Anyone's game

Japan, and Its Fans, Embrace New Title of World Champion

The Time: SAN DIEGO, March 20 — The white flags with the solitary red circles were scattered around Petco Park, growing more and more prominent with each inning. Every time Japan scored another run or made another slick play Monday night, the fans raised those cherished flags, shook them and waved them. Then they waited.

Could this drama really become a dream come true? Could Japan really be the class of the World Baseball Classic? The fluttering flags offered the answer. They almost never stopped flying, the Japanese almost never stopped repelling Cuba during a 10-6 victory, and they snatched the championship of this inaugural event.

So Japan, which qualified for the semifinals only after the United States was surprisingly eliminated with a loss to Mexico, ended Cuba's refreshing ride through the tournament. The Cubans were almost not allowed to compete, but they were given permission, and the mysterious men in red performed admirably against some teams loaded with major league players.

It's kind of a snippy article; Jack Curry fails to mention had Japan not lost a game to the U.S. on a bad call, it wouldn't have needed Mexico's win. Further, visiting teams of American all-stars have been getting beat for years on their tour of Japan, and the Japanese and Cubans are widely known as the class of international baseball competitions, so it's not as odd an outcome as Curry seems to think.

No matter, facts speak for themselves. Including these at the end of the article: "Derek Jeter and Ken Griffey Jr. were the only Americans to make the all-tournament team. ... The attendance for the 39 games was 737,112."

Maybe Bud needs to rename the World Series--call it the U.S.-Toronto championship.

Caption and photo of Sadaharu Oh, Japan's manager, thrown into the air by his players after their victory in the first World Baseball Classic, by Chang W. Lee in the Times.