There are plenty of other countries, that played baseball, besides the United States, of which, out of all those other countries, probably the most competitive of them would have to be Japan. Sure, the regular season for professional baseball players is already quite lengthy – not to mention the current postseason structure that adds to the length of that season in the United States; but in consideration, that baseball is a sport that is popular in other nations, it would be a boon for the sport and its fans to actually see a meaningful World Series, played between the best in the United States v. the best in Japan.
That real Word Series, would not necessarily have to be in October or early November, but could actually be conducted in March, during Spring training. No doubt, this would mean that some of the players that were part of the “world” champions would no longer be part of the team, and some new players would, in their stead, be there, somewhat affecting the integrity of the competition; but Spring training, would allow enough time for such a series to actually be held, and also would mean that the champions of their respective competitions, would not be suffering from late season burn out.
While it is true, that the Olympics, and the World Baseball Classic, are competitions that involve international play to it, it isn’t really the same thing. After all, in today’s small world, the best in any sport, wants to face the best, and in the fair belief, that the competition would be meaningful, it would be beneficial to the integrity and the continual relevancy of the sport, especially for the winner of such to rightfully own the crown by becoming the world champion. Additionally, a World Series with Japan, would also be something that could eventually morph into involving other champions of other countries in other leagues, depending upon the competitiveness of those players and the teams within those leagues.
None of this should come as any great surprise, since for instance, many sports, routinely are international in their format, such as in boxing, mixed martial arts, golf, tennis, and the like. There isn’t any good reason to believe that somehow only those born in America, or those that have somehow gotten a visa into America, are by definition, the best that the sport could conceivably have. Rather, there aren’t any borders when it comes to talent and athleticism, so therefore such should not be limited to just the borders of America, and one Canadian city.
Further to the point, Major League Baseball could do more to entice a Mexican based team into the league, as well as engaging other cities within Canada to become part and parcel of the sport, in order to gain viewership as well as to maintain relevancy. The most pressing challenge, though, placed at the feet of MLB, is to either step up to the plate and truly have a World Series, beginning with Japan, or to simply remove the word, “World” from their championship series and replace it with something that reflects the reality that it isn’t a World Series at all, but rather it is solely a National or American one.