Dave Portnoy issues verdict as Derek Jeter firmly disagrees with Aaron Judge’s WBC-World Series take

Venezuela are World Baseball Classic (WBC) champions after defeating Team USA 3-2 in Tuesday’s final.

Aaron Judge – who choked once again on the big stage – had also made some comments prior to the game, which had sparked huge backlash.

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The New York Yankees star outfielder and Team USA captain had claimed that the WBC is bigger than the World Series – the pinnacle of Major League Baseball.

“The World Series I was in, the crowd here, the crowd we had when we played against Mexico, it’s bigger and better than the World Series,” the 33-year-old said during media availability on Monday.

“The passion that these fans have, representing their country, representing some of their favorite players, there’s nothing like it.”

These comments were widely disputed by Yankees legend and baseball Hall of Famer, Derek Jeter.

Jeter, now a Fox Sports analyst alongside Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, responded on Tuesday: “I think the people that say [the WBC] is bigger than the World Series, never played in a World Series,” Jeter said on Tuesday.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, who had made a living for his own controversial comments, tried to rationalize Judge’s comments.

“It’s not rocket science,” Portnoy wrote on X. “For American players and fans it’s not even close. It’s the World Series.

“For everybody else it’s not close the other way. It makes perfect sense to be honest.”

USA’s dramatic route to WBC championship game

The USA team entered the WBC having been dubbed as having ‘the greatest lineup ever constructed’, with the likes of Judge, Pete Crow-Armstrong, Kyle Schwarber and Paul Skenes on the roster.

But the star-studded team wound up somehow having to claw their way through the tournament after a scare in pool play, which saw their fate to the elimination rounds in the hands of Italy.

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The Italians had already handed a shock defeat to the USA after manager Mark DeRosa made a stunning ‘miscalculation’ in thinking that his team had already qualified when they in fact hand’t.

Up against the Venezuelan’s though, their roster on paper looked as though it would prove too much to handle.

But it was the underdogs who prevailed, with the US players suffering a second successive final defeat, having lost to Shohei Ohtani and Japan back in 2023.

“Good for Venezuela. It def means more to them. I would have liked to win but I will lose absolutely no sleep tonight. I wouldn’t trade 100 USA WBC titles for 1 Red Sox World Series,” Portnoy wrote after the game, while throwing a dig at Judge’s comments.

The South American outfit were spearheaded to victory by that of Luis Arráez throughout the WBC, with other notable names including that of Ronald Acuña Jr. and Eugenio Suárez on the roster.

Following their victory, the USA team were criticized for the way they handled the medal ceremony, with multiple players seen taking off their second-place medals.

The USA will not have to wait another three years before they can try to avenge this sure-to-be excruciating loss.

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