Japanese stars Ohtani, Sasaki turn Czech players into fans
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/03/2023 (1266 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
TOKYO (AP) — Players become fans, collect souvenirs, chase autographs and cherish memories — some painful.
That’s a common thread running through the World Baseball Classic when opponents face Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani and his Japanese teammates.
Take the case of Czech Republic teammates William Escala and Ondrej Satoria, whose team was eliminated from the WBC on Monday in a 8-3 loss to Australia.
Escala crumbled to the ground writhing in pain on Saturday when Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki thumped his left leg with a 100 mph fastball.
The 21-year-old Sasaki is a top pitching prospect in Japan, and threw 21 pitches at 100 mph or more against the Czechs.
Escala crawled on his hands and knees after being hit, rolled over to his back, grabbed his left leg and cried out.
He said it was all worth it.
Escala kept the ball that hit him and wound up getting it signed when Sasaki met him on Monday to apologize.
Yes, apologize.
“He gave me some goodies, and a bunch of different candies and stuff like that,” Escala explained. “And then I asked him if he could sign the ball as a memory for me. Something I will keep. Very cool. Something I’ll cherish and never forget.”
For Satoria — the Czech pitcher’s first name is pronounced Andre — there’s the memory of striking out Ohtani on three pitches in Saturday’s 10-2 loss to Japan. In fact, he struck out three of Japan’s first four batters.
Satoria recounted all three pitches, the last a change-up in the dirt that Ohtani almost lost his helmet chasing.
Satoria kept the ball, too, but what he didn’t get was Ohtani’s signature on it. Satoria said he tried through a clubhouse attendant to make contact with the Angels two-way star.
“It didn’t work,” Satoria said, explaining the request perhaps did not reach the Los Angeles Angels star.
“But it doesn’t matter,” he added. “I’ve got the ball and it’s really cool.”
Satroia, who said he works back home as an “electric technician” and is an amateur like all the Czech players, took dirt from the mound and put it into a glass container, and he’ll be looking for a place to display the memories.
“I’m not sure yet. Maybe in the living room,” he said. “Everybody will want to see it.”
___
Follow Japan-based AP Sports Writer Stephen Wade on Twitter at http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP
___
AP MLB coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports