Rusty Weiss
Some will call this poor sportsmanship. Others are going to admire the fire of a team refusing to settle for second-best. Perhaps it’s a bit of both. Perhaps it’s neither, really.
But Team USA didn’t come to the World Baseball Classic to collect participation hardware.
After Venezuela stunned the star-studded Americans 3-2 in the WBC final Tuesday night with a ninth-inning rally that left U.S. fans in utter shock and silence, several Team USA players treated their silver medals like they were radioactive.
Cameras caught Kyle Schwarber yanking his off before he even made it back to the dugout, with Mason Miller, Logan Webb, and Bobby Witt Jr. doing the same in quick succession.
Hey, maybe if they showed that kind of fire during the game, they wouldn’t have been held to a paltry three hits (only 2 until Bryce Harper‘s home run in the bottom of the 8th to give them some life).
Team USA receives their 2026 World Baseball Classic silver medals 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/zasRMWVCDI
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 18, 2026
Silver Medals Ripped Off by Team USA in Disgust
While Venezuela partied like they’d just won the lottery behind them, the U.S. squad stood there looking like they’d rather be anywhere else.
The absolute misery can be felt through the screen. Nobody likes the silver-medal ceremony. In this, or the Olympics. You’ve just busted your a– on the field or the ice or the court, and you have to sit there and be shamed into graciously accepting your second-place award, all while the gold-medal winners celebrate behind you.
Honestly, they should let athletes get their silvers in the privacy of the locker room.
Bryce Harper was one of the few who kept his on long enough to show some class, breaking ranks to hug Venezuelan players and later saying he “hates finishing second” and isn’t “O.K. with winning silver.”
Fair enough — the dude dropped a game-tying bomb in the eighth, but the rest of the offense was anemic all night, mustering just a handful of hits against a Venezuelan pitching staff that refused to fold.
Schwarber himself went 0-for-3 with three punchouts. Team captain Aaron Judge did his usual disappearing act, going 0-4 with three Ks. When you’re loaded with talent like this group, silver feels a hell of a lot more like a loser than a runner-up.
Kyle Schwarber took his silver medal off before he even made it to the dugout pic.twitter.com/avVq1u600k
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 18, 2026
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Nobody’s saying you have to fake a smile and pretend second place is awesome. These are competitors who showed up expecting gold, not a consolation prize. America doesn’t do “almost.”
Except, they did. Venezuela earned its moment and deserves respect for pulling off the upset. But for Team USA? That silver was nothing but a reminder of what slipped away.
Next time, maybe swing the bats like it matters from the jump instead of ripping off your hardware in disgust as a protest after the fact, eh, boys?