which started in 2006, is called the ‘Baseball World Cup’. It is a tournament hosted by the US Major League (MLB) Secretariat, which is considered the world’s best baseball stage, and a large number of active MLB players participate.
Even in the 2023 WBC, numerous ‘baseball legends’ will carry their own flags in their hearts. Of the 600 players participating in the WBC, 186 are active big leaguers. There are also seven players who were selected as the MLB Most Valuable Player (MVP).
‘Baseball Genius’ Ohtani of Japan doubles pitching at WBC
The player that draws the most attention is Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani (29, Los Angeles Angels). He received the American League (AL) MVP by unanimous decision in the 2021 season, digesting the ‘two-time double job’, which was considered impossible in modern baseball. He was on the national team roster at the time of the 2017 WBC, but fell off the horse due to an ankle injury and stepped on the WBC stage for the first time.
Last season, for the first time in the 146-year MLB history, Ohtani, who filled both the pitcher’s innings (162 innings) and the batter’s at-bats (502 at-bats), is expected to double as a pitcher in this tournament as well. In an interview with a Japanese media outlet, he expressed his confidence, saying, “Rather than wanting to double as a pitcher, I have the idea that ‘that’s me’.” Ohtani completed his warm-up by hitting a three-run homer in consecutive at-bats in an evaluation match against the NPB (Japanese professional baseball) Hanshin Tigers held at the Kyocera Dome in Osaka City, Japan on the 6th. He is expected to appear as a starting pitcher against China on the 9th and as a designated hitter against Korea on the 10th.
Right-handed pitcher Darvish Yu (37, San Diego Padres), who took the lead in winning the WBC in 2009, will also wear the WBC national team uniform for the last time. As a member of the Texas Rangers, he became the AL strikeout king in the 2013 season and was selected as an All-Star five times.
Trout, captain of baseball
The U.S., the winner of the previous tournament, built a powerful corps with an annual salary of nearly 500 billion won. The United States is swollen with a dream to protect the pride of ‘baseball’ by winning two consecutive championships and to increase the popularity of baseball.온라인카지노
The player wearing the armband as captain of the US national team is MLB star Mike Trout (32), who debuted with the Los Angeles Angels in 2011 and has been active for 12 years. Trout is also his first WBC appearance. A colleague of Ohtani, he hit 350 homers in his MLB career, and is honored with the AL Rookie of the Year (2012) and AL MVP three times (2014, 2016, 2019).
In addition, Mookie Betts (31, LA Dodgers), former AL MVP in 2018, and Paul Goldschmidt (36, St. Louis Cardinals), winner of the 2022 National League (NL) MVP, heat up the stage. There is also Meryl Kelly (35, Arizona Diamondbacks), who wrote the “reverse export myth” to settle down in the MLB after playing for SK (now SSG) in the Korean professional baseball team.
Venezuela’s Cabrera, WBC ‘Perfect Attendance’
Venezuela’s Miguel Cabrera (40, Detroit Tigers) made every sortie from the 2006 tournament at the age of 23 to the 4th WBC in 2017 at the age of 34. Then, at an age of indecision, he burns a spark at the WBC, which will be his last. In 2012, he won the AL MVP by achieving the triple crown (#1 in batting average, RBI, and home run) for the first time in 45 years. He recorded 507 home runs and 3088 hits in his career until last season, leaving his name as the seventh player ever to join the ‘500 home run-3000 hits club’.