WBC Finals...Japan Wins Again!!!

Nippon, nippon!!! That's what the fans of the stadium's minority were chanting (including us), unfortunately we kept getting drowned out by the Korean faithfuls! My wife (who's a Japanese girl at heart) made a really cool ninja/Nippon sign and I was wearing my Yomiuri Giants cap as we were rooting for team Japan to repeat their WBC title. This was by far the best WBC game that I have ever seen...it is even one of the best baseball games that I have attended. The Korean fans were intense with their drums, flags, powder blue thunder sticks, and uniform Korean chants throughout the entire stadium. This was definitely the most respectful group of fans that I have ever seen at Dodger Stadium. There weren't any of the usual fights among fans breaking out and no disrespectful behavior at all. Just a group of 55,000 fans pulling for their teams and having a great time. The Hollywood celebs were even out, as we saw Dodger season ticket holder faithful, Alyssa Milano taking pics with her Japanese fans. 

Talk about two pure fundamentally sound teams, giving it all. After 10 exciting innings, Ichiro led Japan to the repeat WBC title. Why Korea didn't pitch around Ichiro is still puzzling, but hey, it worked in Japan's favor, and backfired on Korea. This game had it all...small ball, strategy, Ichiro, stolen bases, great pitching, and even Yu Darvish. This is the closest thing that I will have to attending a WS game 7 and an Olympics game. We got to see the opening and closing ceremonies, the medal ceremonies, the trophy presentation by Bud Selig, and Dice-K receiving the WBC MVP award. Even Tommy Lasorda and Fernando Valenzuela made appearances by throwing out the first pitches. It was cool hanging with my friends that I've had since junior high school, Robert and Cyrus (Dodger season tix holders), at the game who were sitting a few sections over from us. This game displayed the total essence and spirit of what the World Baseball Classic stands for. What a perfect finish to our 2009 WBC journey!!! Hey, Team USA, take note, this is what it's all about. This is baseball at it's purest, finest form. I applaud teams Korea and Japan for showing the world their finely tuned game of baseball. What perfection. This was the best way for the WBC tourney to wind down, proving to all of it's critics that the WBC is necessary for the game. Thank you WBC for giving us a truly great baseball adventure...we can't wait for 2013!!!