Japan Celebrates Victory over USA in World Baseball Classic
2023-03-23
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1Japan's national baseball team defeated the United States Tuesday night in Miami to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the third time.
2The final score was 3-2.
3The team's star player, Shohei Ohtani, pitched the final inning.
4He recorded the last out by striking out his Los Angeles Angels teammate, Mike Trout.
5Some experts consider them the two best players in the world.
6It was the first time they ever faced each other.
7Ohtani is a special player because he is both one of the best pitchers and one of the best hitters in baseball.
8He won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award for his hitting and pitching during the two-week event.
9After the game, Ohtani said on the worldwide television broadcast, "I believe this is the best moment in my life."
10Fans in Japan celebrated as Ohtani threw the final pitch early Wednesday Tokyo time.
11Over 100 people gathered near the Shimbashi Station area to get special printings of a newspaper with the game result.
12Police helped control the crowd and passed out copies.
13Yuji Takeno, 33, was there. "I am so proud as a Japanese national," he said.
14"I also play baseball (for fun) ... and it makes me want to work harder, that's how well they played."
15Sho Ishii, 29, watched the game on a large screen at a public viewing event near Tokyo Tower.
16"Thank you Ohtani, thank you samurai Team Japan!" he shouted after the final pitch.
17The words "Nihon yusho," which mean "Japan victory," became the number one subject of a discussion on Twitter in Japan.
18Ohtani did not win the game on his own. Japan's pitchers set the record for the most strikeouts in the WBC.
19They contained a strong USA team that had scored 23 runs in its previous two games.
20Robert Whiting writes about Japanese baseball.
21He said Japan may have the three best pitchers in the world and called Ohtani "charismatic."
22The baseball seasons in both the United States and Japan start on March 30.
23I'm Dan Friedell.