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Red Sox’ Roman Anthony goes from fan in stands at WBC final 3 years ago to now playing for USA
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- Red Sox’ Roman Anthony goes from fan in stands at WBC final 3 years ago to now playing for USA
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Roman Anthony will play for the United States in the World Baseball Classic just three years after attending the championship game as a fan.
The 21-year-old superstar will serve as an injury replacement for Corbin Carroll . He’ll leave Red Sox camp in early March to join the squad and has been told he will play left field. The tournament officially begins March 5.
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He attended the 2023 championship game between the United States and Japan with fellow 2022 Red Sox draft picks Mikey Romero, Cutter Coffey, Dalton Rogers and others. They realized they had enough time to drive from Red Sox spring training camp to Miami to attend the game and return without missing anything.
Did he ever think he would be part of Team USA in 2026, while sitting in the stands in 2023?
“I’m sure I joked about it, but it’s not really one of those things that I put a timeline on or was like, ‘I have to be in this, I have to be in the big leagues so I’m able to perform in this,’” Anthony said Monday at JetBlue Park. “But it’s something that, you go and you say, yeah, I want to do this at some point, whether it’s a few years down the road, 10 years down the road, whatever it may be.
“Getting to represent the USA at any time would be more than a blessing,” he added. “So I don’t know if I necessarily thought that it would be this time around, but just excited to do it, excited to get going.”
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He said he grew up watching the WBC with family and it was a thrill to see it in person.
“I think just the passion and the energy around it was so much different than any other baseball game I’ve ever been to,” Anthony said. “That was the only WBC game I’d ever been to. And it was a good one to go to if you’re a baseball fan, for sure. Kind of like a storybook ending there with Shohei and Trout.”
Japan won the championship with Shohei Ohtani striking out his then-Angels teammate Mike Trout to end the game.
“Just getting to experience something like that and experiencing how in to it the fans are and how much the fans travel and how much it means to get to represent your country, it’s something that you dream of, really,” Anthony said. “So I’m excited to be on the field this time and to be a part of that.”
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Anthony and his fellow minor league buddies bought the tickets before the United States even made the championship game
“We had a feeling it would line up with USA being in the finals,” Anthony said. “Obviously for us pushing for them. We were like, ‘Hey, we’re just gonna get a ticket to the finals game.’ It’s an easy enough drive over where we have time to get over there and get back. So we just kind of took a long shot and bet on that USA would be there and then bought a ticket probably a week or two prior and it worked out.”
Anthony received a text Sunday night that he passed his physical, and he was officially a member of the team. He said playing for Team USA has been a dream ever since he was a kid.
“Obviously it’s one of those calls that pops up that you just kind of light up,” he said. “Just an unbelievable opportunity so to even be considered and something like that with the group of guys that are there is going to be a blessing, for sure.”
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The roster includes superstars Paul Skenes , Tarik Skubal , Bryce Harper , Gunnar Henderson , Bobby Witt Jr. , Aaron Judge , Pete Crow-Armstrong , Kyle Schwarber and Alex Bregman .
“It’s amazing just getting to be around those guys and getting that opportunity to be around the game’s best and be around so many veteran guys who have done it for such a long time,” Anthony said. “That will be a great learning experience for me. But at the same time understanding there’s a goal that we have to try and come out on top.”
Bregman, Anthony’s former Red Sox teammate, signed a $175 million contract with the Cubs in January . He and Anthony spoke on the phone about getting to be teammates again.
“He reached out when it happened and we talked over the phone,” Anthony said. “He wanted to see where I was at and just kind of like checking in. Obviously, it’ll be a great opportunity to take the field with him again.”
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