Japan on Tuesday night in Miami prevailed over the United States in the finals of the 2023 World Baseball Classic. The taut 3-2 win for Team Japan was punctuated by Shohei Ohtani's high-leverage save and his title-clinching strikeout of Angels teammate Mike Trout on a put-away slider that's already legendary.
Speaking of which, on Wednesday the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, announced that several items from the WBC have been donated to museum. According to the Hall, those Team Japan items are:
- Cap worn by WBC Most Valuable Player Shohei Ohtani in the championship game;
- Bat used by Masataka Yoshida;
- Batting gloves worn by Munetaka Murakami during the championship game and batting helmet worn by Murakami;
- Jersey worn by winning pitcher Shota Imanaga in the championship game;
- Pullover worn by manager Hideki Kuriyama in the championship game;
As well, the Hall also received these artifacts from runner-up Team USA:
- Cap worn by pitcher Adam Wainwright;
- Spikes worn by Trea Turner;
- Batting glove worn by Turner during the semifinals vs. Cuba.
Anything Ohtani-related is rightly coveted, and considering that hat sat on his head for one of the defining moments of his career you may consider the item to be doubly coveted. We've already covered our WBC winners and losers, and now perhaps the Hall of Fame can be added to the list of winners.
