At the age of 26, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has conquered baseball.
With the Dodgers’ 7-6 clinching win over the Yankees Wednesday night, Yamamoto became the first player ever to win the Japan Series, World Series, World Baseball Classic, Olympic gold medal, and the Premier12 Tournament.
Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani joined Daisuke Matsuzaka, Koji Uehara, Munenori Kawasaki, and Nori Aoki as Japanese players to win the World Series, Japan Series, and World Baseball Classic.
Underpinning Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts’ heroics was the right-handed Yamamoto, who was a key piece in the Dodgers’ World Series Puzzle. He threw 6.1 one-run innings, using just 86 pitches and striking out four in Los Angeles’ game two win. He was on track to start again in game six. However, champagne showers will do just fine instead. He turns 27 next August.
He starred in 2023’s World Baseball Classic as well, striking out four and allowing just two runs in 3.1 innings in Japan’s elimination-round win against a star-studded Mexico team. He appeared in two total games, adding a 2.45 ERA and finishing with 12 strikeouts — the second most in the Tournament.
Yamamoto and Ohtani made the biggest headlines this offseason, with the two countrymen teaming up in Los Angeles with Championship aspirations. On Wednesday night, they made good on that promise and helped Yamamoto cross off another milestone in his already storied career.
_____
WBN MLB: https://worldbaseball.com/league/mlb/
WBN Japan: https://worldbaseball.com/league/japan/
