by Riccardo Schiroli
Boy, these Samurai Japan players are really regarded as stars. You should travel with them one whole day (actually, it’s still not clear to me how it could take so long, since the flight was 2 and a half hours and the time difference is only one hour) to understand it. The Samurai do not carry their bags. They do not pick their bags at the same counters as other passengers. The Samurai have hundreds of media and thousands of fans waiting for them at the airport. And once to the hotel, the Samurai do not check in as everybody does.
The problem with the Samurai Japan is that they pursue stardom but don’t have an easy time when it comes to winning ballgames. I was in Athens when they lost the semi final against Australia. They had a young phenom on the mound (Daisuke Matsuzaka, soon to become Dice-K), he threw 98 miles per hour and they lost 1-0.
Tonight it’s been different. The young phenom was definitely phenomenal. I have hardly seen someone dominate as much as Shohei Otani did tonight. Korea got one hit, 2 fly balls, Otani hit one batter and all the rest was swing and misses or broken bats.
I mean, it is almost unfair when a pitcher can throw 100 miles per hour and also knows how to hit his spots. And Otani also has a repertoir that includes breaking balls and off speed staff. Is he human?
Hiroki Kokubo, the manager, explained that he had a plan: reliever Norimoto was supposed to pitch the eigth and the ninth inning. After Norimoto got 3 quick outs in the eigth, maybe Mr. Kokubo did not consider that he had to get three more outs, to get out of the ninth. It took him 2 pinch hitters, 3 hits, one hit batter to go get Norimoto.
Furthermore, I noticed that the Samurai do not bunt and do not manufacture runs. Were they thinking they would win because they are the Samurai Japan and the Dome is a wonderful facility?
It was a great night indeed for baseball. Apart from the World Baseball Classic, there’s not been another international baseball game with over 40.000 fans attending. As far as I remember.
The organization of the Dome is impressing and the level of service is from another planet. The crew keeps it as clean as you would not believe. They even come to collect garbage (just in case…) a couple of times per game. And if you spill some liquid from your drink on the floor, someone will be behind you to dry it up.
The fans are great. They support their team, show their flags and do not bully anyone. It was like being at Opera. Only: it was a baseball game. It doesn’t get much better than that.
If only I could understand some Japanese or Korean. The press conference was overcrowded and I had no chance to get a translating machine. In the mixed zone, they only spoke asian languages. I was actually also trapped in the stadium because I tried to get to out from the tunnel I had used to get in (and that connects the locker rooms directly to the hotel). But I hadn’t counted that journalists are not supposed to mix with the Samurai Japan. Not outside the mixed zone, at least.
When I get to stardom myself, I may be allowed.
Photo by Japan Times
Very interesting comment that they do not bunt, Ricardo.
That should be the subject of a follow-up article: Why did they not bunt? The bunting game, along with hermetic sealed defense and steals and hitting behind the runner are what has made Japanese baseball the best on the globe (the WBC championships, for instance). It’s their hallmark.
What happened?!?