Vinnie Pasquantino does not want to hear any more slander against Team Italy amid their historic run in this year’s WBClassic. Team Italy punched its ticket to the WBC semifinals on Saturday with an 8-6 triumph over Puerto Rico. The win kept the Azzurri undefeated in the tournament, with impressive wins over Team USA and Mexico.
Some have downplayed Italy’s success, given that most of its players were born, raised, and trained in the US. Many of them were eligible to play for the Azzurri as Americans of Italian descent. Pasquantino doesn’t see a problem with that. Italy’s team captain explained to MLB Network’s Anthony Castrovince why he still takes a lot of pride in representing a country he did not grow up in.
