Every third year when dozens of major leaguers leave spring training in early March and decamp to their national teams, it’s always a hot topic to wonder whether the sheer collection of talent on Team USA, Venezuela, or the Dominican Republic can topple the international baseball behemoth that is Shohei Ohtani Samurai Japan.

For me, though, one of the most fascinating storylines of the World Baseball Classic are the teams that have to get a little more creative to fill out their rosters: whether that be Czech Republic employing a roster almost entirely of guys who work real jobs, Brazil pulling an ex-big leaguer’s 17-year-old son (Joseph Contreras), or Canada tabbing a pitcher (Phillippe Aumont) so far off the map that his last professional action was in the Can-Am League’s final season in 2019.

It’s in those teams where you often see lopsided scores and overmatched competition, but it also provides an exceptionally rare opportunity: the chance for a lucky few independent baseball players the opportunity to face top-flight competition.

A total of 30 current or former American Association players suited up in the WBC currently, spread out across 12 of the 20 participating teams.

One of them is Frontier League star Chase Dawson (who began his pro career with the 2019 Gary SouthShore RailCats), who has hit leadoff this WBC for Nicaragua. As a 29-year-old, Dawson has played all six years of his career in Indy ball, but on Friday against the Dominican Republic, Dawson got two cracks against Christopher Sanchez—the reigning NL Cy Young runner-up.

In his second at-bat, Dawson stroked a hit off of Sanchez.

Other current and former Indy ball players have made their mark this WBC. Kansas City Monarchs lefty Josh Hendrickson picked up a win against Czechia for Team Australia. Current (Ray-Patrick Didder) and former (Dayson Croes) Winnipeg Goldeyes were on the field for the Netherlands against a stacked Venezuela squad.

That’s not all, as former Kansas City and Sioux Falls outfielder Aaron Whitefield enjoyed a 3-for-4 day as he was a big reason why Australia nearly pulled off a massive upset against Japan on Sunday. Two members of the 2021 Kane County Cougars, Tyler Viza and Vance Worley, both pitched well against Team USA, with Viza starting and spinning 3.0 scoreless innings.

Of course, even though he’s spent the last two years in the upper minors, we saw former Milwaukee Milkmen superstar Bryan Torres’ impressive American Association credentials proudly touted for the whole world:

Now, the elephant in the room: just like many college basketball players, this March will be the highlight of much of that group’s careers (or at least the remainder of them). The track record for players being signed off their WBC performance is rather scant.

Chase Dawson will not get signed by an MLB team because he singled off Christopher Sanchez, nor will Whitefield’s three hits against Japan earn him an affiliated contract. Former Kansas City and Winnipeg outfielder Jacob Robson went deep in a WBC tune-up against the Blue Jays, but the Jays (or any of the other 29 clubs) probably aren’t giving him a call.

But at the same time, one inning on the mound, one at-bat at the plate in a nationally-televised game in front of tens of thousands of fans is probably very validating to those who have made a career grinding out the spotlight, giving them the feeling that in a way, they almost made it (or made it back) to the majors.

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Infielder Alex Crosby enjoyed a fine nine-year career from 2015-23, spent mostly with Gary and spent entirely in independent baseball. In 663 games, he stroked exactly 700 hits, hit .283, and played postseason baseball on three occasions.

On March 14, 2023, going into his final season, Crosby pinch hit for Great Britain in the ninth inning against Mexico at Chase Field. The Brits trailed 2-1 in a game that 17,705 were in attendance for and nearly 400,000 were watching on FS1.

On the mound was six-year MLB veteran Giovanny Gallegos, who saved 14 games with a 3.05 ERA for St. Louis the previous season.

Alas, with those stakes, Crosby did not wind up a hero as he flew out to end the game and with it, the Brits’ WBC run. Despite a surprising win over Colombia and competitive showings in all four of their pool play contests, Great Britain did not make it out of Group A. Crosby had two plate appearances (one also against Canada) and was hitless in both.

Crosby had a very good career and if I had to guess, when he tells his grandchildren about his baseball exploits, he will probably talk about his five years at the US Steel Yard, playing in the surreal 2020 season in Fargo, or his later success in Southern Maryland.

But for baseball players who constantly strive—usually in vain—to reach the mountaintop, someone like Crosby may talk the fondest about those hitless at-bats, because if anything, for a fleeting moment, it sure felt like he made it.

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