WBC expectations for Japan surpass those for Team USA

MIAMI — Baseball finally got its true World Series.

On a Tuesday night in late March.

But this time, there was no series. Just a one game, do-or-die, winner-take-all showdown between Samurai Japan and Team USA, the two clear favorites when the World Baseball Classic began two weeks earlier.

The existential question for this tournament is the same now as it was then, dating all the way back to when it began in 2006: Where does the WBC rank in the baseball universe? That depends on whom you ask.

For Japan, Tuesday night’s title game seemed to be the sport’s Everest, surpassing even its own NPB championship. Nearly half of the nation’s TVs were tuned into to the earlier rounds, and the games at the Tokyo Dome shattered earlier attendance records.

A further reflection of the country’s rabid interest: hundreds of Japanese media traveled to Miami to cover the event, and the players themselves — who trained together weeks longer than most other WBC teams — seemed acutely aware of the expectations.

Samurai Japan barely survived Mexico, needing a pair of comebacks Monday night, including Munetaka Murakami’s walk-off two-run double to escape with a 6-5 victory. Japan was seven outs away from elimination before Masataka Yoshida — who signed a $90 million deal with the Red Sox this winter — blasted a tying three-run homer that hooked inside the rightfield foul pole.

But advancing to the championship soon felt more like relief than a cause for jubilation. And Shohei Ohtani, who spurred the ninth-inning rally with a leadoff double, spelled out why.

“Obviously it’s a big accomplishment,” Ohtani said through his interpreter. “But there’s a huge difference between getting first and second. So I’ll do all I can to get that first place.”

That’s the separator here. For Japan, winning the WBC comes off as a mission while Team USA gives the impression its more like a goal. This is partly due to the dynamic between the two WBC powers. Japan has a handful of major-leaguers, with others — such as fireballer Roki Sasaki — hopeful to make the jump as well. But for the majority of the roster and staff, beating a mighty U.S. team is the only chance to proclaim themselves a legit world champion. And deliver that glory to their country, too.

“I think we can prove how good Japanese baseball is in the world,” Yoshida said through an interpreter, surely knowing he’ll have to personally win over a skeptical Red Sox fan base this season. “I think it s a great opportunity for us to prove that.”

Team USA doesn’t shoulder that same burden. Mike Trout & Co. don’t need to convince anyone of their elite status, with All-Star resumes built in the planet’s highest league. Listening to the U.S. players describe their WBC experience, it tends to focus on the enjoyment of the journey, the clubhouse bonding, the unique window to have foes be teammates for a few weeks.

Of course it’s important to them to win the WBC. But just how important? Trout, Mookie Betts, Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado, Trea Turner — they’re all paid hundreds of millions to help deliver a World Series from April through October. With all that money comes a massive obligation to their regular day jobs, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be passionate about the WBC, too.

“This is kind of our Olympics,” Kyle Schwarber said before Tuesday’s game. “So for us to represent our country, and to see the way that the fans have been reacting in our games, this is the playoffs before the season even starts.”

Schwarber knows something about the playoffs. He helped the Cubs deliver one of the greatest World Series wins in the sport’s history, ending a 108-year championship drought for the franchise, so he didn’t quite go there with the comparison. But this would be a career box to check.

“It’s kind one of those bucket list items,” Schwarber said. “Getting to the finals, and seeing the way that the atmosphere’s been, it’s very relatable. Definitely different from the World Series, but I think it’s special in its own right.”

Just as Japan needed some late-inning heroics to advance, Team USA was down 7-5 to Venezuela with six outs to go in Saturday night’s quarterfinal before Trea Turner’s grand slam pulled them from the fire. What followed was a 14-2 bulldozing of Cuba in Sunday’s semifinal that resembled a joy ride — one that would be difficult for Japan to knock off track Tuesday night.

“I get it from the outside,” U.S. manager Mark DeRosa said. “The parent clubs want to get these guys back, getting ready for the season and getting them healthy. I just know that when you’re in the fight, it’s hard not to be a 100% all in on this.”

For Tim Anderson, the White Sox shortstop who started again at second base Tuesday night, the WBC is the only title shot he’s ever been a part of. That’s not meaningless.

“I guess this is my World Series for the moment,” Anderson said.

By David Lennon

dave.lennon@newsday.comDPLennon

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.