"We came here to surpass today, to be at the top, so give up our admiration for them for one day today" WBC
= World Baseball Classic. These are the words before the final of the final by Shohei Otani, who was active in the two-way throwing style and led the Japan to its first championship in three tournaments.
A word of inspiration for his teammates ahead of the final against the United States, which is full of MLB stars. He led the team not only in his play, but also in various words.
Here is a summary of Otani's "quotes" from this tournament.
(*Dates are expressed in Japan hours)
"100% what we can do now" (3/3 Team joined)
The most important thing for the team is to be able to give 100% in the match. We will communicate with each other and do our best to become a better team.
"I want to do the best I can" (3/8 the day before the opening day)
I'm looking forward to it, and since it's our first match, I'd like to stay focused from the first time to build the team's momentum. It's my first time in the WBC, so I'm sure I'll be nervous, but I want to play my way as usual. We will continue to prepare ourselves and prepare ourselves for the game.
If the team thinks that both pitching and hitting are necessary, of course I want to play. I want to do the best I can, so as a starting point, I want to throw well tomorrow and participate in the offense.
"Cheer louder tomorrow!" (3/9 First match against China)
(4 scoreless innings as a starting pitcher/2 hits and 2 RBIs as a batter)
The opponents China were also playing great baseball and we didn't know what was going to happen until the middle of the game, so it was a great game to win.
Thank you for staying
late.
However, there is still not enough cheering, so please cheer louder tomorrow!
【Click here for details】1st Match Japan vs China PR
【Click here for details】2nd Match Japan vs Korea Republic
【Click here for details】3rd Match Japan vs Czech Republic
"I've always dreamed of it since I was a child" (3/12 after the war in Australia)
I've always dreamed of it since I
was a kid and I wanted to hit it as soon as possible, so I managed to hit one. I will do my best to bat again in the next match.
It's a batting line that can score runs from anywhere, and the pitchers are throwing tenaciously, so we've been playing good games.
It was okay (laughs).
I will still do my best to win the championship!
【Click here for details】4th Match Japan vs Australia
"There was no pride over victory" (3/16 after quarterfinals)
#大谷バントI'm glad I was able to avoid
risk and make choices that allowed me to hope for a high return, and as a result, I was able to create a big inning. I didn't have any pride in that situation that took precedence over Japan's victory.
In Japan, there was a great cheering in every game and an exciting atmosphere was created for the players.
From here on, it's all about one game at a time, one inning at a time.
With the mindset that 'if we score one more goal than our opponents, that's fine,' and we will keep our heads up for the remaining two matches and do our best.
Quarterfinals Japan vs Italy
"Taiwan, Korea, China: "Next time, too"" (3/20 Semi-final the day before)
I think the tournament itself is definitely progressing, and I think it's getting closer to a prestigious tournament with each successive event. We still have a long way to go, and conversely, I think every country feels that it is rewarding to be able to make the tournament even better on our own.
I think the fans of Japan will be happy to win, so I think that's it.
Of course, we unfortunately lost to Taiwan and Korea Republic in the qualifiers, but I think that by winning and winning the championship, we will feel that we will be next too. Not only those two, but also China, I think they still have a lot of potential to grow, and I think the most important thing is to win for that purpose.
"Everyone grinds to the fullest" (3/21 after semi-finals)
It was a tough match to equalise and then be taken again, and it was frustrating not to be able to turn the way to win, but no one gave up. As long as you connect behind him, he can easily turn over one run, so I went into the at-bat thinking that I was really just going to create chances.
I thought it would have been fine if I could see off four balls and get a foreball, but I'm glad I ended up connecting.
(Regarding Munetaka Murakami, who hit the goodbye)
was swinging on a good trajectory from the first swing, so I knew he would definitely hit it. I think it was tough not to get results, but I was swinging the bat more than anyone else and I knew he would hit it.
Everyone is working hard for the team, so we will do our best to prepare ourselves for the final.
Semifinals Japan vs Mexico
"If you yearn for it, you can't go over it" (3/22 Circle before the final)
Let's not yearn for just one from me.
[The U.S. team] has Goldschmidt in the first, Trout in the center, Betts in the lights, and I think everyone has heard of players who play baseball, but if you just admire it for one day today, you can't go beyond it.
We came here to surpass them today and to be at the top, so let's just think about giving up our admiration for them and winning for one day today.
Let's go!
"More and more great players" (after winning 3/22)
I'm really happy because I dreamed of winning the championship (about winning the world title with coach Hideki Kuriyama, my mentor during my time at Japan Ham).
I'm glad that we were able to be persistent and not give up until the very end to let the coach win the championship.
To be honest, I didn't expect to play baseball together again like this. It was a good experience and we were able to finish in the best possible way. It was a wonderful experience.
I want to play [in the WBC in three years]
. I have to stay at a certain level and of course I want to do my best every year to make that happen.
I will do my best to become an even better player.