Ronald Acuña Jr. may have gotten one-up on his buddy Ozzie Albies during Friday’s head-to-head matchup between Venezuela and the Netherlands during the World Baseball Classic but I’d imagine that that’s already in the distant past as far as Ozzie is concerned.
While Acuña may have picked up a win on Friday, Ozzie Albies ended up making history on Saturday. In the bottom of the ninth inning with the Netherlands down by two runs to Nicaragua with two men on base and down to their final out, Ozzie came
up huge for his squad and ended up making history in the process. Angel Obando threw a fastball right down the middle and Ozzie made no mistake with it, as he crushed it into the seats in right-center field in order to hit the very first walk-off home run in World Baseball Classic history.
Yep, somehow that was the first ever walk-off blast in the history of this tournament and now Ozzie Albies can lay claim to being the name in the history books next to that particular stat. In related (and petty) news, Ozzie now has something to fire back at Acuña with once they inevitably squabble about this once Ozzie has to pay up for their friendly bet and wear a signed Acuña Venezuela jersey. Acuña may have won the battle on Friday but Ozzie made history today.
The clutch homer from Albies also saved the Netherlands from what would’ve certainly been elimination and possibly even relegation into being forced to qualify for the next edition of the World Baseball Classic since a matchup with the mighty Dominican Republic looms large tomorrow at high noon. For now, the Netherlands are alive and well in the WBC and they have Ozzie Albies of Curaçao and the Atlanta Braves to thank for that.
