'Tucson delivered' as host of World Baseball Classic qualifiers

For the first time in a dozen years, professional baseball was played in Tucson during the spring — and it was for one of the biggest stages in the world.

After Pima County funded a $1.12 million project to upgrade Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, which included a new playing surface that cost $425,000, the World Baseball Classic qualifiers spent the last week in Tucson.

The headliner, Colombia, punched its ticket to the World Baseball Classic for the third straight time after winning its first three games. The World Baseball Classic qualifiers, which concluded Thursday night, also hosted China, Brazil and Germany in Tucson.

The Star spoke to World Baseball Classic president Jim Small about Tucson hosting the WBC qualifiers, the process of returning pro baseball to Tucson and “the beauty of the WBC.”

Here’s what Small discussed:

How was the week for the World Baseball Classic in Tucson?

A: “It’s everything for a lot of these guys. A lot of these guys are either major leaguers, former major leaguers or affiliated players. So they expect a certain level and they get that with the field, with the facilities. The best thing we can have is not hear anything from them, because that means we’ve delivered a first-class facility.

“That entire China team and most of the German team, they’ve never played on a field like this. They’ve never played in facilities like this and a lot of times they don’t have a crowd like this. So for them, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And I think that’s what Tucson delivered.

“We had hoped to be here in 2020 and we couldn’t, because of (the COVID-19 pandemic), so when we looked at coming back, we felt that we wanted to come back to Tucson. It wasn’t certain that we were going to come back. We didn’t owe anybody anything, but Tucson earned us to come back. They came together and said, ‘Look, this is what you’ll get if you come to Tucson.’ And they blew us away. So that’s why we came back. And everything that they promised, they delivered on.”

How many other cities were in consideration for the WBC qualifiers and what stood out about Tucson?

A: “There were eight cities around the world that put in bids and we picked two. We picked Taipei (City) and Tucson. And the reason we picked Tucson is multi-fold. There were some things that were advantageous about playing in the United States. A lot of these players are currently in camps with (MLB) teams, and so it’s a very easy trip, especially for the players that were up in Phoenix. Even for the players in Florida, it was easy for them to get over. We were so close last time.

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“We bet on Tucson in 2020 and wanted to go back in 2025, but the big thing was this group that came together and convinced us that Tucson was a baseball town. The 100 major-leaguers that came out of U of A, all of the great youth baseball, particularly in Pima County. From top to bottom, they’re giving more kids an opportunity to play baseball. So, all of those things came together and it made an obvious choice to go to.”

What’s noticeable about the stadium upgrades between your first visit in 2020 and this year?

A: “The main thing is the field. One of the things that we promised all of these players, ‘If you’re in the World Baseball Classic, you’re going to play in a world-class facility. In order for us to agree to come to Tucson, we needed to replace the field and Pima County stepped up. That’s not a cheap thing to do. From what I understand, it’s been 20-plus years since the field was redone, and you look at it now, not only does it look beautiful, which is important, it is a first-class facility that’s going to weather the next 10 years, 15 years.

“So it was an investment in the future of Tucson baseball, which I think they’re going to profit on with the Mexican League or other potential professional teams that come here, because you have a first-class field. Kudos to them for stepping up and doing it, because it wasn’t inexpensive to do it. It was an investment, the future of Tucson baseball.”

Earlier in the week, we talked to former Arizona Diamondback Miguel Batista and he said the World Baseball Classic “is the greatest thing to ever happen to baseball” and representing a country “is like a soldier going to defend his flag.” How is it to see professional players take pride in representing their country?

A: “It’s so amazing to see it, and it’s it’s universal. Every player says some version of that same thing. The ability to play for your country is so special and so unique and that’s what makes the WBC so cool. It’s about the players. Our job is just to take care of everything, so that the players could just focus on playing baseball.

“We want to give them the best environment and that’s the field, that’s the clubhouse, that’s the meals, that’s the hotels, that’s the travel, and there’s a lot to that. But if we do our jobs and step out of the way, players are always going to impress — any sport. Maybe that’s women basketball or American football or baseball, they’ll always impress, because that’s the beauty of the sport.

“In the WBC construct, what that means is we allow them to have this exuberance and the pride and the passion that only exists when you’re playing for your flag. And it’s so special. We talked about one of our taglines for the WBC, it’s the ‘Festival of Baseball.’

“It’s the food, it’s the culture, it’s the music, it’s baseball that’s different. I think that’s what Miguel was referring to and I think that’s what we see with all of the players, including the U.S. players. In the last WBC, when you saw when Trea Turner hit that grand slam against Venezuela, you saw those players celebrate in ways that was so special and so unique, because it was for their country, and I think that’s what is the beauty of the WBC.”