MIAMI (AP) — Criticized for their cool, American players head into the World Baseball Classic championship also appreciating opponents' flamboyant flair.
U.S. captain Aaron Judge's controlled composure has filtered through the clubhouse ahead of Tuesday night's final against Venezuela or Italy. That's not to say the Americans don't appreciate the theatrics of Latin stars such as Juan Soto and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
“You guys would all think it’s silly if we shuffled like Soto or did Vladdy’s little wiggle,” American outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong said after Sunday night's 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic. “That’s them and if I had enough swag to do that I would probably do that, too. ... We have fun in our own way, but we definitely have fun out there.”
Judge's personality has created the clubhouse character, much like it has with the New York Yankees.
Players look up to Judge, and not just because he's 6-foot-7.
“It's been cool to see how he goes about his business,” said star pitcher Paul Skenes, the second-tallest American player at 6-foot-6. “He’s not faking anything. He’s playing as Aaron Judge, so that’s just his personality in the clubhouse and off the field. Obviously it shows up on the field, too.”
U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said Judge turned down an offer to have a “C” on his uniform as the U.S. captain.
“Leader of men. Classy in every decision he makes,” DeRosa said. “A lot of decisions that I’ve made throughout the course of the WBC I have made with his recommendations.”
U.S. players have been faulted for their occasionally staid approach, including when catcher Cal Raleigh refused to shake hands with Seattle teammate Randy Arozarena during a pool play game against Mexico. The team also has embraced military ties amid the Iran war, with player saluting each other after victories. Skenes and Griffin Jax pitched at the Air Force Academy, and the team invited Robert J. O’Neill, an ex-Navy SEAL who claimed he fatally shot Osama bin Laden during a 2011 raid, to speak in the clubhouse.
“You never want it to get lost why you’re doing this, whatever that why is,” DeRosa said. “And a lot of people -- like Paul Skenes said to me when he signed up for this, ‘I want to do this for every serviceman and woman who protects our freedom,’ and that’s why we wear USA across our chest.
“So I thought it would just be a time to redirect and get these guys to understand that, although this is an unbelievable event and you get a chance to share the locker room with the game’s greats, there’s a reason why we’re doing it and a reason why people protect our freedom at night. I just wanted to honor that. So that’s why he came in to talk.”
DeRosa says his premature comment about the United States having already punched its ticket to the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals before facing Italy was just an “overly confident statement” and reiterated Thursday he knew nothing was guaranteed at that point.
DeRosa was faulted for saying before the loss to Italy “our ticket's punched to the quarterfinals.” That wasn't the case and the U.S. didn't clinch advancement until Italy's 9-1 win over Mexico on the group's final day.
“I misspoke,” DeRosa later admitted. “I completely misread the calculations.”
The U.S. is in its third straight WBC final and is seeking its second title after 2017. The Americans lost the 2023 final 3-2 to Japan.
Harper, at 33 a 14-year veteran, tried to play with Latin-style flair when he arrived in the major leagues He remembered attracting attention for gray bats, different cleats and emphatic eye black.
“I kind of got pounded for it,” he said. “So there’s an American way of baseball everybody talks about, right? But I think that’s so far from the truth. Obviously, when we grow up, we play a different style. But we learn from other people’s styles, as well.”
Supporters energized the Dominican team.
“One hit for them got the crowd out of their seat. A 3-0 count got the crowd out their seat,” Crow-Armstrong said. “You don’t necessarily see that with fans from the U.S. all the time."
Nolan McLean, a 24-year-old rookie right-hander with eight games of major league experience, will start for the U.S. after allowing a pair of home runs over three innings and leaving with a 3-0 deficit in the group stage loss to Italy on March 10 that nearly led to first-round elimination.
