Vinnie Pasquantino brushes off the accusations of betrayal

After pulling off a surprise victory over the United States earlier in the tournament, Italy's unexpected run at the World Baseball Classic came to an end last night in the semifinals against Venezuela. And throughout this wild ride, no player better embodied the Italians' enjoyment of the competition than team leader Vinnie Pasquantino.

However, Pasquash was born in Virginia, in the United States, not in Italy. But he was allowed to play for the Italian team because of his family history.

What a fun and outstanding run by Team Italy Love what Vinnie Pasquantino said pregame about representing Italy “for the kids in Italy, just know that we're doing this for you” pic.twitter.com/tMJUA0v3OF — Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) March 17, 2026

And the player in question—who was far from the only one in this situation during the international tournament—spoke openly about why he chose to represent Italy, saying he hoped the team's success would inspire more children in Italy to take up the wonderful sport of baseball.

To the kids in Italy, know that we're doing this for you. We want the Italian team in the World Baseball Classic 20 years from now to be made up of Italians—Italian speakers from Italy. That's the whole point of this.

Despite everything, the Kansas City Royals first baseman's decision to wear the Italian uniform was not well received by some, including the ever-controversial Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.

Vinnie Pasquantino of the Cinderella team of the WBC, Italy: pic.twitter.com/PsshOetAUk— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 17, 2026

Smith's criticism found its way to Pasquantino, who enthusiastically dismissed it.

I think Stephen A. Smith said I was betraying the country or something like that. I thought that was unbelievable. He kept saying I was from Richmond, Virginia. He was tweeting live during the game, which is really funny because a lot of his comments were just plain wrong. I don't take anything he said personally because I think it's great for the sport just to be talked about in that arena.

Take that, Stephen.

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