Before taking out Team Canada in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic, Team USA received a pep talk from a former Navy SEAL who claims to have fired the shots that killed Osama bin Laden.
Robert J. O’Neill gave the pep talk (or rather, a recounting of the 2011 raid in Pakistan), to the team in their locker room at Daikin Park ahead of the Friday, March 13, game.
O’Neill recounted a chaotic moment during the raid when he confused the wreckage of his team’s helicopter crash for a training model. The misunderstanding drew laughter from Team USA.
The pregame speech is the second arguably odd pep talk to take place during the World Baseball Classic. Prior to the former SEAL’s invocation, Team USA captain Aaron Judge went viral before the tournament for his seemingly lackluster message to the team.
“We’re down, we’re beat up a little bit, man,” Judge said at the time. “You know, lean into each other, man. We’re going to lay it out on the line.”
Judge’s short speech failed the test of public opinion, receiving backlash on social media prior to the tournament.
“Aaron Judge’s WBC speech will have you ready to go for a brisk walk,” said Barstool Sports via X.
With Friday’s 5-0 win over Team Canada, Team USA advancd to the semifinals of the bracket, where they will face the Dominican Republic on Sunday, March 15.
“What a great game. Canada played hard, great game all around,” said Team USA manager Mark DeRosa after the win. “What can we expect [in the next round?] An unreal environment. Ton of respect for [the Dominican Republic]. … So I expect it to be one of the best games of all time.”
Even getting this far in the tournament has come with its fair share of controversy for Team USA, who got out of pool play by the skin of its teeth after losing to Team Italy in the final game before the quarterfinals.
That loss — which put DeRosa under fire for comments he made before the game — nearly ended Team USA’s tournament, but because of the tiebreaker scenario after pool play, the United States qualified for the quarterfinals.
“We did not lose sight of the fact that we had to go out and play well against Italy,” DeRosa said, clarifying his previous comments that suggested he thought the team had already qualified for the quarterfinals before the game against Italy. “They played a hell of a game. They smacked us in the mouth early. They got up big. We went into that game prepared to win it. I think there’s a couple false narratives out there. But, no, I was well aware that we had to win that game based on all the scenarios that could take place. I mean, they went in 2-0. We went in 2-0. And we knew they were playing Mexico the next day. We knew there were tiebreaker rules involved.”
