Nutvar, whose mother is Japanese, said, “I wanted to fight on this stage like a Japanese Samurai.”
Cardinals outfielder Lars Nutvar won the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in March. Joining the Japanese national baseball team “Samurai Japan” as the first Japanese-American player attracted a lot of attention, but it seems that there were many difficulties. In a video interview from the podcast program “Chris Rose Sports” hosted by Chris Rose, she revealed her thoughts.
“To be honest, I was quite nervous. But I wanted to fight on this stage like a Japanese Samurai.”
At age 9, Nutvar, who has a Japanese mother, Kumiko, became one of the host families that accepted high school baseball players when the Japanese high school team, including pitcher Yuki Saito of Hayami, went to the United States , and served as a bat boy during the tournament and beyond. However, the weight of carrying the Hinomaru was great.
“I didn’t fully understand the (Japanese) culture and almost didn’t understand the language. There were various pressures other than producing results on the field. Understanding the situation around you, like a bow, was the most tense part. Baseball is baseball (wherever you go) and you just have to enjoy it. I know the norm (in America) is different. .I had to understand
