[스포츠한국 이재호 기자] Ohtani Shohei really did everything. Before the final, he gave a speech cheering his teammates as a team representative, a flag bearer holding the Japanese flag as a representative of Japan before the game, a hitter who had hits and walks during the game, and a pitcher who finished the game. game, confirming the championship.
The Japanese baseball team played the final game of the 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) against the United States at 8:00 am on the 22nd (hereafter Korean time) at Londippo Park in Miami, Florida, USA -2 and won the championship.
After giving up a solo home run to Trey Turner in the second inning, Japan rallied 2-1 with a solo home run by Munetaka Murakami, who had taken the lead the day before, and an RBI by Lars Nutba in the subsequent attack. In the 4th inning, Kazuma Okamoto’s solo home run hit Japan. In the 8th inning, Yu Darvish from the bullpen gave Kyle Schwaber a solo home run, leading Japan to 3-2. He struck out as a batsman and won in the end.
The official SNS of the Japanese baseball team revealed that Ohtani called the Japanese national team players to the locker room and gave a speech right before the game. Ohtani said, “Let’s stop admiring (American players). “There are a lot of famous players that anyone who plays baseball has heard of, like Paul Goldschmitz at first base, Mike Trout in center field, Mookie Betts in right field,” he said. to surpass them and become the best, so let’s think about winning and stop and admire them for just one day today.”
Ohtani, who encouraged the team in this way, stood as the flag bearer holding the national flag as a representative of the Japanese national team when entering the stadium. In the United States, Mike Trout took the position of jockey. It was great to see two of the best players in the world enter the stadium with their country’s flag.
And Ohtani, who came out as designated hitter No. 3 in the game that day, played an active role with 1 hit and 1 walk in 3 at-bats. Ohtani, who was at his best as a hitter, came up as the last pitcher in the top of the 9th inning, with a score of 3-2, and finally stopped it with a scoreless run.
Ohtani, the ‘perfect man’, won the championship by performing all four roles perfectly, including the pregame speech, the jockey, the hitter, and the pitcher.
