Dominican baseball fans flooded the promenade deck at Loan Depot Park chanting, “We want Venezuela,” in Spanish. The chant was fitting because fans of Team Venezuela were saying the same thing, in reverse, about Team DR after they defeated Israel Saturday night. Team DR versus Team Venezuela will take place on Wednesday night. Before that game, the DR (2-0) takes on Israel (1-1), and Venezuela (2-0) takes on Nicaragua (0-3). Barring a stumble by either team, Wednesday night is shaping up to the be the biggest game of Pool D, and possibly the entire tournament.
Dominican Domination
Team DR manager Albert Pujols wanted to substitute star player Juan Soto out of the game before his last at-bat, but Soto wasn’t having it. He told the Hall of Famer, Pujols, that he wanted to finish the game out. And finish it he did, sending the Team Netherlands home early with the fourth and final home run of the game for Team DR. When the drums stopped banging, the final score was 12-1 after the 7th inning. Soto’s home run completed the slaughter rule, and what was predicted to be a moderately competitive game ended as a blowout.
Austin Wells (Yankees), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), and Junior Caminero (Rays), joined Soto (Mets) with homers against the Netherlands. Caminero, whom Pujols has been calling the water boy, is proving to be the most dangerous hitter in the dominant Dominican lineup. Caminero is hitting 571/625/1.429 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs in two games. Following the game, Pujols raved about Caminero, who also helped Pujols win a Dominican Winter League (LIDOM) championship with Leones del Escogido in 2024–25. Pujols considers Caminero and most of the young Dominican players his little brothers, but he locked in on Caminero, stating how impressive he is right now because he is so young and still has a lot to learn about the game. Caminero has torn through Pool D pitching on the field, and has held no ego off the field. The water boy moniker stuck because he volunteered to Pujols that he would serve as the water boy just to be included on the ‘26 WBC team. So far, Caminero has proven to be much more valuable than even Bobby Bushay. After the game, Team DR captain Manny Machado gave the game ball to starting pitcher Luis Severino (Athletics), who threw 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 Ks.
Team Netherlands came into the game understanding the challenge, but hoping to stall Team DR’s momentum. That plan did not happen. When the game concluded, Team Netherlands used seven pitchers in a seven-inning game. Team Netherlands manager Andruw Jones made some slight tweaks to his lineup, but it didn’t yield any results Sunday afternoon. Team Netherlands has been underwhelming in pool play. The Kingdom is one Ozzie Albies walk-off homer from being 0-3 this tournament.
THE TUNNEL IS WHERE IT’S AT
One behind-the-scenes aspect of the WBC is the media availability. The WBC media landscape at Loan Depot is majority international (as expected) and mostly Spanish-speaking (as expected). Loan Depot and MLB communications have done an excellent job handling every aspect of communications. There are translator headphones in the media room, and there is a lot of access to players, coaches, and those connected with MLB and WBC on and off the field. But where is the real hot spot? Very much like NYC in the 90s, it’s The Tunnel. Every player passes through the tunnel heading in and out of the stadium. And while the tunnel is more for stopping and chatting with personal friends, the tunnel is where you see everyone. I’ve been shooting Black Baseball Mixtape Polaroids all weekend, and started working the tunnel after the games. Magic has been made. Julio Rodriguez provided one of my favorite Polaroids so far. He’s been filming his WBC experience first-hand — taking his camera everywhere he goes. I took a Polaroid of J-Rod filming me while I was shooting him.
THE BEST FOOD IS OUTSIDE
Overall, the food inside Loan Depot Park is pretty standard MLB ballpark food. But outside the stadium is another story. Smell it with your eyes.
Sunday night was the last evening my family was in town, so I skipped the evening game for a family dinner and will be back at the ballpark for Monday’s game.
Great stuff.