The Japanese call of Japan's walk-off win is a must-listen

March 21st, 2023

If you were tuned in to Monday night's World Baseball Classic matchup between Japan and Mexico, you took in one of the best games of baseball you're likely to see for a while -- one in which Japan ultimately walked off with a 6-5 victory into the final round of the tournament, where it will face the defending champion United States.

loanDepot park lit up with Munetaka Murakami's walk-off double. That much was evident even for those watching from home. However, on Tuesday morning in Japan, viewers were treated to an additional dose of electricity, as the Tokyo Broadcasting Systems crew had an appropriately wild reaction of its own, one that needs no translation.

The Japanese-language booth, much like the ballpark, was rocking long before the ninth-inning rally, though, as evidenced by its call of Masataka Yoshida's game-tying three-run homer in the seventh.

With the victory over Mexico, Japan, the only nation thus far to have taken home multiple WBC titles, makes its third trip to the tournament's final and its first since 2009.