Marcus Stroman, World Baseball Classic Team Honored by U.S. Olympic Committee
The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) announced Marcus Stroman and the U.S. World Baseball Classic Team as Best of March honorees for the Team USA Awards. Stroman and the World Baseball Classic champions are now eligible for 2017 Best of Year honors.
Stroman (Toronto Blue Jays) is third athlete in USA Baseball’s history to be named the USOC’s Athlete of the Month and the first since 16U National Team member Jeff Flaig was honored in August of 2001. Stroman led Team USA to its first-ever World Baseball Classic title. The World Baseball Classic team is the ninth USA Baseball team to be honored by the USOC and the first since the 18U National Team was selected in October of 2009.
The Team USA monthly awards are voted on by the USOC National Governing Bodies, Olympic fans and members of the national media, based on their performances in an international competition in a given month.
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I haven’t really followed Crawford too closely through his career (west coast games are past my bedtime) but the thing I took away was how he makes very difficult plays look routine. I never realized how good of a hitter he was either. And I just shed a tear like a proud parent. Getting east coast folks to recognize our boy is a proud moment. Everybody knows he’s a slick fielder, but yet his fielding is still underrated (in some cases he barely cracks people’s top five defensive SS list, which is criminal) and the man can swing the stick too. Plus the hair. Can’t ignore the hair.
He had a horrible first inning against PR in their first meeting but after that he retired 12 straight batters. But I mean it’s not like the dude just crumbled. He easily was the best pitcher of the tournament and had a near flawless final game to seal it. Yes someone else could have got it over him and it and no one would mind but it is not a “robbery” like I’m seeing people claim. Not to mention we’re talking about pitching in the WBC. The best pitchers in the world turned their nose at the idea of even PLAYING in this tournament, let alone 3 games, every single pitch possible full effort. Crazy respect for Stro.
Stro is a gem to watch when he’s on – keeps everything low with movement and can mix in any of his 4 pitches for strikes.