In a victory sure to irritate lots of people all over the world, Japan beat Korea 5-3 in ten innings to defend their World Baseball Classic crown.
Ichiro basically erased his bad hitting prior to today's final by going 4-6 and driving in the winning runs with two outs in the top of the 10th inning.
Japan hammered out 15 hits to Korea's 5 and left the bases loaded several times, stranding 6 runners in scoring position.
Yuu Darvish got the win while Chang Yong Lim got the loss, making him the goat for Korea (I was only following the gamecast on ESPN but it sure looked like he lost either control or composure in the 10th) but ironically making him a friend to all his teammates on the Yakult Swallows.
For the record, this means that Japan won their overall series 3497 - 3496
4 comments:
First of all, what a triumph for East Asian baseball. We all know there will be some dumb things said, but hopefully the vast majority of people can celebrate together and be mutually respectful.
Second, Johjima just had perhaps the worst game I have ever seen a professional athlete have in a clutch situation. He left ELEVEN runners on base, singlehandedly erasing Japan's 15-5 advantage in hits. When Korea intentionally loaded the bases for Johjima in the 10th, it was just embarrassing to watch.
Third, it's a little annoying that Ichiro and Darvish are going to get all of the media attention.
Anyway, thanks for blogging about this right away! Hopefully the tournament organizers will find a way for two teams not to play over half of their total games against one another next time!
LMAO 10 thousand time :p Glad Japan won :) tehhehehehehehe I know a certain someone in Tokyo was glued to the TV today :p
Most of the dumb things I've read are from American sportswriters who didn't even bother to watch the games.
Yes, Johjima had a meltdown that day but at least his team covered for him. I've seen Yankee games where the entire line-up do the Johjima.
The media has been 90 percent Ichiro (yes, annoying), a little on Matsuzaka, not much on Darvish and more than expected on Iwakuma because he was the best player in the tournament.
Matsuzaka was very classy and honest in saying Iwakuma deserved the MVP instead. The American powers probably didn't follow the Japan games close enough to realize how clutch Kuma was.
What'd they win? The rights to the Dokdo Islands?
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