Newsday: Team USA loses to Japan, 9-4, in WBC semifinals
8:52 AM
Art Spander in baseball
By Art Spander
Special to Newsday
LOS ANGELES -- It was just one ballgame, and it didn't prove that Asian baseball is better than American baseball. That was the observation of United States manager Davey Johnson.
Just one ballgame, but it was one that put Japan into the World Baseball Classic final against South Korea and left America wondering about the sport it calls its national pastime.
Defending champion Japan, hitting balls in the gaps and getting its usual effective pitching, defeated the United States, 9-4, last night before a chilled but enthusiastic crowd of 43,630 in their WBC semifinal at Dodger Stadium.
So tonight it will be South Korea, a 10-2 winner over deflated Venezuela on Saturday night, against Japan in the final. And the response should be huge, with Los Angeles being home to large Korean and Japanese communities among its 3.2 million citizens.
"It was just one game,'' said Johnson, who managed the Mets to the 1986 world championship and years ago played in Japan. He was responding to a question about whether Asian baseball has surpassed baseball in the United States.
"They played good ball,'' Johnson said of the Japanese. "They got hits with runners in scoring position. We didn't pitch when we had to.''
The Astros' Roy Oswalt was Team USA's starter, and whether it was the cold -- it seemed more like a World Series game in Philadelphia than a spring game in L.A. -- or because he still isn't ready for the major-league season, he got pounded in the fourth, giving up five runs and five hits.
Japan's Daisuke Matsuzaka -- "Dice-K'' of the Red Sox -- basically was in control after giving up a home run to Brian Roberts on the game's second pitch. As were the other Japan pitchers in this competition. They entered with a 1.20 ERA, compared to the Americans' 6.18.
"When we walked the first hitter,'' Johnson said, "those guys usually scored. And we weren't as sharp in the field as we usually are.''
"They are a fundamentally sound team,'' Team USA designated hitter Jimmy Rollins said. "They don't try to drive every pitch out of the park. And they play with passion. We play with passion, but they wear their passion on their sleeves.''
The U.S. beat Japan for the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics, but once this game got to the fourth inning, it became obvious that the Americans were in trouble.
"We did want to come here and play Japan,'' Johnson said before the first pitch. "That's one of the goals we had. I think every player on this team expects to win tonight.''
But expectations and results are two different things.
The Americans, wearing gray road uniforms, started quickly enough on Roberts' homer.
With darkness still far off -- the game began at 5:09 p.m. PDT -- and the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance as a perfect backdrop for a California setting, a Hollywood-type ending seemed imminent. Especially after the Mets' David Wright doubled in the third to give the U.S. a 2-1 lead.
But Japan's batters lined a couple of balls into open spaces to begin the fourth off Oswalt, to be followed by an error from Roberts on a hard shot by Kosuke Fukudome. The Mariners' Kenji Johjima recorded his second sacrifice fly, and Japan was in front.
Akinori Iwamura, a star for Tampa Bay in the World Series, tripled. Finally, after a couple more hits, Johnson replaced Oswalt with John Grabow. It seemed certain that the U.S. would not replace Japan as champion.
Matsuzaka allowed two runs and five hits in 42/3 innings and was pulled when he reached 98 pitches. Matsuzaka is 3-0 in this year's WBC, having allowed 14 hits and four runs in 142/3 innings. He went 3-0 and was selected tournament MVP three years ago.
Team USA, of course, was without Boston's Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis, both injured along the way. They didn't get to face Red Sox teammate Matsuzaka. "Before Pedroia left,'' Johnson said of last year's American League Most Valuable Player, "he said one thing he wanted to do was play the Japanese and beat them so he didn't have to listen to Dice-K all year long.''
No such luck. Matsuzaka struck out four, including the final batter he faced, Wright, who was mesmerized by a sharp breaking ball.
The Yankees' Derek Jeter and the Mets' Wright each went 1-for-5 and committed an error in the semifinal. Wright finished at 9-for-32 (.281) and Jeter was 8-for-29 (.276).
Johnson, 66, played in Japan, for the Yomiuri Giants and was asked his opinion of Asian baseball now as compared to when he was involved.
"In the '70s,'' Johnson said, "I thought quite a few players would come to the United States. I was kind of surprised they didn't. But now their stars come over and become stars in the United States in the big leagues.
"So I think their baseball program has grown. Their catchers are better. The running game is not as prominent. But they'll try to run and play little ball.''
Japan has 77 hits in the Classic, 61 of which have been singles, and only four home runs.