Shohei Ohtani Wins the First World Baseball Classic Title in the Los Angeles Angels – A Tribute to Michael DeRosa

Japan won its first World Baseball Classic title Tuesday night, as Shohei Ohtani struck out Mike Trout for the final out of the game and the Los Angeles Angels teammate was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

Both teams have impressed throughout the tournament and deserve their place in the final – giving fans a brilliant climax to what has been an incredible tournament of baseball.

The semifinal for Japan was more difficult than the other one. The team came up against a strong Mexico squad, which had already beaten Team USA in the groups, and Japan was down 5-4 heading into the ninth.

Angels star Ohtani led the inning off with a double, before Masataka Yoshida was walked to first. With runners on the first and second lines, Munetaka Murakami stepped up.

The 23-year-old crushed a walk-off double to deep center field, allowing Ohtani and Yoshida to score and giving Japan the most dramatic of semifinal wins.

Turner’s fifth home run in the tournament gave the U.S. a 2-0 lead and Kyle Schwarber narrowed the Americans’ deficit to two with a solo shot off Yu Darvish in the eighth.

The most calm man in the stadium, the Philadelphia shortstop, crushed a big bomb to left- field to give Team USA the lead and give him the biggest hit of his career.

Fans will be intrigued by the prospect of a US vs Japan final with ‘Shotime’ facing up against some of the biggest names in baseball – including his superstar teammate Trout.

Ohtani was voted most valuable player of the World Baseball Classic. He clutched the award against his chest, having clinched the trophy by striking out Trout.

Trying to protect a razor-thin edge, with two outs and nobody on base, Ohtani flashed 100 mph heat in getting Trout to swing and miss at two pitches. With the count full, Trout waved at a sharp slider to end the ninth inning.

Mark DeRosa said he saw him take a deep breath to try and control his emotions. “I can’t even imagine being in that moment, the two best players on the planet locking horns as teammates in that spot.”

The world needed to see Ohtani come in, fighting. It’s kind of how it was kind of scripted. He wished that it would have gone differently.

Ohtani batted .435 with one homer, four doubles, eight RBIs and 10 walks as Japan joined the Dominican Republic in 2013 to become the only unbeaten champions of baseball’s premier national team tournament. Ohtani was a perfect 2-0 with a save and a.662ERA on the mound and struck out 11 hitters in 9 1/3 strong, and he had a 1.76 on the mound.

“What he’s doing in the game is what probably 90% of the guys in that clubhouse did in Little League or in youth tournaments, and he’s able to pull it off on the biggest stages,” DeRosa said. “He is a great player in the sport.” I think other guys will try it, but I don’t think they’re going to do it to his level.”

The 2006-2009 Samurai Warriors final: A triumphant Japanese team in the first major championship since winning two World Cups at the LHC

Japan went 7-0 and outscored opponents 56-18, reaching the final for the first time since winning the first two WBCs in 2006 and 2009. No other nation has won the title more than once.

The Japanese won their second straight major title when they beat the U.S. 2-0 for the Olympic gold medal. The U.S. sent released major leaguers and top prospects while Japan used top players.

Turner put the U.S. ahead in the second inning with a drive to left against Shota Imanaga (1-0), tying South Korea’s Seung Yuop Lee in 2006 for the most in a WBC. The sellout crowd of 36,098 people had wristbands with colored lights on them.

Merrill Kelly put the Twins in front with a home run on the first pitch of the second period, but that was as close as they would get. The car went into the right-field upper deck at a rate of 115.1 mph.

Japan loaded the bases in the second on singles by Sosuke Genda and Okamoto, as well as a walk to Yuhei Nakamura. Lars Nootbaar, the first non-Japanese-born player to appear for the Samurai Warriors, followed with a run-scoring groundout off Aaron Loup for a 2-1 lead.

Imanaga and six others held the U.S. to 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. The 29-year-old left-hander and Shosei Togo pitched two innings each, Hiroto Takahashi, Hiromi Itoh and Taisei Ota got three outs each, with Ota escaping two-on, no-outs trouble by retiring Trout on a flyout and getting Paul Goldschmidt to ground into a double play.

Trout and Ohtani hugged each other behind the batting cage while holding their nation’s flag, then lead their teams toward home plate in a single file during the introductions.

A large group of fans showed up early to watch Ohtani take batting practice and when he hit a drive off the second deck in center, they applauded.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/03/22/1165245446/shohei-ohtani-fans-his-angels-teammate-as-japan-tops-u-s-3-2-for-the-wbc-title

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