Sasaki Rocky (22, Chiba Lotte Marines), a member of the Japanese national team participating in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, said he had a dream after watching the 2009 WBC Korea-Japan final match.
Sasaki said in an interview with Number Web in Japan published on the 13th, “The most memorable WBC match was the 2009 final between Korea and Japan. I remember watching it with my family in the living room after returning home from school at the time.” .
He recalled, “I have vivid memories of the joy of the whole family watching the scene where Ichiro Suzuki hit the right time in the final and Yu Darvish stood on the mound and got the final out count.”
Sasaki said, “At the time, 온라인바카라 I was a child who did not play baseball in earnest, and watching that game, my admiration for baseball players grew.” added.
Sasaki is the next generation ace of Japanese baseball. Since his high school days, he has been highly anticipated by throwing fastballs that are on a different level. After he turned pro, he developed into the best pitcher by pouring out great records.
Armed with a fastball of 160 km/h, Sasaki also performed a ‘perfect pitch’ in April of last year against the Orix Buffaloes in which no batter was on base.
In that game, he set a new record for the youngest perfect record ever, the most strikeouts in a game (19), and consecutive strikeouts (13).
Sasaki’s entry into the WBC Japan national team was predicted early on. He was proudly included in the first list of 12 players announced on the 6th.
Sasaki is expected to play an active role as a starting resource for the national team with major league (MLB) superstar Ohtani Shohei (Los Angeles Angels) and Darvish (San Diego Padres).
He said, “Currently, I am preparing for the tournament by training catch balls with the WBC official ball,” and “I want to learn a lot from good seniors.”
Sasaki is also considered a vigilant target for the Korean baseball team. Korea will play Japan in the first round of the 2023 WBC finals at 7:00 pm on March 10 at the Tokyo Dome in Japan.
Meanwhile, Korea met Japan 4 times in the preliminary and final rounds of the 2009 WBC, tied with 2-2, and then met again in the final.
In the bottom of the 9th inning trailing 2-3, Lee Bum-ho’s dramatic tying run with two outs led to an overtime game, but in the top of the 10th inning Lim Chang-yong allowed Ichiro a timely hit and lost 3-5.
