Japan Celebrates Victory over USA in World Baseball Classic

（单词翻译）

Japan's national baseball team defeated the United States Tuesday night in Miami to win the World Baseball Classic¹ (WBC) for the third time. The final score was 3-2.

The team's star player, Shohei Ohtani, pitched the final inning. He recorded the last out by striking² out his Los Angeles Angels teammate, Mike Trout³. Some experts consider them the two best players in the world. It was the first time they ever faced each other.

Ohtani is a special player because he is both one of the best pitchers⁵ and one of the best hitters in baseball. He won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award for his hitting and pitching during the two-week event.

After the game, Ohtani said on the worldwide television broadcast, "I believe this is the best moment in my life."

Fans in Japan celebrated⁶ as Ohtani threw the final pitch early Wednesday Tokyo time. Over 100 people gathered near the Shimbashi Station area to get special printings of a newspaper with the game result. Police helped control the crowd and passed out copies.

Yuji Takeno, 33, was there. "I am so proud as a Japanese national," he said. "I also play baseball (for fun) ... and it makes me want to work harder, that's how well they played."

Sho Ishii, 29, watched the game on a large screen at a public viewing event near Tokyo Tower. "Thank you Ohtani, thank you samurai Team Japan!" he shouted after the final pitch.

The words "Nihon yusho," which mean "Japan victory," became the number one subject of a discussion⁷ on Twitter in Japan.

Ohtani did not win the game on his own. Japan's pitchers set the record for the most strikeouts in the WBC. They contained a strong USA team that had scored 23 runs in its previous two games.

Robert Whiting writes about Japanese baseball. He said Japan may have the three best pitchers in the world and called Ohtani "charismatic."

The baseball seasons in both the United States and Japan start on March 30.

Words in This Story

teammate–n. a member of the same work or sports team or group

award–n. a prize or honor⁸

moment–n. a single event in one's life

proud –adj. a strong feeling of happiness or satisfaction about an accomplishment⁹

strikeout–n. the act in baseball when a pitcher⁴ throws the ball past the batter¹⁰ to get an out

previous –adj. something that happened earlier, or before the current time

charismatic –adj. used to describe a person who is special or talented