WBC - Baseball more than Manga

When I was small, I read many sports Manga in which superheros do incredible plays and always meet his/her/their biggest rival at most important scene of most important match. I never believed such things would happen in real world, but it could in baseball games.

In 2013, Masahiro Tanaka closed to win Nippon Series final game, after his 24-0 season.

In same 2013, Shohei Otani made his debut as two-way player, and pitched/hit at Japan All-star game. In 2021, he was awarded MLB's MVP.

In 2022, Munetaka Murakami hit six consecutive homeruns in his six consecutive at bat, and hit 56th homerun at his last at bat of season's last game. (both to break Sadaharu Oh's Japanese record)

And this week, Shohei Otani got WBC gold medal after making Mike Trout swing out.

Now WBC is over. Out of 30 great Samurai Japan players, 4 will be our hero, 4 will be TV guys, and 22 will become our opponents. What kind of Manga can we watch this season?

小さい頃読んでいたスポ根マンガでは、ヒーローが信じられないようなプレーをし、重要な試合の最高の場面では必ず最大のライバルと対戦していた。そんなのはマンガの世界で、現実にはありえないと思っていたが、野球ではなぜかよく起こる。

2013年、田中マー君24連勝後の日本シリーズ締めくくり。

同じ年の大谷選手の二刀流デビューと投打でのオールスター出場、その後2021年のメジャーMVP獲得。

2022年の村神様の王さん超の6打席連続ホームランと最終試合最終打席での56号。

そして今週、大谷選手はマイク・トラウトを三振させてWBCで世界一に。

WBCが終わって、30人の侍のうち、4人が我らのヒーローに戻り、4人はTVの向こうの人、そして残り22人は敵となる。今年、野球はどんなマンガを見せてくれるでしょうか？