Japan Vs South Korea for WBC Championship

Japan will face South Korea tonight to determine the WBC championship.

Japan is defending this title, which they acquired in 2006, and will place Hisashi Iwakuma on the mound to face Korea’s Jung Keun Bong.

At first it may seem difficult to care about a bunch of players whose names you can’t pronounce but when you look into the pride and competitive nature of these to teams, it's easy to see why this has the makings to be an instant classic.

Japan carries many familiar MLB names on their roster Kosuke Fukudome(Cubs), Kenji Johjima(Mariners), Akinori Iwamura (Rays), Daisuke Matsuzaka (Red Sox), Ichiro Suzuki (Mariners) and  Hideki Okajima (Red Sox), while Korea carries only one Shin-soo Choo of the Cleveland Indians.

Neither of these teams are known as powerhouses but rather win with good defense, and even better pitching.

Iwakuma  the presumptive starter tonight is a 27-year-old ace who went  21-4 with a 1.87 ERA in 2008 for the Rakuten Golden Eagles edging out Yu Darvish for the ERA lead in Japans Pacific league earning him the league MVP. Iwakuma pitched brilliantly against Cuba back on March 18 allowing just five hits over six shutout innings.

Bong a former major league pitcher with the Braves and the Reds, reinvented his career after returning to Korean baseball.

In 2008, with the LG Twins, Bong had a 2.66 ERA and 140 strikeouts. He also helped Korea to the gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Bong also started in the two previous meetings of these two teams in this classic, allowing three hits and scoring two strikeouts in just over five innings for a 1-0 victory, and another 4-1 victory in five-plus innings of work.

Iwakuma has not faced the Korean team in this classic.

Will this give them an advantage? Will having seen Bong twice before give Japan an edge as well? Does Bong just own the Japanese hitters and is destined to shut them down again?

Will Ichiro finally have a great game where he breaks out of his hitting slump?

There are a lot of unanswered questions going into what has all the makings be one of the greatest games played in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Most Popular Posts

• Much Ado About Spring Training Stats
• Who will roam the outfield in 2010 and beyond
• Spring Training Stats Lie
• 2009 Yankees Spring Training Stats
• Official Grass; What Will They Think of Next?