It will take time to determine whether the United States' first World Baseball Classic title was the spark needed to ignite greater interest in the tournament in the nation from which baseball originated, and, most importantly, from its biggest stars.
Those answers will have to wait for another day. This night was about a long-awaited celebration.
Marcus Stroman took a no-hitter into the seventh, Ian Kinsler got an unrelenting lineup started with a two-run homer in the third, and the United States captured its first World Baseball Classic title with an 8-0 rout of Puerto Rico in the final at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday night.