Japan retained their World Baseball Classic title in the early hours of this morning in a thrilling extra-inning 5-3 win over Korea.Â
Such eagerly anticipated contests can often turn out to be a disappointment; the enormity of the occasion leading to a cagey affair in which neither team performs under the pressure.  The 2009 WBC final was an exception to this rule.Â
It was a gripping game, where the score was close throughout and both teams had several chances to win it. The low score was a testimony to way the teams pitched and fielded. Co-commentator Rick Sutcliffe was moved to state that he had “never seen a better game played defensively”, as we were blessed with a master class in good fundamentals and some dazzling defensive plays.
Both teams turned a dramatic ‘strike-him-out, throw-him-out’ double play to end an inning, highlighting the impressive catching performances by Kenji Johjima and Kyung Oan Park. The momentum of a ballgame can shift on great defensive plays such as these and the high-quality fielding ensured that this game went back and forth on countless occasions.
The Cleveland Indians’ Shin Soo Choo led off the bottom of the fifth inning for Korea with a glorious home run, which teased the centre fielder into thinking it would stay in the park but just refused to drop until it had reached the outfield wall. It tied the game at 1-1 and was the sort of blow that can energize an offense. When Young Min Ko hit a shot into left field, after Lee had struck out, it looked like a rally was on the cards. However, the left fielder Seiichi Uchikawa scooped the ball up on a short hop and in the blink of an eye gunned it to second base where Akinori Iwamura applied the tag. A pop-out ended the inning and left Korea bemoaning Uchikawa’s lightning-quick fielding.
However, Korea showed that they were just as capable at making game-changing fielding plays.
Japan went ahead in the seventh inning on the back of some classic ‘small ball’ play. Kataoka led off with a single and then stole second, before Ichiro got him to third on a perfect bunt that also enabled the Mariners’ star to make it to first base. Nakajima stepped up and singled home Kataoka to complete the archetypal ‘manufactured run’, giving Japan a 2-1 lead. They looked set to increase the gap after a fly-out put runners on the corners, yet Korea turned an astonishing 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.
The score moved to 3-2 during the eighth inning with both runs coming on sacrifice flies, further examples of the two teams executing the fundamentals well.Â
Japan brought in their young pitching star Yu Darvish to close out the victory, but Korea would not go down without a fight. Everyone, Japanese fans excepted of course, wanted the game to continue and the wishes of the masses were met thanks to a two-out single by the wonderfully named Bum Ho Lee that sent the game to extra innings at 3-3.
The stage was set for a star to shine and there are few stars bigger than Ichiro Suzuki. With two outs in the tenth inning, Ichiro hit a line drive into centre field, bringing home two runs to give Japan a 5-3 lead. A lead-off walk by Min-ho Kang gave Korea hope, but Darvish didn’t let it slip for a second time, striking out Jeong on a nasty slider to end the game.
Japan and Korea are undoubtedly the top two teams in the world right now and there is little to choose between them. Japan are worthy champions, but Korea should be equally proud of their efforts.
The final exemplified how special the WBC is. Baseball fans were introduced to a host of talented players from outside the US, reminding us all that ‘baseball’ doesn’t simply mean ‘MLB’.  Yet it also showed the importance of involving top players from the Major Leagues in international competition. The latter will always cause some unease among the owners, managers and fans of the thirty MLB teams who naturally put their own interests first.
That is why the MLB Commissioner’s Office needs to take the lead and do what’s best for baseball rather than simply what’s best for the short-term interests of the Red Sox, Yankees, Dodgers etc. Bud Selig gets a lot of criticism, rightly in many cases, but I’ve got a great deal of admiration for the way he has pushed the WBC forward. Yes there are some cynical commercial interests behind it, but overall there is a strong desire to grow the game internationally and, as an ‘international fan’, I’m fully supportive of it.
While there is still room for improvement over the way the tournament is structured, the 2009 World Baseball Classic was a triumph and the 2013 event could be even better.
Four years is a long time to wait, but Japan and Korea have made sure that the WBC will not be forgotten during that period.
