlights on pay-TV and social media, more potential players can learn how to play the game properly, too. So, while the current World Baseball Classic team is composed primarily of Italian-Americans, I look forward to the day when the ‘Azzurri’ [or the Italian national team] are majority home-grown Italians!”
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