San Diego ? Baseball threw one heck of a party.

Even as Ichiro Suzuki was drenched in champagne and a blizzard of confetti covered parts of the infield, it was clear the sport itself was as big a winner as Japan in the inaugural World Baseball Classic.

An American ballpark rocked with Caribbean and Asian fervor – there were plenty of U.S. touches, too, just not the home country’s team – as Japan beat Cuba, 10-6, in the championship game Monday night.

“Apart from the Olympics, I really wanted this WBC tournament to be the event that decides the true world champions, so that’s why I participated,” Suzuki said through a translator after emerging from the fray of Japan’s bubbly celebration. “This is probably the biggest moment of my baseball career.”

That’s quite a statement from one of the game’s most famous players, an AL MVP who set the single-season hits record and helped the Seattle Mariners to a 116-win campaign.

Members of Japan's baseball team, including Ichiro Suzuki, center, celebrate their victory over Cuba in the World Baseball Classic championship. Japan won, 10-6, on Monday night in San Diego.

While New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner griped about the WBC – and the format, tiebreakers and umpiring were flawed – Suzuki went the other way.

“It’s not an ideal thing for a player to think, but I really didn’t care if I would get injured in this game. That’s how much I really wanted to win this one. That’s how we were driven to this championship,” Suzuki said.

Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda understands. As the WBC’s ambassador at large, he made promotional trips to Tokyo, Phoenix, Orlando and San Juan, Puerto Rico, before the games began, then returned to each city during pool play. Played on two continents, the WBC drew 737,112 fans.

Lasorda was at Petco Park when it was awash with chants of “Cooba! Cooba!” while the Cubans staged a late rally Monday night, then heard the Japanese fans serenade the winners with chants of “Nip-pon! Nip-pon!”

“Last night was a good example of what this thing is all about – the reaction of the people,” Lasorda said Tuesday. “That’s what made this thing a tremendous success.”

While the Classic certainly was a success and turned out better than many expected, there are aspects that should be tweaked before the next one in 2009.

For all the passion and excitement, the tournament’s credibility was compromised by the tiebreakers, umpires and timing.

The tiebreakers were nothing short of ludicrous, confusing even big leaguers who can figure out batting averages in their head. Japan advanced to the semifinals based on fewest earned runs allowed in the second round.

Although there seems to be no perfect time to hold the tournament, there’s probably a better time than the middle of March. Maybe at the end of spring training would be better, or maybe MLB could delay the start of its 162-game season so the WBC could be held in early April.