“Obviously I got clipped there a couple times ... but overall I felt really good,” he said Monday. “It’s just kind of a dream come true to be able to get the ball in such a big moment, and it’s something I want to do.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Dominican Republic Juan Soto strikes out during the eighth inning of a World Baseball Classic semifinal game against the United States, Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
United States center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong (4) hits a home run against Italy in the seventh inning of a World Baseball Classic game, Tuesday, March 10, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
United States outfielders Roman Anthony, left to right, Byron Buxton and Aaron Judge celebrate after the team's victory over Mexico in a World Baseball Classic game, Monday, March 9, 2026, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The spokesman for Afghanistan’s Health Ministry, Sharafat Zaman, said Monday that more than 200 people have been killed in a strike by Pakistan on a hospital for drug addicts in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Pakistan had earlier dismissed the claim it had attacked a hospital, saying its strike in Kabul and other strikes in eastern Afghanistan on Monday had not hit any civilian sites.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s Taliban government on Monday accused Pakistan’s military of targeting a Kabul hospital that treats drug addicts in airstrikes that killed four people and wounded several others. Pakistan dismissed the accusation, saying the strikes — which were also conducted in eastern Afghanistan — did not hit any civilian sites.
The alleged attack came hours after Afghan officials said the two sides exchanged fire along their common border, killing four people in Afghanistan, as the deadliest fighting between the neighbors in years entered a third week.
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the strike on X, saying it violated Afghanistan’s territory. He said most of those killed and wounded were addicts undergoing treatment at the facility.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s spokesman, Mosharraf Zaidi, dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying no hospital was targeted in Kabul.
In a post on X, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information said the strikes "precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure including technical equipment storage and ammunition storage of Afghan Taliban” and Afghanistan-based Pakistani militants in Kabul and Nangarhar, saying the facilities were being used against innocent Pakistani civilians.
It said Pakistan’s targeting was “precise and carefully undertaken to ensure no collateral damage is inflicted.” The ministry said Mujahid’s claim was “false and misleading” and aimed at stirring sentiment and cover what it described as ”illegitimate support for cross-border terrorism."
It came hours after the U.N. Security Council called on Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately step up efforts to combat terrorism. Pakistan accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban, which it says carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
The Security Council resolution, adopted unanimously, didn't name Pakistan but condemns “in the strongest terms all terrorist activity including terrorist attacks.” The resolution also extends the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, for three months.
Pakistan’s government often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing safe haven to the Pakistani Taliban, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as to outlawed Baloch separatist groups and other militants who frequently target Pakistani security forces and civilians across the country. Kabul denies the charge.
Earlier, Afghan officials said four people, including two children, were killed and 10 other people in southeastern Afghanistan were wounded in Monday's exchange of fire. Mortar shells fired from Pakistan overnight struck villages in Khost Province and destroyed several homes, said Mustaghfar Gurbaz, a spokesperson for the provincial governor.
On Sunday, Pakistan said a mortar fired from Afghanistan hit a house in northwestern Bajaur district, killing four members of a family and wounding two others, including a 5-year-old. Residents and officials said the military on Monday targeted Afghan positions along the border, where Sunday’s attack originated.
There was no immediate comment from Pakistan, which repeatedly has said its military only targets Afghan posts and militant hideouts.
Islamabad has described the situation as an “open war.” The cross-border clashes have included multiple Pakistani airstrikes on Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Afghanistan's Taliban administration crossed a “red line” by deploying drones that injured several civilians in Pakistan last week.
Responding to those attacks, Pakistan’s air force over the weekend struck equipment storage sites and “technical support infrastructure” in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar Province, saying it was being used for attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul said Pakistan hit two locations, including an empty security site and a drug rehabilitation center that sustained minor damage.
In Kabul, Afghanistan’s administrative Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Salam Hanafi overnight said defending sovereignty is the duty of all citizens. Speaking during a meeting with political analysts and media figures, Hanafi expressed regret over civilian casualties in recent Pakistani attacks, saying the war was imposed on Afghanistan.
The fighting began in late February after Afghanistan launched cross-border attacks in response to Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Kabul said killed civilians. The clashes disrupted a ceasefire brokered by Qatar in October after earlier fighting killed dozens of soldiers, civilians and suspected militants.
Pakistani Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Sunday that the military has killed 684 Afghan Taliban forces, a claim rejected by Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government, which says casualties are far lower. Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry and other officials have said Afghanistan has killed more than 100 Pakistani soldiers.
Ahmed reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed.
People attend the funeral prayers of police officers, killed in the roadside bomb explosion, outskirts of Lakki Marwat, a district in northwest Pakistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/G.A. Marwat)
Residents inspect the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)
Residents and Taliban police gather the remains of a projectile at the site of a strike in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Barackatullah Popal)
