The World Baseball Classic reveals something about the American character and global realities: when we dont try, we dont win.

The baseball series, closer to a world series than anything that has come before, except the Olympic Games, shows what can happen when Americans believe theyll prevail just because of the colors on their jerseys, and the name on their caps.

We get our you-know-whats kicked. Granted, there hasnt been a blowout score recorded against us, but still, were not in the finals, which is something next to unimaginable for the country in which this sport was born.

So, why did we lose?

A lot of our ballplayers didnt suit up for team USA. They were at spring training, getting ready for the regular season of Major League Baseball.

Many of these multi-millionaires didnt want to injure themselves in contests that dont count, that are invisible to the majority of domestic sports fans, and for which they are not being paid big bucks to play.

To them, it was running the kind of risk that youd incur playing a game of pickup basketball, then breaking something, and having it end your season or career. Just ask Mr. Boone, formerly of the Yankees, whose ankle was his Achilles heel.

We lost because we didnt try. I think thats the real story.

We didnt field our best team and they didnt practice together at any length or with intensity, unlike Cuba, one of the better performing teams in the Classic.

But this loss is emblematic of what can and will happen to us in every area, especially in business, if we dont give our all, if we fail to play our A-game.

Its a lesson from our American Pastime that could very definitely inform our future.