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Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman will start for Team USA on Wednesday night in Dodger Stadium. They’ll be taking on Puerto Rico with the 2017 World Baseball Classic title hanging in the balance (how to watch USA-Puerto Rico). 

It’s obviously an important game for Stroman, but what has happened to Stroman recently might make the game even more meaningful. First, the back-story ... 

In 2013, Stroman tweeted this out about the prospect of one day participating in the WBC:

Although Stroman was born and raised in New York state, Stroman’s mother, Adlin Auffant, is a native Puerto Rican. As such, Stroman was eligible to pitch for Puerto Rico in the WBC. The tweet above suggests that was indeed his original intent. However, things changed -- people can change their minds, you know -- and Stroman wound up pitching for his native country in this year’s WBC ... 

Pictured in that tweet is Stroman as a member of the USA Baseball Collegiate National team in 2011, when Stroman was at Duke. So there’s a history of Stroman suiting up for the U.S. 

As the 2017 WBC has unfolded, however, Stroman and his mother have been the targets of abuse by some fans of Puerto Rico who, it would seem, don’t appreciate the pitcher’s change of heart. Here’s part of the story from Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports ... 

Puerto Rican fans – not all, but some – have been giving it to Stroman and his mother since.

“I know a lot of people have been saying bad things to her, going through the process, on social media,” Stroman said after Team USA’s 2-1 victory over Japan in Tuesday’s semifinal.

“That’s my mother. I stand by her always. She supports me through everything. I don’t respect some of the comments that were made toward my mother.”

Things got particularly unfortunate after Stroman struggled against Puerto Rico in second-round pool play ... 

Stroman’s a tough dude, and he knows he’s a public figure. But being profane and uncivil toward a player’s mother is not cool at all. Not that Stroman needed any extra motivation for Wednesday night’s finale, but there it is just the same. Incidentally, Rosenthal’s story has his mother’s reaction to his decision to pitch for the US. 

As for those who would come at Stroman’s mom, they might first want to size up Stroman’s dad.