What a revolting development
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BEIJING -- Japan, winner of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, was heavily favored to win in Beijing as well after bringing a team composed of the best players from the country’s two professional leagues.
Instead, the Japanese will go home empty-handed after losing its last three games, two of them to the U.S. The final loss came in Saturday’s bronze-medal game, during which the U.S. used three home runs to roll to an 8-4 victory. Afterward, in an emotional news conference, Japanese Manager Senichi Hoshino felt it necessary to apologize to the nation.
‘Japanese fans were looking forward to the gold,’ he said. ‘But we didn’t bring it back. I feel sorry about this. We have never experienced such a tough time before.
‘Japanese baseball, on the whole, is much better than this. Our players will show this in the future.’
Outfielder Norichika Aoki was equally contrite, sitting stone-faced through the news conference and rarely speaking above a whisper.
‘Right now I am still depressed about losing,’ said Aoki, who briefly put Japan in front with a three-run homer in the third inning. ‘I really want to say sorry. I experienced a lot [at the Olympics] but it doesn’t mean much if we don’t win.’
-- Kevin Baxter