Baseball

Shohei Ohtani’s WBC Cap Donated to Baseball Museum

AP
Japan pitcher Shohei Ohtani celebrates after defeating the United States at the World Baseball Classic final game, Tuesday, in Miami.

By Kazuari Hirayama / Yomiuri Shimbun Sportswriter

12:45 JST, March 24, 2023

MIAMI — The cap Shohei Ohtani wore in the final of the World Baseball Classic has been donated to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, the museum said Wednesday.

Los Angeles Angels two-way superstar Ohtani pitched the ninth inning in the championship game. He threw his cap in the air after striking out the final U.S. batter to clinch the victory and was then mobbed by his ecstatic teammates.

Also donated to the museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. was a bat used by Masataka Yoshida during Samurai Japan’s run to the title, and batting gloves and a helmet worn by Tokyo Yakult Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami.

Yoshida, who plays for the Boston Red Sox, chalked up a tournament-high 13 RBIs, and Murakami belted a home run in the final.

A record high of more than 1.3 million people attended the 2023 WBC games, an increase of about 20% from the previous tournament, according to Major League Baseball. Ohtani’s official Instagram account gained about 2.1 million new followers during the tournament, making him the first major league player to top 4 million followers.