MUNDIAL EXITOSO, NOS VEMOS EN 2026 / SUCCESSFUL WORLD CUP, SEE YOU IN 2026

The world classic came to an end and with it the proclamation of a new monarch, after 2 classics with different champions, an old acquaintance, the cast of Japan, returns to the world stage as the champion of champions, reaching its third title in just 5 editions, the city of Miami has given this event what it needed, and with it has erased a bad image due to the lack of public in the last final in 2017, where in the legendary Dodger Stadium in the city of Los Angeles, there were many empty seats, leaving to owe in that aspect, in this 2023, the colorful of this location, met the expectations and brought more than 475 thousand fans to the park, increasing the total attendance throughout the world of up to 1. 306,414 people, which translated into full houses in all the stadiums, especially in the semifinal round, where the public packed the stadium facilities in Miami, injecting a different flavor to the championship, evolving in a great way and as I said in previous publications, attracting fans even from other sports.

FINALMENTE CAMPEONES / FINALLY CHAMPIONS

Yes, finally, the team from the land of the rising sun ended up being crowned for the third time in its history and undefeated (7-0), although I confess that I wanted the trophy to stay in the West, the Japanese showed category and with a little discipline and grit, they managed to overcome adverse situations that in previous rounds had not been presented to them, practicing a classic baseball and that with details overcame category rivals like Mexico and in this great final to the reigning champion United States, also applying the basic fundamentals of baseball and I would add something else, the use of some players in different positions and game situations which we had not been accustomed to seeing, we are in view of a new era in baseball.?.

Why do I say this? Just look at the moves made by the Japanese manager for these semifinal and final round in Miami, and we can realize that they came with something else, something very different from what we were used to see, an intelligent and little frontal baseball, something like unpredictable, for these rounds mentioned, they would go out with 2 starters that are not those that the rivals had commonly seen, leaving in the reserves 2 very well known by all as Ohtani and Darvish, this sounding somewhat counterproductive, but it had its purpose, and it was not to make things easy for the Stars and Stripes, who all seasons had encountered these 2 in MLB, and it would be something simple, so to speak, to decipher.

TRES VECES CAMPEONES / THREE-TIME CHAMPIONS

And if they wanted to retake the road of champion, absent since 2009, they had to do something different or go with more desire and go all out to achieve something that meant or means a lot to them, since baseball is the number one sport in their country, and whose league is very high level, where the greatest of this sport have come from, and their talent has been able to reach other frontiers, Another fundamental aspect that led this team to win the crown was their pitching, they were in really difficult situations, because the United States team first went to the front and then was attacking in each and every one of the episodes being successfully neutralized by the Japanese pitchers.

La clave en este juego final frente a los estadounidenses fueron varias, pero pienso que en verdad las principales y las que condujeron al elenco oriental a ganarlo fue cuando en la 5ta entrada y con 2 hombres en base y 2 out y con cuenta de 3 y 0, el bateador Kyle Schwarber le hace swing a un lanzamiento que aparentaba estar fuera de la zona de strike y falla con elevado al jardín central para culminar la entrada, una mala decisión de abanicar ese lanzamiento en conteo favorable y que significaba la 4 pelota mala, eliminando por completo la oportunidad al bate de un encendido Trea Turner con las bases llenas, que hubiese sido una buena manera de hacer carreras y meterse de lleno en el juego, cuando en ese entonces estaban abajo por 2 carreras (1-3), una mala elección que en términos beisbolisticos se llama un error mental o falta de paciencia por querer hacer más de lo podia hacer en ese momento del compromiso.

The key in this final game against the Americans were several, but I think that in truth the main ones and the ones that led the eastern team to win it was when in the 5th inning and with 2 men on base and 2 out and with counts of 3 and 0, the batter Kyle Schwarber swings at a pitch that appeared to be out of the strike zone and would fail with a fly ball to center field to end the inning, A bad decision to fan that pitch in a favorable count and that meant the 4th bad ball completely eliminating the opportunity to bat for an on Trea Turner with the bases loaded, which would have been a good way to make runs and get into the game, when at that time they were down by 2 runs (1-3) a bad choice that in baseball terms is called a mental error or lack of patience for wanting to do more than they could do at that time of the commitment.

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LO QUE TODOS SOSPECHABAN / WHAT EVERYONE SUSPECTED

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A bunt not executed in the ninth inning by the U.S. bullpen, also contributed to give an end which everyone wanted to see, baseball things happened so that at the beginning of the ninth inning with Jeff McNeil's run, everything was set for the next batter of that inning Mookie Betts to touch the ball, not being so, which was forced to hit for a double kill, serving as a scene for the last turn of the ninth inning with Jeff McNeil's run, everything was set for the next batter of that inning Mookie Betts to touch the ball, but he was forced to hit for a double kill, serving the scene so that in the last at-bat with 2 outs and facing a top-notch closer and only put there to clinch the victory, Mike Trout faced his MLB teammate, Shohei Ohtani, in a duel that everyone wanted to see, and more to close a game of this magnitude, with the best part going to the Japanese, with pitches that exceeded 100 miles per hour that ended up striking out Trout, and that in the end would help him to be named the most valuable player of the tournament, a dream ending between the 2 greatest ballplayers of today, putting the icing on the cake in a World Classic that really liked a lot and promises to get better in the next editions.

Numbers that speak for themselves and took this sport to another level, why? Because we are seeing more frequently that a player fulfills several facets, it is something very difficult to see but we are already seeing it in Ohtani and Darvish, who in this final game fulfilled totally different roles, on the one hand we saw Darvish who is a starter by nature, enter to pitch in the eighth inning acting as a set-up man, to pave the way for an unsuspected closer who turned out to be an unsuspected closer, On the one hand, we saw Darvish, who is a natural starter, come in to pitch in the eighth inning as a setup man, to pave the way for an unsuspected closer who turned out to be a real trump card for the American bats, as he finished off the ninth inning as if he had already done it before, proving that the Japanese can hit and pitch in any situation of the game.

COSAS QUE DEBEMOS TOMAR EN CUENTA DE ESTE CLÁSICO / THINGS WE MUST TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ABOUT THIS CLASSIC

If we want to understand why Japan has won this World Classic and not the United States, we cannot overlook the quality of their pitchers, the way they were used and the disposition they had to do whatever it took to win, faithfully obeying what their manager told them, A clear example of this and something very worthy of admiration is to see the disposition that Ohtani had at all times to do everything we are accustomed to seeing but adding something more, the attributes of a closer, something that we should not have the slightest doubt that we are facing a player who I think has surpassed the one who for many was or is the best player in the sport, the great Babe Ruth.

UN ANDROIDE / AN ANDROID

Estadísticas de impacto de Ohtani / Ohtani's impact statistics:

• Como lanzador tuvo el pitcheo más rápido del torneo (102.0 MPH) vs Italia.

As a pitcher he had the fastest pitching of the tournament (102.0 MPH) vs Italia.

• La conexión más rápida y cuya velocidad con la que fue impactada la bola llegó en instantes a la pared del jardín derecho del Tokio Dome, alcanzó los (118.7 MPH) fue un doble frente a la República Checa.

The fastest connection and the speed with which the ball was hit and reached the right field wall of the Tokyo Dome in moments, reaching 118.7 MPH, was a double against the Czech Republic.

-El cuadrangular más largo del torneo, tuvo una distancia de 448 pies, ocurrió en el juego de primera ronda frente al conjunto de Australia.

The longest home run of the tournament, with a distance of 448 feet, occurred in the first round game against Australia.

HASTA LA PRÓXIMA / SEE YOU NEXT TIME