Italy’s secret weapon in World Baseball Classic? The ‘staches
TAICHUNG, Taiwan — “I mean, what am I going to say, no, when they ask me to shave and make my mustache like the good old days?” Team Italy supervisor Mike Piazza stated. “They wanted to see from ’93, ’94, ’95. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll bring it back.’”
“Actually, I think it was Dominic Fletcher who got it first, right, and then Harv got it second,” Nicky Lopez stated. “And we all followed Harv.”
What issues greater than perhaps the quantity of superstars you have got in your staff or the depth of Major League expertise in your roster within the WBC — a match the place guys are solely collectively for a pair weeks — is staff chemistry. How shortly gamers can get together with each other. You can see it within the 2-0 Netherlands staff and, after watching Italy’s win and postgame presser, you see how one thing as foolish as rising mustaches has bonded the group.
“Behind the scenes, you know, our team is close,” Lopez stated after the victory on Thursday. “We are hungry individuals who want to make a name for ourselves, but in the same breath we are playing for each other, and you could see that tonight. We are top-stepping it, pushing for one another.”
“We are playing for our families. We are playing for our country,” Matt Harvey stated. “That runs in our blood and we are just super excited to be here.”
Fletcher — one of many heart-and-soul leaders of the staff — began the facial hair pattern.
“Yeah, our general manager, Gianmarco, has been rocking a ‘stache for years,” Fletcher stated. “So I kind of hopped on board. I think [I grew it] the first day we got here, and then slowly, one by one, guys jumped on and it just turned into a thing.”
And after all, they needed to get their supervisor, who’s had a few of the most famed hair/facial hair in baseball historical past, concerned.
“They made me shape my goatee and make a mustache as well,” Piazza stated. “They asked me to do it. It feels a little different.”
“They are a great bunch of guys,” Piazza continued. “As you can see, they have chemistry, they have fun, they have bonded extremely well. And that’s important.”
You might see Team Italy’s give attention to togetherness months earlier than the match: Players on the roster — principally Italian-American — have been invited on a visit to their ancestors’ house nation for every week. They educated with Italian-born ballplayers, ate pasta in Parma and drank wine in Piazza’s villa.
“Now we have an understanding of who this team is,” Vinny Pasquantino stated on the time. “Hopefully that helps us.”
Will the mix of Italy’s togetherness and expertise be sufficient to get them to the following spherical in Tokyo? Time will inform. They misplaced a tricky matchup towards Chinese Taipei, and nonetheless must play two extra video games towards some formidable groups right here in Taiwan. But there’s a sure energy in friendship and in brotherhood.
