To make things even tougher on themselves, they went out and dropped their opener against Brazil.
Simply to get here, they had to finish in the top two of a six-team double-elimination qualifying tournament that took place last September and October in Panama, featuring the host nation as well as Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, and New Zealand. “Our first World Baseball Classic has taught us a lot about what we have to work on and improve.”įew teams got an acid bath as strong as the one Nicaragua was dunked in. “Having been in this tournament, we know there’s still a bit left to get to the level we want to be at,” Guido said after the loss to the Dominican Republic on Monday. And in return, the Nicaraguans got to see how the sport’s best perform, how they stack up, and what needs to happen next for them to become mainstays in the WBC. For Nicaragua in particular, this week represented an opportunity to show the rest of the world that it legitimately belongs here - something every manager in the pool acknowledged without prompting and with deep appreciation.
But it did highlight what makes the WBC both unique and special: an opportunity for talent from underrepresented, overlooked or developing baseball countries to shine through. Hebbert’s star turn didn’t turn the tournament around for Nicaragua, which dropped its fourth and final game on Tuesday, 4–1, to Pool D champ Venezuela. “Now the whole world is talking about Duque.” “It’s like a fairy tale,” said Nicaragua’s manager, Sandor Guido, on the morning after Hebbert became the WBC’s unlikeliest household name. (He told reporters on Tuesday morning that he had yet to sign officially.) In the span of a single inning, Hebbert had broken into the big leagues and given Nicaragua its signature moment on the international stage.
#FIGHT NIGHT 2004 ISO ZONE PROFESSIONAL#
It was such an impressive performance that, before his day was over, the soft-spoken young Miskito man from the small seaside city of Puerto Cabezas, who spent last season pitching in Nicaragua’s professional winter league, had a contract offer in hand from Detroit, courtesy of team staffer and Tigers scout Luis Molina. “A 21-year-old pitcher struck out literally a billion dollars worth of hitters.” “That was really emotional for me, one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen in my whole career,” said Nicaragua second baseman Alex Blandino the next afternoon. No sweat for Hebbert, who fell behind one of the majors’ top sluggers 3–1, got him to foul off two pitches, then dispatched him with - what else - a changeup to finish the inning. Machado, too, waved through a slider and was down 0–2, only to smash a double to left, bringing up Rafael Devers. Rodríguez fared no better, fouling off a 90 mph fastball and that devilish changeup before eventually whiffing on a slider down and away. He set Soto down with three straight strikes, the last a diving changeup that he swung right over the future Hall of Famer flashed a smile back at the mound as he walked out of the box. Nineteen pitches, four batters and three eye-opening swinging strikeouts later, Hebbert had done more than that, going from anonymous Nicaraguan reliever to baseball’s newest viral sensation. So as Hebbert finished his warm-up throws and Soto stepped in, the task in front of him was simple yet immense: end the day on a positive note for Pool D’s resident underdogs by retiring three of the best hitters in the entire world.
#FIGHT NIGHT 2004 ISO ZONE FULL#
They were in Miami with the goal of growing and getting better and putting up a respectable fight against rosters full of legends and superstars. Then again, no one had expected Nicaragua to win a game in this pool, much less advance.
Hebbert and his teammates came into the day with two losses in two group stage games so far down 6–1 against the DR, that would soon become three in three. Should he manage to survive both of those elite hitters, he would have to contend with six-time All-Star Manny Machado, who had homered in his last at-bat and come a combined three or four feet short of going deep twice more.Īgainst that terrifying trio stood Hebbert, 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds, the youngest and last man picked for a Nicaragua squad that qualified for its first-ever WBC and, as its reward, drew a spot in the tournament’s Pool of Death alongside the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Up after him: 2022 AL Rookie of the Year and five-tool phenom Julio Rodríguez. As the 21-year-old right-hander warmed up before the top of the ninth inning of Monday’s Pool D game between Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, Juan Soto waited, watching from the on-deck circle. MIAMI – The assignment facing Nicaragua’s Duque Hebbert was as nerve-wracking as he could imagine.
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