Japan’s Shohei Ohtani Made the World Baseball Classic ‘Real’

Hours later, after the celebration and the medal ceremony and rounds of television interviews, Ohtani explained at his news conference the meaning of his message.

“We want to respect, of course, American baseball, so we do,” he said through an interpreter. “So just looking at the great lineup of great players makes us feel like — how do I say that? I mean, obviously, we have respect, but at the same time, it looks like we might be beaten down. So just forget about those kinds of feelings. We’re just even. We have to just beat ‘em.”

Now they have, with the third championship for Japan and first since 2009. Soon Ohtani will be back in Tempe, Ariz., in spring training with the Angels and Trout, a three-time M.V.P. who said he never had more fun playing baseball than he did at this W.B.C.

There was no shame in silver, after all, not on a night like this. In Ohtani, Trout was beaten by the one player in the world who deserved a gold medal even more than he did.

“He’s a competitor, man,” Trout said. “That’s why he’s the best.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/sports/baseball/shohei-ohtani-world-baseball-classic.html