Fernando Rodney stole the show as the Dominican Republic was introduced at the World Baseball Classic.
The United States of America as a whole is still trying to make up its collective mind about this whole World Baseball Classic thing. Not so for other countries, however. Team Israel has captured the attention of the globe as the undefeated, feel-good story out of Pool A. Whenever Korea or Japan take the field, there is an atmosphere on par with an SEC football Saturday in the fall. Seeing the pageantry and national pride on display from the rest of the world might even be enough to pique the interest of Noah Syndergaard.
And, if Thor was still unsure about the WBC, Fernando Rodney just pulled a giant, golden plantain out of his pants during pregame introductions before the Dominican Republic gets set to take on Canada in Miami.
The best part of the whole video was seeing Rodney nervously anticipating his big moment. Once the banana was out of his pants, he pulled it back mimicking his trademark bow-and-arrow celebration. Most of the crowd in Miami is backing the Dominican Republic, and they gave Rodney a long, loud ovation as he showed off his golden fruit. At the last playing of the WBC in 2013, the Dominican Republic won the event, using a magic plantain as their good luck charm.
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This is the type of silly thing the World Baseball Classic needs to make a mark in the United States where most fans still cover their eyes and hope their favorite players just don’t get hurt. The World Cup and the Olympics feature plenty of national pride and unique celebrations. Players from other countries around the world do a much better job of allowing emotion and passion to shine through when representing their nation on the world stage. At the end of the day, the World Baseball Classic is a chance for baseball fans from all over the world to see their favorite players in a completely different, looser setting, playing for their country. The more fun the players have, the better.