Prior to traveling to Guadalajara to battle Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, Team Italia will play exhibition games against the Chicago Cubs on March 7th and the Oakland A’s on March 8th in Mesa, Arizona. Team Italia manager Marco Mazzieri knows the importance of these contests because it is his first opportunity to see his Italian national team work together with the Italian American MLB-affiliated passport players in a competitive setting and also his last opportunity to fine tune the Team Italia roster. In a 2013 WBC exhibition game against an A’s split squad, Mazzieri used ten pitchers in a 5-4 Team Italia loss. Tickets for the upcoming March 8th A’s exhibition game at Hohokam Stadium are now on sale HERE.