The tension-filled odyssey was nine innings from its end. No more worries about satisfying the sometimes conflicting allegiances of his country, his players, and the major league teams for which they play.
After 11 years, 27 games and repeated snubs from some of the brightest stars in baseball, the United States finally had reached its first World Baseball Classic championship game. No more politics, just one game to win, and so manager Jim Leyland allowed himself a smile as he opened a pregame news conference.
"We're trying to make America great again," he said, chuckling.
And they did. The Yankees are the champions of the world, after an 8-0 rout of Puerto Rico on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
This might be the tournament that makes the WBC as great in America as it is in the rest of the world but, really, who cares? If the dream is to win, the dream team is the one that wins.
Do you believe in miracles? Well, no, this isn't the Olympics. But Stroman, who was selected the most valuable player of the tournament, very nearly put the most classic of touches on the World Baseball Classic, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the championship game.
Stroman, whose father is from the U.S. and whose mother is from Puerto Rico, could have pitched for either team. On Twitter, his mother said she was "sad and embarrassed" by the "vulgar comments" from some Puerto Rican fans toward her son.
After Angel Pagan doubled to lead off the seventh inning and end Stroman's night, the pitcher walked toward the dugout, accompanied by thunderous "U-S-A" chants.
He pumped his fist and swept his right arm across the front of his jersey, right across the letters "U-S-A."
The evening was incredibly suspenseful. But, after the first few innings, the suspense became less about which team would win the game and more about whether Stroman would throw a no-hitter.
In the third inning, Ian Kinsler hit a two-run home run. The U.S. led, 2-0, and Stroman had not given up a hit.
In the fifth, Christian Yelich and Andrew McCutchen singled home runs. The U.S. led, 4-0, and Stroman had not given up a hit.
In the seventh, Brandon Crawford singled home two runs and Giancarlo Stanton one. The U.S. led, 7-0, and Stroman had not given up a hit.
The U.S. won the tournament the hard way, getting to the final by winning consecutive elimination games against the Dominican Republic and Japan, the only teams that had won the WBC.
After the Dominican team won the last WBC, in 2013, the players were feted with a November luncheon with the country's president and a parade down the streets of the capital city.
There are no such grand plans for Team USA. Leyland said he would set a 4 a.m. alarm Thursday, so he could catch "a six-something flight" to Florida, and to the Detroit Tigers' spring-training home.
"These guys go back to their day jobs," said Paul Seiler, USA Baseball executive director. "We get caught up in fandom and patriotism, but these guys have responsibilities to their employers. We're respectful of that.
"We'd like to do something, but that's the reality."
The WBC championship trophy will go with Seiler, to be displayed at the North Carolina headquarters of USA Baseball, alongside the gold medal memorabilia from the 2000 Olympic team, managed by Tommy Lasorda.
Seiler said he would consider how to recognize the U.S. team at a future time. If a fair number of U.S. players make the All-Star game this summer, Seiler said he might consider a ring ceremony there. That would be fitting, since the All-Star game is in Miami and this U.S. team played its first three WBC games there.
Seiler would not touch the question of whether the team might visit the White House. That would be an incredibly delicate subject right now, and besides, the team does not need presidential validation that it has indeed made American baseball great again.
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