2023 World Baseball Classic championship

2023 World Baseball Classic Championship

LoanDepot Park, Miami in 2021
United States Japan 2 3
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E United States 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 9 0 Japan 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 X 3 5 0
Date	March 21, 2023 (2023-03-21)
Venue	LoanDepot Park
City	Miami, Florida, U.S.
MVP	Shohei Ohtani ( Japan)
Attendance	36,098
Time of game	19:00 EDT
Television	Multiple
← 2017 World Baseball Classic Championship 2026 →

The 2023 World Baseball Classic championship was the final of the 2023 World Baseball Classic, the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, a men's international baseball tournament sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with World Baseball Classic Inc. (WBCI). The game was played on March 21, 2023, at LoanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, United States,^[1] between hosts and defending champion United States and two-time champion Japan. Japan won 3–2 to earn a record-extending third World Baseball Classic title. Shohei Ohtani won the most valuable player award.

Unlike in 2009, 2013 and 2017, the 2023 U.S. lineup attracted distinguished players, which some commentators claimed contributed to generating excitement for the final.^[2] The U.S. general manager Tony Reagins credited Mike Trout, a three-time major league MVP, for committing to the team early (in July 2022) which made it easier to convince others to join.^[2]

The championship game was one of the most watched games in baseball history with the game attracting an average television viewership of 5.2 million people in the U.S. and a reported 62 million television viewers in Japan representing a total of 42.4% of households in the country despite the game taking place at 8 am JST.^[3][4] The game was widely praised as an instant classic, with the ending duel between team captains Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani being considered as one of the greatest moments in the history of the sport.^[5][6]

The United States was the victor of the previous edition of the WBC, in 2017 defeating Japan in the semi-final round.^[7] Japan won the 2006 and 2009 editions of the WBC.^[8]

In 2023, Japan won all four games in Pool B, which it hosted at the Tokyo Dome.^[9] They then defeated Italy in the quarterfinals.^[10] Japan defeated Mexico in the semifinals to advance to the championship.^[11]

The United States went 3–1 in Pool C, advancing as the pool's runner-up behind Mexico, who they lost to in an upset 11–5 result.^[12][13] The United States defeated Venezuela in the quarterfinals^[14] and Cuba in the semifinals.^[15]

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

United States		Round	Japan
Opponent	Result	Group stage	Opponent	Result
Great Britain	6–2 (H)	Match 1	China	8–1 (H)
Mexico	5–11 (H)	Match 2	South Korea	13–4 (H)
Canada	12–1 (7) (H)	Match 3	Czech Republic	10–2 (H)
Colombia	3–2 (A)	Match 4	Australia	7–1 (A)
Pool C runners-up Pos Team v t e Pld W L RF RA PCT GB Qualification 1  Mexico 4 3 1 27 14 .750[a] — Advance to quarterfinals Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic 2  United States (H) 4 3 1 26 16 .750[a] — 3  Canada 4 2 2 27 30 .500 1 Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic 4  Great Britain 4 1 3 18 31 .250[b] 2 5  Colombia 4 1 3 12 19 .250[b] 2 Source: MLB Rules for classification: Tiebreakers (H) Hosts Notes: ^ a b Mexico defeated USA, 11–5 ^ a b Great Britain defeated Colombia, 7–5		Final standings	Pool B winners Pos Team v t e Pld W L RF RA PCT GB Qualification 1  Japan (H) 4 4 0 38 8 1.000 — Advance to quarterfinals Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic 2  Australia 4 3 1 29 19 .750 1 3  South Korea 4 2 2 40 26 .500 2 Qualification for 2026 World Baseball Classic 4  Czech Republic 4 1 3 16 30 .250 3 5  China 4 0 4 10 50 .000 4 Source: MLB Rules for classification: Tiebreakers (H) Hosts
Opponent	Result	Knockout stage	Opponent	Result
Venezuela	9–7 (A)	Quarterfinals	Italy	9–3 (H)
Cuba	14–2 (H)	Semifinals	Mexico	6–5 (H)

