On Monday, Japan and Mexico played nine innings for the ages in the suddenly Hot, Hot, Hot World Baseball Classic. With a berth in the final on the line and the good ol’ US of A waiting, Mexico took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the seventh before the Samurai evened things up with a single crack of the bat.
That slow-motion moonshot, which looked for a long time like it was drifting foul, was just the beginning of the fireworks, however. In the bottom of the ninth inning, with Mexico back in front 5-4, Tokyo Yakult Swallows infielder Munetaka Murakami stepped to the plate. With runners on first and second and no outs, all Murakami had to do was punch one to deep center to win the game. He did all of that and then some.
Goosebumps right? Well, just wait until you hear the call as it happened on Japanese television.
Wow. Talk about a quadruple shot of auditory espresso. Joe Buck could literally never. Best of all, some hero even translated it for us (though ultimately it's exactly the sort of mid-walk-off gibberish you would expect).
So good it’s almost enough to have us pulling for the Samurai in Tuesday night’s final against the U.S. … almost.
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