The World Baseball Classic (WBC), a tournament which determines the baseball champion team in the world, started on March 8th; it has been attracting a lot of attention. A record number of 20 countries and regions participated, and many eyes were on OHTANI Shohei, a member of the Japanese team. Ohtani, a two-way player in Major League Baseball who plays both as a pitcher and a hitter, is one of the best in both categories. He is the first two-way player since Babe RUTH, the “God of Baseball.” In 2021, he was named MVP and the Major League Baseball commissioner gave him a special award, praising him for popularizing baseball worldwide. Last year, he surpassed Babe Ruthʼs century-old record of two-way playing in both pitching and home runs. In addition to Ohtani, the Japanese team includes MURAKAMI Munetaka, who last year broke the record for most home runs in a season in Japanese professional baseball and became the youngest triple crown winner, and pitcher SASAKI Rouki, who pitched a perfect game. Coach KURIYAMA Hideki who leads “Samurai Japan,” considered the strongest team in history, said, “our goal is to become the champion in the world by defeating powerhouses such as the United States and the Dominican Republic.” One of the reasons behind the high expectations for the WBC in Japan is that baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, along with soccer, and the country has won the WBC twice. This WBC could make baseball a global sport like soccer. ( From April issue, 2023 / 2023年4月号より）