The starting pitchers for the championship game were Shōta Imanaga for Japan and Merrill Kelly for the United States.^[16] Trea Turner hit a solo home run for the United States off of Imanaga in the top of the second inning. Turner tied Lee Seung-yuop (South Korea) in the 2006 tournament for the most home-runs in a single WBC tournament. Munetaka Murakami tied the game with a solo home run off of Kelly in the bottom of the second inning. Japan continued the inning by loading the bases with singles from Kazuma Okamoto and Sosuke Genda and a walk to Yuhei Nakamura. After Aaron Loup relieved Kelly for the United States, Lars Nootbaar hit a RBI ground out. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Kazuma Okamoto hit a solo home run for Japan off of Kyle Freeland to give Japan its final run.^[17]

Both teams then remained scoreless until the top of the eighth inning, when Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run for the United States off of Yu Darvish. Leading 3–2 in the ninth inning, Japan used their designated hitter, Shohei Ohtani, to record the save.

During the final at-bat, in a moment often described as storybook-like, Ohtani struck out Mike Trout, fellow renowned teammate of the Los Angeles Angels, to win the tournament for Japan. Ohtani threw a 87.2 mph slider on a full count to secure the victory, the previous two strikes being down-the-middle swung-on 100 mph fastballs.^[18]

Ohtani won the WBC's most valuable player award after batting .435 with a 1.86 earned run average pitching.^[19] Following the final, Takuya Mitsuda, the author and illustrator of the Major baseball manga that was adapted into an anime series, created a commemorative illustration featuring Ohtani alongside Major protagonist Goro Honda (Shigeno) that was published in Sports Nippon.^[20] Major fans had compared Ohtani's duel with Trout to Goro's duel with Joe Gibson Jr. in one scene.

Linescore

March 21, 2023 19:00 EDT (UTC−4) at LoanDepot Park in Miami, United States

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
United States	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	9	0
Japan	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	X	3	5	0
WP: Shōta Imanaga (1–0)   LP: Merrill Kelly (0–1)   Sv: Shohei Ohtani (1) Home runs: USA: Trea Turner (5), Kyle Schwarber (2) JPN: Munetaka Murakami (1), Kazuma Okamoto (2) Attendance: 36,098 Umpires: HP – Lance Barksdale, 1B – John Tumpane, 2B – Edward Pinales, 3B – Ramiro Alfaro, LF – Jong Chui Park, RF – Quinn Wolcott Boxscore

Boxscore

United States - Batting[21] Player Position AB R H RBI BB SO LOB BA Mookie Betts RF 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 .313 Mike Trout CF 5 0 1 0 0 3 3 .296 Paul Goldschmidt 1B 4 0 0 0 0 2 4 .280 Nolan Arenado 3B 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .385 Kyle Schwarber DH 3 1 1 1 1 0 2 .214 Trea Turner SS 4 1 2 1 0 1 2 .214 J. T. Realmuto C 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 .500 Cedric Mullins LF 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .200 Tim Anderson 2B 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 Jeff McNeil 2B (PH) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .111 Bobby Witt Jr. PR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 United States - Pitching[21] Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Merrill Kelly 11⁄3 3 2 2 2 1 1 8.31 Aaron Loup 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Kyle Freeland 3 1 1 1 2 2 1 3.00 Jason Adam 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 0.00 David Bednar 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.25 Devin Williams 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.00

Japan - Batting[21] Player Position AB R H RBI BB SO LOB BA Lars Nootbaar CF–LF 4 0 0 1 0 0 5 .269 Kensuke Kondo RF 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .346 Shohei Ohtani DH 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .435 Masataka Yoshida LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 3 .409 Taisei Makihara CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Munetaka Murakami 3B 4 1 1 1 0 2 1 .231 Kazuma Okamoto 1B 4 2 2 1 0 2 0 .333 Tetsuto Yamada 2B 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 .267 Sōsuke Genda SS 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .250 Yuhei Nakamura C 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .429 Japan - Pitching[21] Player IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Shōta Imanaga 2 4 1 1 0 2 1 3.00 Shosei Togo 2 0 0 0 2 2 0 1.80 Hiroto Takahashi 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 3.00 Hiromi Itoh 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 Taisei Ota 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Yu Darvish 1 2 1 1 0 0 1 6.00 Shohei Ohtani 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.86

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