Read this to enjoy WBC even more!

Basic baseball "ki" March 8 15:08

"What should I watch for the first WBC in 6 years?"


"Are there any special rules?"



The World Baseball Classic begins.

Due to the impact of the new corona, it will be held for the first time in six years.



If you read the WBC that attracts a lot of attention, you can enjoy it even more.


I have provided some points for beginners.



*The tournament will be held until March 21, Japan time.

We will update at any time.



(Ayato Suzuki, Network News Department)

[Shohei Ohtani] Dual wielding in WBC

The Japanese national team is said to be the strongest in history.

First of all, the player to watch out for is this guy.



Shohei Otani (28) of the Major League Angels, who has surprised the world with his "two-sword style" since Babe Ruth, is participating in the WBC for the first time.



In the previous tournament in 2017, he withdrew from participating due to injury.



After graduating from high school, Ohtani joined the Nippon-Ham professional baseball team, and at this tournament, under the leadership of Hideki Kuriyama, the manager of the Japan national team, he demonstrated his talent as a "dual wielder" of pitcher and fielder.

After completing his fifth season in Japan in 2017, he joined the major league Angels using the posting system.



After that, he continued to play an active role in "two-sword style", and in the 2021 season, the fourth year of the major league, he was selected as the MVP = best player for his historic performance in pitching and batting. Other than that, he participated as a designated hitter and recorded a batting average of 20%, 7 minutes and 3 minutes, 34 home runs, and 95 RBIs.

In the warm-up game with Hanshin on the 6th of this month, he surprised all of Japan by hitting a three-run home run in two consecutive at-bats.



There are high expectations for him as a central player for Japan, which is aiming to win the championship for the first time in three tournaments.

[Pitcher Yu Darvish] The oldest member of the team and a mental support

Padres pitcher Yu Darvish (36), who has been active in the major leagues for 11 years with a variety of breaking balls, is participating in the WBC for the first time in three tournaments.



At the 2009 tournament, when Japan won the championship, I was pitching in relief and was on the mound.



At that time, he belonged to Nippon Ham and was active as an ace, marking an ERA of 1 point for 5 consecutive years.

In 2012, he transferred to the Rangers of the major leagues, and in 2015 he underwent "Tommy John surgery" to repair the ligaments of his right elbow and withdrew for one year and two months, but after that he transferred to the Dodgers and Cubs. continued to be active.



In 2020, which was a shortened season due to the influence of the new corona, he became the first Japanese player to win the title with the most wins.



He transferred to the Padres the following year (21), and last season (22) he won 16 wins, tying his record in the major leagues.



As the oldest member of the Japanese national team, this year's tournament is expected to serve as a mental support.

[Pitcher Aki Sasaki] "Monster of Reiwa" will be on the stage of WBC

Last season, Lotte pitcher Aki Sasaki (21), who was the youngest player to complete a perfect game, has a fastball of over 160 km from a height of 1 m 90 cm.



He measured the fastest 163km in the 18-year-old and under-19 Japanese team's national team, and has been called the "Monster of Reiwa" since his days at Ofunato High School.



He joined Lotte in the 1st round of the 2019 draft.



In his first year, he gave priority to building his body and did not pitch even in the second army, but from the second year he entered the starting rotation.

Last season, in his third year, after marking his fastest 164km on his first pitch, he played the 16th complete game for the first time in 28 years against Orix on April 10, the youngest ever, at the age of 20 years and 5 months. achieved with



In 2016, Shohei Ohtani, who belonged to Nippon-Ham, recorded the fastest record for a Japanese player in an official professional baseball game of 165 kilometers. Marking 165 km, we are expecting further evolution.



Attention will be paid to whether his characteristic fastball and forkball, which is also called a “magic ball,” will be accepted at the world level.

[Munetaka Murakami] "Muragami" became a buzzword

Next is the batter.

Yakult's Munetaka Murakami (23) became the youngest player ever to win the Triple Crown, breaking Sadaharu Oh's record for the most home runs.



Joined Yakult in 2017 from Kumamoto/Kyushu Gakuin in first place in the draft, and has broken numerous records in professional baseball as a left-handed batter with a strong batting characteristic.



From his second season in 2019, he became a regular player and hit 36 ​​home runs to win the Rookie of the Year award.



In his third year he started all games at No. 4.



