For much of the World Baseball Classic, there were critics in the U.S. who liked to dismiss the entire tournament as a meaningless exhibition. The chorus of naysayers was particularly loud following injuries to Edwin Diaz and Jose Altuve.
But all you had to do was take a look at the packed stadiums and raucous atmospheres to see that these games were meaningful. The scene in Japan on Wednesday was further proof of just that.
When Shohei Ohtani struck out Angels teammate Mike Trout to win the WBC title for Japan, it was approaching noon on Wednesday in Tokyo — a time when schools, airports, pubs and watch parties were packed with people watching the game.
The scene across Japan looked like this in a compilation video of the final out.
Watch as people from all different walks of life in Japan celebrate the country's World Baseball Classic victory
(via president baseball / YT) pic.twitter.com/XtTFqxwORo
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) March 22, 2023
Just awesome. And I especially love how the reactions were uniquely respectful — compared to what you’d see in the U.S.
As Ohtani explained, Japanese players look up to MLB stars, so it was extremely impactful to be able to defeat Team USA. It wasn’t a meaningless tournament at all to them.
MLB fans on Twitter also enjoyed seeing the reaction video.