MIAMI — Shohei Ohtani gritted his teeth and sucked in some air. “It’s extremely disappointing for it to end like this,” Ohtani said in Japanese, “but there’s always next time.” Next time could be the Olympics.

The attitude toward the sport really began to change when Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, “Lefty” Gomez and other Major League Baseball (MLB) heavy hitters embarked on a goodwill tour of Japan in 1934. Babe Ruth crowded by fans in Japan, 1934. . Photo: Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

For nearly seven innings, one of the greatest upsets in international baseball history was in the making. With Japan having already qualified for the quarterfinals after Chinese Taipei defeated Korea earlier on Sunday,

The country has dominated the World Baseball Classic in the 2000s, but its baseball history started long before.

In Japan, where Netflix has exclusive rights to the WBC, residents are not used to paying subscription services to watch sporting events.

Few people on this planet can hit the ball as hard or as far as Munetaka Murakami. The Samurai Japan slugger, who inked a two-year, $34 million deal with the White Sox earlier this offseason, proved t

Shohei Ohtani and Samurai Japan were knocked out by Venezuela in the quarterfinals of the 2026 World Baseball Classic

Three years ago, Samurai Japan fielded a team in the World Baseball Classic that might as well have been called the Future Dodgers. Playing both ways was Shohei Ohtani, who was employed by the Angels at the time.