In his fourth year (21 years), he participated in all games as No. 4 and hit 39 home runs, contributing to the team's league championship and Japan's best.



For the first time, he won the home run king and was selected as the MVP of the Central League.



Last season, in his fifth year, he hit a home run in five consecutive at-bats that broke the professional baseball record in August. Has been updated.



In addition, he won the titles of leading hitter, home run king, and RBI king, and was the youngest player in history to win the triple crown, and was selected as the MVP of the Central League for the second consecutive year with overwhelming results.

Also, last year (2010), the word "Muragami", which has become widely used on social media and in the news thanks to Murakami's success, was selected as the annual grand prize of the "New Word and Buzzword Award". has also become widely known.



Pay attention to the dynamic swing of the young No. 4 even in WBC.

The biggest rival in the 1st round is Korea

On the 10th, Japan will face the South Korean national team, which is said to be their biggest rival.



Attention is young hit maker, 24-year-old Lee Jeong Hoo.



A right-handed left-handed outfielder who belongs to a Korean professional baseball team, his father was Lee Jong-bum, who once played professional baseball in Chunichi.



Last season, he recorded a batting average of 30%, 4 minutes, and 9 minutes in Korean professional baseball, becoming the top hitter for the second consecutive year. .



He also participated in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and has a skillful bat control, such as hitting two hits from Japan's representative pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto.



He is a good hitter who hopes to play in the big leagues in the future.

WBC Special Rules (1) Number of Pitch Limits

The WBC has tournament rules and regulations established by the major league organization that hosts the tournament.



Among them is the "Otani rule".

I've put together some special rules.



First, regarding pitchers, there is a limit on the number of pitches per game.

▽ 65 balls in the first round



▽ 80 balls in the quarter-finals



▽ 95 balls in the semi-finals and finals

This limit is the same as the previous 2017 tournament.



There are also rules for pitching intervals.

▽ If the number of pitches in one game is 50 or more, 4 days are allowed



▽ If the number of pitches is 30 or more and less than 50 pitches in one game,


 or if the pitch is thrown for 2 consecutive days, the next pitch can be pitched in 1 day

If the number of pitches reaches the limit during a match with a batter, it is possible to throw until the turn at bat is over.



In addition, the so-called "one-point relief," which uses one pitcher for one batter, which is familiar in Japanese professional baseball, is prohibited.



This is in line with major league rules, where you can't make substitutions until you've faced at least three batters or the inning is over.

WBC Special Rule (2) Designated Pitcher Quota

Each WBC team has a maximum of 30 registered members.



Of these, at least 14 pitchers and 2 or more catchers must be registered.



You can select up to 10 preliminary registration members called "designated pitchers" that can be replaced during the tournament.



Up to two "nominated pitchers" can be registered among the final registered members, and after the first round and after the quarterfinals, up to two people can be replaced from among the "nominated pitchers". I can.



On the other hand, players can be replaced in the event of an injury, but players who are out of the squad will be disqualified from participating in subsequent matches.

WBC Special Rules (3) Player Eligibility

In order to be eligible to participate in the WBC, there is a condition that the player himself/herself has the nationality of the national team and permanent residency status.



However, if one of the parents has the nationality of the national team's country or region, or if they were born in that country or region, they are allowed to participate.

Outfielder Lars Nutvar (25), who belongs to the major league Cardinals, fulfilled this condition because his mother is Japanese, and was selected as a member of the Japanese national team this time.



Nutvar became the first Japanese player to represent Japan in the WBC.

WBC Special Rules (4) Tiebreak

In the extension of this tournament, after the 10th inning, a "tie-break system" will be introduced that starts with no outs on second base.



In the major leagues, it has been introduced since last season and will also be applied to the WBC.

WBC special rules (5) How to win the first round

The first round will be divided into 4 groups of 5 teams, with the top 2 teams advancing to the quarterfinals.



The ranking is determined by the winning percentage, and if the winning percentage is the same, it will be judged by the results of the head-to-head competition.

Click here for the WBC schedule

WBC Special Rules (6) Otani Rule

The WBC adopts a designated hitter system in which the pitcher does not stand at bat and the DH who only bats enters the bat.



