Goold: Shohei Ohtani’s dramatic showdown vs. Mike Trout sends Japan, Lars Nootbaar to WBC gold

St. Louis Cardinals player Lars Nootbaar chats with Derrick Goold on the field after Japan’s World Baseball Classic championship game win over the United States on Tuesday, March, 21, 2023, in Miami.

MIAMI — As he headed to the dugout for the top of the ninth inning and Team USA’s last chance to rally in the World Baseball Classic championship, Paul Goldschmidt knew if he got to the plate it could decide the game.

But not before the moment that would define the tournament.

Team Japan held a one-run lead and turned to the greatest talent in the game, Shohei Ohtani, to get the three outs between his team and a gold medal. All he had to do was face Mike Trout, his Angels’ teammate. It was the duel baseball wanted to see, a matchup made possible by the World Baseball Classic – and a championship at stake.

“This is a movie. This is a movie script right here,” Goldschmidt said he thought as he reached the dugout, due up after Trout. “The two best players on the planet face each other. One run. Are you kidding me? Trout is coming up third. You couldn’t have written it better.”

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Ohtani challenged Trout with four consecutive fastballs, got a second strike with a 100-mph dart over the plate, and then spun a slider to see if Trout would chase. He did. Ohtani cinched the 3-2 victory Tuesday night at the Marlins’ loanDepot Park and finished with a save and the tournament’s MVP trophy. By outlasting the reining WBC champ U.S. club, Japan became only the second national team in five WBCs to go undefeated to the title.

Two Cardinals teammates had opposite vantage points of the final out.

Goldschmidt watched from the on-deck circle, denied his chance to rewrite the game. Lars Nootbaar rushed in from left field to join Japan’s celebration around Ohtani at the mound.

“Being a WBC champ, man, that’s just something to proud of,” Nootbaar said on the field, wearing his gold medal and between posing for photos with teammates and coaches. “It’s just one of the things that as a baseball player I wanted to do.”

Said USA’s manager Mark DeRose: “The baseball world won tonight.”

If the tournament unfolded like a movie, climaxing with the dramatic showdown between teammates, then the young, breakout scene-stealer in a supporting role was Nootbaar.

The Cardinals’ 25-year-old outfielder became the first U.S.-born player ever to play for Japan’s national baseball team, known as Samurai Japan. He hit leadoff and played center field every single game of the tournament for Japan. With a broken-bat groundout in the second inning Tuesday, he delivered the tie-breaking RBI in the championship that vaulted Japan ahead for good. During pool play at the Tokyo Dome, he became so popular that youth league players and news anchors were twisting their fists together as Nootbaar does for his pepper grinder celebration. A Tokyo restaurant named noodles after him. He will soon have endorsement offers lining up, if doesn’t already. An energy bar cannot be far away.

Nootbaar’s star-making turn even has that dramatic moment behind the scenes in the clubhouse where the protagonist learns his place with new teammates.

During the first team meeting, all of the players on Team Japan tug on white t-shirts with JAPAN written on the front in black and gold – like their jerseys – and TACHAN on the back. That was the nickname they gave Nootbaar. They were all TACHAN. Welcome.

“I didn’t really know what to expect,” Nootbaar said. “It really calmed my nerves. I had some nerves coming in here. I didn’t know what it would be like. The language barrier. Everything. These guys are the top of their game. Where do I fit? They all put on their shirts, and it was like this weight lifted off my shoulders.”

Team USA launched to an early lead Tuesday with Trea Turner’s solo homer in the second inning and his record-tying fifth of the tournament.

Japan answered immediately against U.S. starter Merrill Kelly. Munetake Murakami, who hit 56 home runs this past season in Japan’s highest league, drilled a pitch that left his bat at 115.1 mph and traveled an estimated 432 feet. Three of the next four batters reached base to eject Kelly from the game and bring in lefty Aaron Loup. With the bases loaded and the score tied, Nootbaar came to the plate.

He fell behind 0-2 on consecutive sinkers.

He put the next one in play for a groundout that scored Kazuma Okamoto from third and snapped a 1-1 tie. As far as Hollywood RBIs go, it wasn’t lights spending sparks into the sky. But splinters spilling on the turf produced exactly what was needed.

“Definitely he’s going to be a better player this year because of this experience – in the regular season and if we make the postseason,” Goldschmidt said. “You’re going to rely on these experiences you’ve gone through. … Every player who plays in this will be better for it. The atmosphere. If they get into the playoffs, it will be something they can look back on and know, ‘Hey, I’ve done this before.’ Short term and long term, I think it’s good for everyone involved.”

United States first baseman Paul Goldschmidt smiles as he prepares to bat during first inning of the World Baseball Classic championship game against Japan on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Miami.

