The final game of the World Series was more than just a spectacle—it was a reminder of what pure baseball looks like, played by two men who never stopped being boys at heart.
The World Series Game 7, which has been widely reported since yesterday, was truly a sight to behold.
Last year’s matchup between the Dodgers and the Yankees was memorable mainly for Aaron Judge’s slump and Freddie Freeman’s MVP award. But this year’s victory was on a completely different level—because it couldn’t have happened without the brilliance of three Japanese players.
And at the heart of it all were two baseball boys.
Right after the game, pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who had thrown in back-to-back appearances, said in his interview,
“I was completely focused—almost like I’d become a baseball boy again.”
That simple phrase stayed with me.
When we think of “a baseball boy,” we naturally think of Shohei Ohtani—the original two-way player who made the dream of pitching and hitting a reality. Yamamoto, too, must have had that image in mind. Pitchers used to throw and throw again—game after game. That was once what baseball was all about.
And to top it all off, the Dodgers won the championship.
It doesn’t get any better than that.
