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© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Ohtani long HR powers Japan to victory over Australia at World Baseball Classic
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SaikoPhysco
That curve ball that Ohtani hit for the homer was tailored for his swing and he crushed it! He has so much power and he runs like a cheetah. The guy is amazing, I can see why Japan loves this guy. I feel a bit bad for Darvish though, Ohtani is getting all the attention, and deservedly so, but Darvish must feel a bit overlooked. And the newest fad in Japan is Nootbaar, watching the series so far has been fun. Here's an idea, maybe Ezaki Glico should invent a new Chocolate & Pepper candy bar.... the Nootbaar!
Nemo
When he squares it up, I half expect to see the trick exploding golf ball effect.
with this pitching, and the balanced scoring, I don’t see anyone stopping Japan.
Nishimura needs to page his swing though….
cenobite
this guy is like elvis over here.
peterl
When the ball leaves Ohtani's bat, it just sounds different. You know it's gonna go yard. And his swing is a thing of beauty and I like how he adjusted his stance a couple of years ago to provide more stability and power. No more front leg lifting. And to think that he is a pitcher and does that at an elite level as well. He is, as everyone says, truly a unicorn.
Fighto!
Congratulations! Dominant win by Team Japan over the Southern Stars. With Ohtani in that team, IMO all others are playing for second prize.
Unbelivable !
Chico3
Congratulations to Japan!
rcch
“ Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer that landed just below his image on a video advertising board, sending Japan to a 7-1 victory over Australia in the World Baseball Classic on Sunday night. “
This was an awesome moment…(!); I’m gonna be honest, I’m not a big baseball fan but I’m excited because Japan’s playing and because of Ohtani…(!) the man’s amazing and even for someone like me, who’s far from being a baseball expert, I can tell that he’s different from all the other players (I don’t know much about baseball history but he’s certainly special… probably, together with Babe Ruth, the two best baseball players of all time(?) )…;
well done, Japan(!), these four games were fun… but things will start to complicate… Italy is a dangerous team…; LET’S GO JAPAN!
Nemo
Murakami, not Nishimura.
Apologies. Not enough coffee.
Hopefully he will find his swing. Japan needs him to back up Otani so that he gets some pitches to hit.
tooheysnew
Ok, let’s get real.Most Aussie players are semi pro at best, with just A few playing in the minor leagues. Australia’s domestic baseball competition has been canceled the last two years.
let’s have a rematch - a game of cricket.
browny1
An easily expected victory for Japan - but still well deserved.
Unfortunately Aust's pitchers are not near the level required against world class hitters - as their batters are against world class pitching. It looked liked many batters hadn't faced repeated 150 ~ 160 km/h pitches before.
But a couple of other points.
After the 1st 2 innings Japan only scored 2 runs.
The 3 runs of the 1st innings were against a 20 yr old rookie whose selection was way misplaced. In a world championship against the best batters you need to make a statement with your opening pitcher. Sherrif was completely the fish out of water. I can't recall a pitcher being replaced ever so early in a game. But too late the damage was done. So for Ohtani the HR was like a hit against a lowly farm team player. Felt sorry for Sherrif.
And as toohey said - most of the Aust players are semi-pro, holding down other jobs outside of the baseball season. The Aust season is only 2 months long so hardly the intensity of Japan's or US competition.
And to show the depth of the WBC Japan will play powerhouse Italy in the next round.
Just more warm ups before meeting the handful of teams that are truly competitive in world baseball.
Good luck to Japan - but keep it all in perspective.
smithinjapan
This game proved once again why baseball is one of, if not THE most boring sports in the world to watch on TV. Live? Sure, you get the crowd and the atmosphere (game itself is still boring), and playing can be fun, but seriously. I have heard some people say how great a game this was -- it wasn't. Japan dominated for sure, and that is why it was not a great game; there were no close calls, it was not neck-and-neck, and Australia didn't stand a chance. The result was great if you were cheering for Japan, absolutely, but that does not make this a great game at all.
And it's funny for all the "highlights" they decided to show when Japan was up 7-0, why didn't they show Ohtani striking out? They showed his homer, they showed other hits by Japan, some double plays, but not Ohtani striking out. They did show all the Australian players striking out and the one guy throwing his bat (by accident), and that's about when I shut it off. Unbearable.
And one more thing to those gloating... don't forget that the other teams are mostly fielding triple AAA players at best, and not their pros, whereas Japanese broadcasters pay HUGE money to get their ringers in. Think about it... half the fawning of this article and commenters is about Ohtani's homer. Imagine if he had not been here like the pros of most nations. Or, let's say he and the other pros couldn't participate and Japan, then being on more equal footing, lost and other nation's media and fans starting talking about how those nations were the best in the world and Japan was not. What do you think the response would be? I guarantee it'd start with, "Well, Ohtani wasn't playing!" if they even acknowledged the loss at all.