Wilfredo Lee, Associated Press

By any measure the WBC’s return for the first time since the U.S. won in 2017 was a rousing success. The tournament featured classic games such as Japan’s walk-off victory Monday night against Mexico and captivating moments such as Ohtani striking out Trout. Mexico’s Randy Arozarena again shined on one of baseball’s biggest stages and in between daring catches in left field he signed autographs for fans. Cardinals veteran starter Adam Wainwright, pitching for his country for the first time, got two wins in the tournament and a cherished souvenir from Team USA’s semifinal win against Cuba.

The game ended with a double play, and Goldschmidt pocketed the baseball from the final out. He gave it to Wainwright later.

“It’s going to be one of my prized possessions,” Wainwright said. “We’re getting our jerseys signed. I’ll take a couple of WBC balls. More than that I’m just taking memories. What’s cooler than rubbing shoulders with the best?”

And to do it raucous atmospheres.

A sellout crowd of 36,098 attended Tuesday’s championship and came complete with a band playing throughout at-bats. The entire tournament brought more than 1.3 million fans to ballparks in the middle of spring training for an Olympics-like tournament that’s not yet 20 years old. It will return in 2026, Major League Baseball confirmed Tuesday. Japan’s pool play game vs. Korea had a TV audience of 62 million in Japan, nearly half of the country’s population. More were expected for Tuesday night’s championship and the possibility of Ohtani pitching –and Trout looming.

Okamoto extended Japan’s lead with a leadoff homer in the fourth.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nootbaar had a swing at draining any drama from the late innings with his second at-bat with the bases loaded and he flew out on a 2-2 pitch. Goldschmidt had a chance to erase Japan’s lead in the seventh but bounced into a double play. The whole time Ohtani shuttled between the dugout and the bullpen, being available to hit if his spot came up and getting ready to arm up to pitch an inning. It became clear he had the ninth if Japan had the lead.

Yu Darvish entered the game in the eighth inning and the gravitational pull of the Ohtani-Trout meeting strengthened. Kyle Schwarber’s solo homer off Darvis trimmed Japan’s lead down to a run. Moreover, it brought the back third of the U.S. lineup up to the plate and assured Trout would hit third in the ninth inning.

Between Ohtani and the title were a batting champ, an AL MVP, and Trout, a three-time MVP.

“That ninth inning, I can’t lie to you, man,” Nootbaar said. “The nerves were coming up for sure.”

United States infielder Trea Turner runs the bases after hitting a home run during the second inning of the World Baseball Classic championship game against Japan on Tuesday, March 21, 2023, in Miami.

Marta Lavandier, Associated Press

Team USA’s No. 9 hitter Jeff McNeil, the batting champ, drew a full-count walk from Ohtani. With the tying run on base, the rally came apart when Mookie Betts, former MVP, grounded into a double play. That left Trout. Nootbaar saw a few teammates starting to celebrate. He didn’t dare. Ohtani fell behind with a breaking ball. And then Ohtani tested Trout with four consecutive fastballs.

Ohtani finished with the full-count slider.

“It was like a Manga,” Okamoto said. “Like a comic book.”

The next two batters due up for Team USA, Goldschmidt and Cardinals teammate Nolan Arenado, replaced their bats in the back rack and waited to be handed their silver medals.

Nootbaar was eligible to play for Japan because his mother was born there. His two siblings were born in Japan, and he had his parents along for all of the tournament. At 9 years old, Nootbaar said he wanted to play for Team Japan in the WBC and 16 years later he was helping them win the title and becoming a sensation. A year ago, he wasn’t a regular for the Cardinals and within months he was demoted to Class AAA Memphis.

With only 166 games in the majors, 108 of which came last summer, Nootbaar was not going to crack the All-Star stars-and-stripes team, and the ninth inning was an example. Team USA had Trout in center, Betts in left, and five of the 23 highest paid position players in the majors. Nootbaar wasn’t cracking that lineup not matter what his average exit velocity and walk rate was in the second half of 2022. But he did earn and invite to Team Japan.

“I think it’s a credit to Japan and the national team for trusting a player like Lars,” Arenado said. “He’s a really good baseball player. He proved that. And (the WBC) in 2017 – it made me a better ballplayer.”

On the field late Tuesday night, as Japan and U.S. players mingled with their families and he reconnected with Cardinals’ teammates, Nootbaar said the past two weeks haven’t changed his life.

He said that while wearing a gold medal.

A line was forming to take a picture with him.

Someone standing nearby had his face on a t-shirt with a pepper grinder.

“I’ve got spring training tomorrow or the next day, so I’ve got to go back,” Nootbaar said. “I don’t know if the nerves are going to quite be like this there in my next spring game for the Cardinals.”

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