The scriptwriters could not have written this one any better.
With everything on the line during the ninth inning of the 2023 World Baseball Classic final between the United States and Japan, baseball fans got everything they ever could have wanted. At long last, the memes were made real, as Los Angeles Angels teammates Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout faced off against one another in a pivotal moment.
With no one on, two outs, and the United States down 3-2 in the top of the ninth, Ohtani struck out Trout in the most storybook fashion to help Japan win its third World Baseball Classic in history.
SHOHEI OHTANI STRIKES OUT MIKE TROUT TO WIN THE #WORLDBASEBALLCLASSIC! pic.twitter.com/F7vUtIiRR1
— MLB (@MLB) March 22, 2023
That, my friends, is sports drama at its finest.
The matchup between Ohtani and Trout was everything baseball fans could have asked for and more. And to have Ohtani strike out Trout on a full count, no less, was peak sports drama and theater. No contest.
Baseball fans could not have been happier with the way the 2023 World Baseball Classic ended.