Raw Japan
Slices of Japanese business, politics and life
Asia’s baseball classic
Say, Amen, somebody!
The creators of the World Baseball Classic envisioned a global tournament spread over at least two continents and multiple time zones, featuring the greatest players and national teams possible.
That baseball aim, largely achieved in the inaugural 2006 event and even more so this year, may not completely jibe with the all-Asian WBC final between Japan and South Korea in LA on Monday, but no fan of the sport’s finest would complain after an thrilling extra-inning game that ended in a 5-3 win to Japan.
Back home in Japan and South Korea, it was office hours on Tuesday but work stopped as fans gathered in TV stores, in front of huge stadium screens or around TV-equipped mobile phones to watch the two Asian rivals slug it out. South Korea overturned a day-time television ban to let prison inmates watch the game while forex trading in Seoul trading rooms ground to a halt from the opening pitch.
Obviously, some holes remain in the tournament, such as MLB team buy-in and particularly scheduling, which led to an incredible fifth pairing of the Asian rivals in a 16-team tournament.
