When talking about baseball in the last 20 years, apart from Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, there is another name who was equally good in the ballparks. Yes! While playing for the Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz gave a neck-to-neck competition to his Yankees rivals A-Rod and Jeter. Although he doesn’t play the game anymore, the Dominican Republic native is still close to the sport.

Recently, when the DR was knocked out from the ongoing World Baseball Classic, Ortiz addressed the reasons the Dominican Republic faced elimination. Notably, it was the Puerto Ricans who emerged victorious that day, and what that meant for the Dominican team was that they didn?t qualify for the quarterfinals of the WBC. Well, Ortiz has a few words to say about it.

David Ortiz addressed the reason for Dominican Republic?s crushing exit?

After the elimination of the Dominican Republic from the World Baseball Classic, fans of the team were, of course, disappointed. But so was one other fan, David Ortiz, whose home country had just been pushed out of the grand stage. The match was thrilling, but the Puerto Ricans were a formidable opponent.

Now the Red Sox legend has taken it upon himself to address the reason that the players weren?t ready to face off against the behemoths. Here?s what he said, “If that series takes place in June when everyone is ready, you have to sit down and talk with us. Those guys (Dominicans) who were playing there are the killers in MLB, but they aren’t ready in March”.

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It is true that some of the players, like Manny Machado and Juan Soto, are the revered names of MLB. But it?s also true that the timing of the WBC lies right when the players come out of the off-season. And it?s also just before the regular season of MLB begins – a timing which has been a subject of criticism these past few days.??

The World Baseball Classic Final Pool D standings?

In Pool D of the World Baseball Classic, five teams battled it out for a chance to advance to the next round. Venezuela emerged as the clear winner, winning all four games and earning the top spot in the pool. Puerto Rico followed closely behind, securing their spot with three wins and one loss against Venezuela.

The Dominican Republic won two games. While Israel qualified for the 2026 WBC despite not making it to the next round. Nicaragua, however, will have to compete in the qualifiers again to have another chance. The quarterfinal games between Venezuela vs the US and Puerto Rico vs Mexico are sure to be thrilling!

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