Glory days for Japan's baseball
(From The Japan Times March 24 issue)

日本、WBC優勝の意義

    However, Team Japan's 10-6 victory over Cuba on March 20 to win the inaugural World Baseball Classic is certainly enough to lift the fortunes of the sport, at least temporarily. Kudos goes out to the players, and manager Mr. Sadaharu Oh, for their energy and perseverance that led to a world championship on U.S. soil.

    Teams from 16 nations were invited to compete in the tournament, which was organized by Major League Baseball and its players' union. The Japanese team's path to the championship was not a smooth one. After posting easy wins over China and Taiwan at the Tokyo Dome, it lost the final game of the Asian Round to South Korea.

    In the second round, it had an easy win over Mexico but suffered two defeats — one to South Korea (for a second time) and the other to the United States, after losing a key run due to an umpire's blooper. Still, the Goddess of Fortune smiled on Team Japan. Mexico's 2-1 victory over the United States in the second round of "Pool 1" enabled Japan to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinal game, the Japanese team overwhelmed the South Korean team.

    The games involving the Japanese team were thrilling. People, especially, were amazed at how their team overcame whatever difficulty it faced. The games were viewed in Japan as a drama. The average TV audience rating during the final game was 43.4 percent in the Kanto region, 40.3 percent in the Kansai region and 35.6 percent in the Nagoya area.

    By the time Akinori Otsuka of the Texas Rangers struck out Cuba's Yulieski Gourriel to end the game, the audience rating had soared to 56 percent for Kanto, 52.8 percent for Kansai and 46.8 percent for Nagoya. Ironically, the TV audience rate started to climb after TV variety shows took up the umpire's blunder in the Japan-U.S. game, according to an ad agency official. "From the semifinal onward, it was like a social phenomenon," the official said. The interest shown by the public has proven that baseball's popularity has not waned. It has reconfirmed that baseball has strong appeal as TV content.

    MLB inaugurated the WBC as part of an effort to globalize the game. Baseball's international position is not great, as most MLB players come from North and South America, and Asia. Although baseball will be played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the International Olympic Committee has decided it will be baseball's last appearance as an Olympics event. There will be no baseball at the 2012 London Olympics. The IOC no longer wants to include baseball because major leaguers are not sent to the Olympic Games.

    There was some criticism of the WBC's organization. Management came mainly from MLB. Umpires were selected from the minor leagues, and the distribution of profits from the tournament was lopsided in favor of the United States. The wisdom of holding the tournament in March was also questioned. Nevertheless, the WBC apparently helped rekindle interest in baseball. As superstar Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners said, "The WBC was far from perfect, but I believe it received global attention."

    Even though MLB was the main force behind the WBC, the U.S. team could not make it to the semifinals. Instead, two teams from Asia, one from Central America and another from the Caribbean fought it out. The globalization that has swept MLB appears to have sunk the United States. The dawning of new age may be good news for the world of baseball. It means a wider reach to attract more fans and recruit good players from various parts of the world. In fact, about 30 percent of MLB players are from outside the United States, including Japanese players such as Ichiro, Otsuka and Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees.

    Team Japan delivered joy and excitement to the public while providing a sense of accomplishment to its manager and players. After the team captured the championship, manager Oh said, "I thought I would never, never get a chance to manage a team like this."

    Ichiro, who served as the virtual leader of the team and whose timely hit scored a crucial run in the ninth inning after the Cuban team had narrowed the deficit to 6-5, said: "I was glad that I could play baseball with great teammates. The pressure was enormous. If only I could play as a member of this team in the major leagues. I enjoyed the game like a child."

    Will the spirit and energy generated by Team Japan spark a greater interest in baseball among young people?

The Japan Times Weekly: April 1, 2006
(C) All rights reserved

    メジャーリーグ機構（MLB）とMLB選手会が主催したWBCには16ヵ国のチームが参加した。日本は、アジアラウンドで中国、台湾に楽勝したが、同ラウンド決勝では韓国に敗れた。

    二次リーグでは、日本はメキシコに快勝したが、韓国、米国に敗れた。しかし勝利の女神は日本に微笑んだ。メキシコが米国に2-1で勝ったため、日本は準決勝に進み、韓国に雪辱したのだ。

    日本チームの熱闘は国民を興奮させた。決勝戦の平均視聴率は関東地区で43.4%、関西地区で40.3%、名古屋地区で35.6%にのぼった。キューバの最後のバッターが三振に倒れ、日本が優勝した瞬間の視聴率は関東地区で56%になった。

    MLBは野球のグローバル化への取り組みの一環としてWBCを主催した。野球は最近国際的に人気が下降しており、08年の北京五輪以後、野球は五輪種目として消える運命だ。MLBが選手を五輪に派遣しないためだ。

    MLBが中心となって運営したWBCだが、審判はマイナーリーグから選ばれた。WBCの利益分配は、米国が有利になっていた。3月の開催時期にも疑問がある。それでも、WBCは野球への国際的関心を刺激したようだ。

    WBCはMLB主催だったにもかかわらず、米国チームは敗退し、アジアの2チーム、中米の2チームが準決勝に進出した。

    野球の新時代には、世界各国で新しいファンを開拓し、優秀な選手をスカウトすることになるだろう。すでにMLB選手全体の30%は、イチロー、大塚晶則、松井秀喜などの日本人を含む外国人である。

    国民を歓喜させた日本チームの優勝は、若者たちの間に野球に対する関心を喚起できるだろうか。