By now everyone should know that Japan has won the 2nd World Baseball Classic, in a thrilling extra-inning game against South Korea. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet I was able to watch live on my laptop. I was lucky enough to have my first students of the day be baseball fans who had been following the tournament religiously, so we watched the game together, mixing in some important baseball terms with our regular lesson.

I had a couple of 3-year olds for my next lesson, who probably wouldn’t be able to understand the finer points and nuances of the double switch or the suicide squeeze, so into the classroom we went. Japan, who was leading in the 8th inning when I left, must’ve sensed that I wasn’t watching anymore so they let Korea tie up the game to take it into extra innings.

After the lesson the parents, kids, my co-workers and I all watched Ichiro win the game for the Samurai. He’d been playing like steaming dog poo the whole tournament but he redeemed himself today, going 4 for 6 with the game winning RBIs. Needless to say every conversation for the rest of the day centered around the ball game.

One person in particular who impressed me during the tournament was phenom pitcher Yu Darvish, not so much for his actions but his words. In an era where Japanese players are being lured to MLB by big dollars and fame and glory, this half-Iranian 22 year old has stated that he will never play in America. The reason? He wants the children who idolize him to know that Japan pro baseball is important, and worth playing (and staying) for. It’s also reported that he’s heavily into charity work, particularly helping children.

Before I knew any of this I thought of him as just another empty, vapid, Japanese celebrity. Not to generalize too much, but there’s a lot of substance lacking in modern Japanese culture today. The same can be said of any country, but I live in Japan so my experience here is only what I have to draw upon. An idol to boys and a sex symbol to women, you can add me as a new fan.

Korea played great throughout the tournament too, and they should be congratulated for their effort. They have the best names for players too, like Dong and Bong. It’s like Cheech & Chong. I’ll go watch “Dong and Bong go to Yakiniku” when it comes out next year.

I can’t wait to experience Japanese baseball this summer in Sendai. Today’s starting pitcher, Hisashi Iwakuma, is the star pitcher for the Rakuten Eagles. He had a scintillating record of 21-4 with a 1.74 ERA last season, winning the Pacific League MVP. We’re going to live within 2 minutes of the stadium, and I hope to catch at least 10 games this year.

Here’s a recap of the game, courtesy of The World Wide Leader, ESPN.

[Banner photo edited from NYTimes.com]

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