By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
LOS ANGELES — There have been some
memorable games at Dodger Stadium, Sandy Koufax’s no-hitters, Kirk
Gibson’s stunning pinch-hit homer in the 1988 World Series. And now the
final of the 2009 World Baseball Championship has wedged itself into
the group.
It was a game that had seemed
destined to go on forever, and the boisterous record crowd of 54,846,
with probably more Koreans than Japanese, certainly wouldn’t have
minded.
But Japan, after 10 innings and four
hours, finally was the 5-3 winner Monday night, defending the
championship it won in the first WBC three years ago and setting off a
celebration highlighted with the Japanese players circling the field
under a mammoth flag of their home country.
Ichiro Suzuki, who playing for the
Seattle Mariners is as well known on this side of the Pacific as the
other, broke a 3-3 tie with his third straight hit and fourth in six
at-bats.
The Japanese, leaving 14 men on
base, should have won easily, but unlike the semifinal win over the
United States on Sunday night Japan couldn’t hit with runners on. Until
Suzuki came through.
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who pitched the
win over the U.S., was named tournament most valuable player, but
Monday night’s starting pitcher for Japan, Hisashi Iwakuma, very well
could have earned the award. He retired the first 11 Korean batters and
allowed only two runs and four hits before being relieved with two outs
in the eighth.
The huge turnout of fans, the
Koreans banging their Thundersticks incesstantly and repetitively
chanting “Dae Han Min Guk,” which is another way of saying Korea,
verified the WBC has a place on the sporting calendar. Even without an
American team in the finals.
In 39 games throughout the world,
Asia, Latin America, Canada, the United States, the WBC drew a total of
801,408. The two semis had attendance of more than 43,000 each, and
Monday night’s crowd was a virtual sellout.
Venezuela, with a ton of major
leaguers, and the Dominican Republic, also with numerous stars from the
American and National League, were the pre-tournament favorites, but it
should be apparent Japan and Korea, with their discipline and
mistake-free play, have become the dominant teams in international
competition.
Korea won the gold medal at last year’s Beijing Olympics, and now Japan takes its second WBC title.
“I believe we were the two best
teams in the world,” said Jungkeum Bong, Korea’s starting pitcher.
“Asia is the best in the world, and Korea and Japan were able to fight
until the end. It was great glory for all of us.”
Japan had three major leaguers in
the lineup, Ichiro, Kenji Johjima of the Mariners and Akinori Iwamura
of the Tampa Bay Rays. Korea’s only big leaguer on the roster, Shin Soo
Choo of the Cleveland Indians, was the one who ended Iwakuma’s shutout
when he homered in the fifth to tie the game temporarily, 1-1.
The two teams had played four times
previously in the tournament, splitting the games. “That we were able
to come up to the stage together, I really feel great respect for the
Koreans,” said Tatsunori Hari, the Japan manager.
“And at the same time I feel like this was the game of the century.”
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