Also, since the game will be held according to the rules of last season's major leagues, if the starting pitcher also serves as the designated hitter like Shohei Ohtani, who plays "dual wielding" between the pitcher and the fielder, he will not be able to do so after leaving the mound. The so-called "Otani rule", which allows both players to participate in the game as a batter, is also applied.



This "Otani rule" was adopted in the major leagues last season.



This is the first time that the WBC has adopted it.

The basic "ki" of baseball rules

From here, we will introduce small techniques and attacks that make use of mobility that Japan has traditionally been good at.

I think many people feel that,



"I vaguely understand, but baseball is difficult because of all the different rules and terminology."

If you know it, we will explain the rules and terms that will make you enjoy baseball even more.





First of all, from the attack version "Bant"

"Bunt" includes "send bunt" in which the batter tries to advance the runner by rolling the ball against the bat without swinging.



On the other hand, there is also a "safety bunt" that the batter switches from a batting stance to a bunt in order to get on base.



However, there are special rules for "bunting", and if you bunt with two strikes and get fouled, it will be treated as a "three bunt failure" and the batter will be out.

One of the bunts is "Squeeze".



It is to bunt when the runner is on third base, and in the meantime the runner returns home and scores.



▼ The batter must not read the squeeze by the opponent, and ▼ the defense must be wary of the squeeze, so it is a play that you can enjoy bargaining.

touch up and sacrificial fly

One of the scenes that affect the flow of the game is the 'touch-up'.

"Touchup" and "sacrifice fly" are sometimes used in the same context, but "touchup" is the term used for runners and "sacrifice fly" is for batters.



First of all, "touch up" means that if the defender touches the fly ball or liner ball and catches it, the runner can step on the base again and aim for the next base.



A "sacrifice fly" is, for example, a play in which the batter hits a fly when the runner is on third base, making a successful touchup and scoring a point.



A touchup or sacrifice fly can be played even if the defender catches the fly ball in the foul zone.

Among the players participating in this tournament is Yukyo Shuto of Softbank, who is called a speed star.



You may be able to see a play that captivates the audience by taking advantage of the characteristic speed.

Pitcher rules

Here are the rules for pitchers.



It could be an important moment that will affect the outcome of the match.

It would be amazing if you knew all 13 types!

This and that of "Balk"

It is "Balk".



During the game, the umpire suddenly announces something to the pitcher and the runner advances one base.



All of a sudden, you might wonder, "What just happened?"



In these situations, there are many cases where the pitcher was declared "balk".



Why is the "balk" so difficult to understand?



That's because there are actually 13 types.

What is balk?

In the first place, "Balk" is a foul related to the pitcher's pitch and the check against the runner.



According to the Official Baseball Rules, ``the umpire must bear in mind that the balk is to prevent the pitcher from deliberately trying to deceive the runner.''



If you balk



▽The runner can advance one base.



▽ If there is no runner, the batter is declared one "ball".

What is a balk case?

▽Stopping the pitch after the pitcher started moving



▽Mimicking throwing to 1st or 3rd base and not throwing the ball



▽When the batter made a "quick pitch" before he was ready



▽Pitcher facing the batter ▽

When



the pitcher stands on the pitcher's plate without holding the ball



▽When the ball is dropped



*6 out of 13 are extracted.

If a batter is called and all runners advance at least one base, for example, the batter hits, the game proceeds regardless of balk.



You may have become a bit of a "baseball connoisseur" with this.

"Balk" all 13 types

1: If the pitcher touching the pitcher's plate violates the pitching action


2: If the pitcher touching the pitcher's plate only pretends to throw the ball to first or third base, but does not actually throw the ball


3: The pitcher's plate


A pitcher touching a base

does not step directly toward that base before throwing the ball.

Case


5: If the pitcher makes a foul pitch


6: If the pitcher throws the ball while not facing the batter


7: If the pitcher does not touch the pitcher's plate and makes a motion related to the pitch


8: The pitcher is unnecessary


9: The pitcher does not have the ball and stands on or over the pitcher's plate, or leaves the pitcher's plate and pretends to pitch 10: The pitcher makes a


legal

pitch

If one hand is removed from the ball after taking a position, except when actually pitching or throwing to a base


. If the ball is dropped


12: If the pitcher pitches to a catcher outside the catcher's box when an intentional walk is attempted 13: If the pitcher does not stop completely when


pitching from a set position


( *According to official baseball rules)