Mocheake
Yawn. Still smashing creampuffs. It's like when Japanese MMA fighters or boxers fight guys who aren't top world talent. They look like unbeatable until a Bones Jones, the Gracies or a GGG show up and restore order. Order's coming soon!
rainyday
It was telling that in the Korea game they intentionally walked Ohtani twice to load the bases so they could pitch to Murakami (and that it worked out for Korea both times). Not something a guy who just won the triple crown and clobbered 56 home runs is used to seeing.
rainyday
This is just plain wrong.
The Korean team was stacked with the best players in KBO, along with several MLB and NPB players.
China and the Czech Republic? Neither country is a baseball country, but they seemed to have the best of what they have out there.
The Australian team seemed pretty good for Australia too, loads of guys with MLB experience on the roster.
peterl
I guess haters will always hate. I've been to and watch baseball games and I don't think they're boring. Being at the games, you get more crowd interaction and get the chance to talk with others since there are some breaks to do so. It's just like soccer, there ain't a lot of scoring, but being with the crowd and experiencing the electricity they generate makes it so much more exciting. Pretty much any sport you can think of, will have people complaining that it's boring, or makes no sense. For instance, I've heard people complain when a basketball game, or American football game is low-scoring. It seems like a game has to have many scores to make it exciting. I would have to disagree with that.
That's a slap to the face to those teams. Yeah, they may not be professionals, but I thought the Czech and Aussies played their hearts out and earned the respect of their competitors and other nations' fans.
I think it's hypocritical of people who say things like "They only beat lesser opponents" when they win, and then "Oh, they got lucky" when they beat better opponents".
It's also hypocritical when they say "Japan has top-notch professionals playing on their squads, so they won" and then say "Oh, their NPB records like the home run record mean nothing because anyone can play in the NPB, even AAA players".
SaikoPhysco
Hate to say it but not a lot of things are exactly going "right" for the country of Japan on a whole. And you know the Japanese, they love it when the can shine on the International stage. They haven't had many days in the sun in the last few years so when this comes around, and they have a player like Ohtani, well they're going to bask in it.
SDCA
Great performance by Yamamoto as well!
Japantime
I just checked the Australian websites and there was absolutely zero coverage of the big game. Why is that? The WBC is the biggest sporting event in the world at the moment.
tooheysnew
baseball has zero interest in Australia.
the rugby league & AFL seasons have just begun, so that is more exciting to Aussies than the WBC.
browny1
I know it's a little strange with next to no coverage, but Sports Psycho Australia is up to it's eyeballs in other popular sports atm.
The India vs Aust International cricket tests are on.
The womens T-20 Cricket World cup just finished with Aust victors.
National Rugby league has begun, dominating the media.
AFL has had pre-season trial games - also dominating the media - with the opener on Thursday.
The National Basketball season has just finished and the Womens is on. Both are very popular.
A-league soccer is approaching the end of season with teams fighting for finals spots.
Unfortunately for baseball the Popular Sports Schedule in Aust is choc-a-bloc.
Stats show it is picking up in interest with younger kids and may get a larger slice of the Media / Sponsors pie in the future, but the competition is huge.
And re Japan beating Aust in the Baseball.
Well it's a little like World basketball.
Aust is top3 ( with US & Spain) which puts them on an equal par to Japan in Baseball.
Japan is ranked 36 in basketball which equates to a similar ranking as the low level teams in the WBC.
For Aust or Czech or China to beat Japan in WBC, would be like Japan beating Aust, US or Spain in the World Basketball championships.
PTownsend
Agree, and in the previous game, Sasaki Roki showed examples that he might be as good on the mound as Ohtani. And Yoshida-san is making Boston Red Sox fans happy. The Japanese team is stacked, and could will be the best in this year's WBC.
Jay
Spot on. Here are the top 20 most popular sports in Australia:
Australian Rules Football
Cricket
Rugby League
Rugby Union
Soccer
Netball
Basketball
Tennis
Golf
Surfing
Athletics
Cycling
Swimming
Hockey
Boxing
Motor Sports
Equestrian
Baseball
Softball
Snow SportsThat's right folks, baseball is less popular than showjumping and dressage.
peterl
I agree. And, I've become a fan of Sasaki's, not only because of his skills on the baseball mound, but off of it. I heard a story about him apologizing to the Czech player, William Escala, who he hit on the leg, and taking pictures with him, giving him a signed baseball, and two bags of Japanese sweets. He obviously felt so bad about it.
https://www.mlb.com/world-baseball-classic/news/roki-sasaki-apologize-to-czech-republic-player-for-hit-by-pitch
It goes to show that the WBC is not only entertaining, but serves to build international relationships and friendships.