WBCの1次ラウンドが終わり、サムライJapanは決勝ラウンドに進みました♪
日本ではそれなりに盛り上がっていますが、先日のチェコ代表との試合も
途中まで完全に0点に抑えられていて、ちょっとハラハラしました〜
サトリア投手の引退セレモニーのような場面もあり、なかなか感動的でした
３年前にチェコがWBC初出場し、日本と対戦をしたことにより
試合後に選手達同士で交流も生まれました。それ以来、日本では
チェコへの好感度が爆上がりなのです♬
チェコ代表の選手たちは、ほとんどの選手が本業を持っていて
仕事の後に練習しています。監督は神経科医だし、消防士や高校教師もいます
もちろん野球はプロではないので給料もナシ
環境的には他の国に比べて圧倒的に不利なのに
野球が好きだからやってる、という本質、スポーツの原点を
思い出させてくれたチームだという気がします
どんな相手でもリスペクトを忘れず、 真剣でひたむきなプレー！
前回の日本戦でも、この漫画に出てきそうなチームが（ほめてます！）
初回に点を取り、大谷選手からも三振を奪うもんだから
私たちはチェコ代表から目が離せなくなってしまいました♬
ちなみにサトリア投手、この三振を取ったボールを記念に持って帰ったそうです
チェコと日本の選手たちが絆を深めるきっかけとなったのは
佐々木投手がエスカラ選手に与えてしまった162㎞/hの死球でした
鈍い衝撃音に、東京ドームが静まりかえったそうです
試合中のことだから仕方ない…ともいえるのですが、佐々木投手は
試合の翌日、チェコ代表が宿泊するホテルを訪問して、謝罪しました
両手いっぱいにロッテのお菓子を抱えて♪
佐々木投手は当時、千葉ロッテマリーンズに属していたので
ちゃんとスポンサーの商品ってところがしっかりしていますね
エスカラ選手は佐々木投手をハグで受け入れてくれ
チェコと日本の選手同士、交流がはじまりました
背番号16のスモラ選手も、同じ背番号の大谷選手に「おそろい♡」
みたいな感じで話しかけたことで、お互いにサイン入りのユニフォームを
交換しています。投手同士のサトリア選手と宮城投手も
SNSに互いのユニフォームを投稿していましたね！
この2人、今回の試合後にも抱き合ってました…うぅ…
ハジム監督は日本の栗山監督に帽子を贈ったそうなんですが
大谷選手が気に入ってしまい、待って行ってしまったそうです
マイアミの準決勝へ向かう際に、その帽子を被っていました
そして今年、日本へやってきたチェコ代表は
特別なユニフォームを着ていました！
日本人が読めるように、カタカナで「チェコ」とプリントされています！
普通にアルファベットを読んだら「セスコ」ぐらいにしか読めませんからね
細かいお心遣い、ありがとうございます！
今回、チェコ代表は残念ながら敗退してしまいましたが
日本だって、昔はサッカーもラグビーもずっと弱かったんですよ
海外から監督を呼んだり、海外チームでプレーする選手が増えてきたりして
だんだん強くなり、大会で勝ち上がっていけるようになりました
チェコも今はその道のりの途中なんです！
次の大会ではもっと強くなったチェコと戦って
そしてともに決勝ラウンドに進みましょう！
日本にとってチェコは
応援せずにはいられない、欧州の野球仲間ですから‼︎
The first round of the WBC has finished, and Samurai Japan has advanced to the final round♪
In Japan, the tournament has been getting quite a bit of attention. In the recent game against Team Czechia, however, Japan was completely held scoreless for a while, which made it a bit nerve-racking to watch.
There was also a moment that felt almost like a retirement ceremony for pitcher Satoria, and it was quite moving.
Three years ago, Czechia made its first appearance at the WBC and played against Japan. After that game, the players from both teams interacted and formed a friendly connection.
Since then, the popularity of Czechia in Japan has skyrocketed ♬
Most of the players on Team Czechia have full-time jobs and practice after work.
Their manager is a neurologist, and the team also includes a firefighter and a high school teacher.
Of course, baseball is not professional for them, so they don’t get paid.
In terms of their environment, they are at a huge disadvantage compared with many other countries.
And yet they play simply because they love baseball.
In a way, they reminded us of the true spirit of sports — the very starting point of why people play.
They never forget to respect their opponents, and their play is always sincere and wholehearted.
In their previous game against Japan, this team — which almost feels like it came straight out of a manga (in the best possible way!) — scored a run in the first inning and even struck out Shohei Ohtani.
After that, we just couldn’t take our eyes off Team Czechia ♬
By the way, pitcher Satoria apparently kept the ball from that strikeout as a souvenir.
The moment that helped deepen the bond between the Czech and Japanese players was actually a 162 km/h hit-by-pitch that pitcher Roki Sasaki accidentally threw to Willy Escala.
The dull sound of the impact was so shocking that, they say, the Tokyo Dome fell completely silent.
Of course, it happened during the game, so you could say it was unavoidable. But the next day, Sasaki visited the hotel where the Czech team was staying to apologize in person — carrying an armful of Lotte snacks.
At the time, Sasaki belonged to the Chiba Lotte Marines, so it was nice to see that he even chose products from his team’s sponsor.
Escala welcomed Sasaki with a hug, and that moment became the start of the exchange between the Czech and Japanese players.
Smola, who wears number 16, also spoke to Shohei Ohtani — who has the same number — with something like “Hey, we match!”
After that, they exchanged autographed jerseys.
Pitchers Satoria and Hiroya Miyagi also posted photos of each other’s jerseys on social media. And after this game, the two of them hugged again… it was such a touching moment.
Manager Hadim even gave a hat to Japan’s manager Hideki Kuriyama as a gift. But apparently Ohtani liked it so much that he ended up taking it with him.
When the team headed to the semifinals in Miami, he was wearing that very hat.
And this year, when Team Czechia came to Japan, they were wearing a special uniform!
To make it easy for Japanese fans to read, the word “Czech” was printed in katakana as 「チェコ」 on the uniform.
If we tried to read the alphabet as it is, many Japanese people would probably end up reading it something like “Sesco.” So we really appreciate this thoughtful gesture!
Unfortunately, Team Czechia was eliminated this time. But Japan wasn’t always strong either. In the past, we struggled in sports like soccer and rugby for a long time.
Over the years, things gradually changed — foreign coaches were invited, and more players began playing for overseas teams. Little by little, Japan became stronger and eventually started advancing in international tournaments.
Czechia is on that journey now.
In the next tournament, we hope to face an even stronger Team Czechia — and this time, advance to the final round together.
For Japan, Czechia has become a baseball friend in Europe that we simply can’t help cheering for!
