Ross Detwiler takes pride in representing U.S.

MIAMI — It was just before 5 p.m. Tuesday evening when Ross Detwiler ambled onto the field at Marlins Park. The colors he was wearing were familiar, the hues not so different from that of the Washington Nationals uniform he puts on daily from February through October.

But the meaning of the “USA” stitched across his chest was not lost on him.

“It’s been incredible,” he said, a green rubber bracelet on his wrist displaying support for U.S. troops. “It’s a dream come true to play for your country.”

The text messages from his American Nationals' teammates had been coming in fast and furious the past four days, especially from right-hander Craig Stammen, who’d joined Detwiler on a USO Tour this winter.

Detwiler turned in a superb four-inning relief outing Saturday night to help Team USA beat Italy in the first round of the World Baseball Classic. Gio Gonzalez joined him on Team USA on Monday.

And as Detwiler shagged fly balls in the outfield Tuesday evening, Gonzalez was in the bowels of Marlins Park preparing to start for Team USA against Puerto Rico in their second-round opener.

“I kind of fought off the emotions until the end [of my outing],” Detwiler said. “You’re out there for another team trying to compete. But at the end, you look up and you let it hit you and it’s like, ‘We were just competing against another nation.’ It’s pretty cool.”

When Joe Torre sent word that he’d like the left-hander to be a part of his team earlier this spring, Detwiler, who pitched for Team USA as a college student in 2006, hardly hesitated before he agreed.

The debate, of course, is how much this tournament means, particularly to Americans, with many of the biggest-name players declining to participate and choosing instead to focus on preparing for the long MLB season ahead.

Detwiler scoffed at the notion that these games are taken lightly. On Sunday afternoon, as the U.S. rallied to beat Canada in a winner-take-all game to advance to the second round, Detwiler said “it was like a playoff game for me,” watching from the dugout.

“Look at Mexico and Canada,” he said, referencing the brawl that broke out between the two teams Saturday. “You can’t tell me they didn’t take it seriously. Everybody’s taking it seriously. Everybody’s out here to win. Nobody’s out here just to show up.

“There’s a lot of pride at stake. You want to be able to go back to your team there and say you won it.”

The ball from Team USA’s first win, secured when the Nationals’ lanky lefty tossed a soft ground ball to first base for the final out, was stored safely away.

Detwiler had it authenticated and plans to take it home to Missouri.

He felt like he’d been away from Nationals camp for weeks, even though it’d been just nine days, and was happy to have his family, including his wife, Keri, join him in Miami.

Story Continues →

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.