The only perfect run: Dominican Republic 2013
Six editions of the World Baseball Classic, and exactly one team in history has won the tournament without losing a game. This game is named after them: the 2013 Dominican Republic, eight games, eight wins, and a plantain raised to the San Francisco sky.
The wound of 2009
To understand 2013 you have to start with the embarrassment that came before it. In 2009, a star-studded Dominican team was eliminated in the first round after losing twice to the Netherlands, a team considered little more than a courtesy guest at the time. It was the hardest punch Dominican baseball pride has ever taken, and the country arrived at 2013 with that bill unpaid.
The Plátano Power team
The answer was a roster built on hunger: José Reyes and Erick Aybar at the top, Robinson Canó at the center of everything, Edwin Encarnación and Nelson Cruz supplying the power, Carlos Santana behind the plate. But the soul of the team lived in the bullpen: Octavio Dotel, the veteran of a thousand wars, Pedro Strop, Kelvin Herrera, Santiago Casilla and, slamming the door, Fernando Rodney with his tilted cap and a plantain a fan handed him that became the good-luck charm of an entire nation. "Plátano Power" was born there: not a marketing slogan, but a Caribbean party rolling through American stadiums.
Invicto's data reads that team exactly as it was: Rodney is the highest-rated player on the roster (92, coming off a historic season in Tampa Bay), followed by Canó (87) and Encarnación (86). You can browse the full 2013 Dominican roster with every rating.
Eight games, zero losses
The Dominicans swept their group in San Juan and survived the second round in Miami by knocking off Italy, the United States and Puerto Rico, arriving in San Francisco still perfect. In the semifinal they dispatched the surprising Dutch, and in the final they met Puerto Rico again. The 3-0 in the final was a collective masterpiece: pitching by committee, flawless defense and the psychological home run of knowing they could not be beaten. Robinson Canó was named tournament MVP, and Rodney fired his invisible arrow one last time with a perfect record: 7 saves in 8 games, a Classic record.
Why it is so hard (and why this game exists)
In a short tournament the best team does not always win: the team that never stumbles does. Japan has been champion three times and never did it unbeaten; the mighty 2017 United States lost two games on the way to the title. Winning it all requires the best team, the best moment and good luck to line up eight times in a row. That is why in Invicto the 7-0 result carries the game's name and is calibrated to happen only a handful of times per hundred elite runs: Dominican perfection in 2013 is the bar.
Can you repeat it? Play Invicto
Strategy guide · The best Classic players, by the data · The Dominican Republic at the Classic