Asia baseball wins with tactics over power: media

Asia has proven itself to be a formidable force in baseball by using tactics over power, local media said here Thursday after Japan and South Korea reached the World Baseball Classic final.

Team Samurai, the defending champions, stunned the United States 9-4 in the semi-finals before outlasting archrivals and Olympic gold medallists South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Monday.

"Asians may lack power but they have a variety of options to score runs and defend," Japan's all-time home run king Sadaharu Oh told the business daily Nikkei.

"In these aspects, they have overcome their physical shortcomings," said Oh, who managed Japan when they won the inaugural 2006 Classic by beating Cuba 10-6 in the final.

The influential Asahi Shimbun called the Japanese game "tactical and painstaking" and the South Korean squad "speedy and aggressive," saying in an editorial: "The United States is expected to fight more seriously next time."

The daily said there was no doubt that clashes between the United States, who gave the sport to the world, and the "emerging forces" in Asia would "further expand the attractiveness and possibility of baseball."

The major daily Mainichi Shimbun said it hoped that Japan and South Korea would join hands to help bring baseball to other Asian countries and help see the sport reinstated in the Olympics.

Baseball and softball were knocked off from the 2012 London Olympics as they were seen lacking global appeal.

The Mainichi Shimbun said Japan had emerged victorious thanks to its "small ball" style focused on getting runners on base, instead of the power hitting emphasised by Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

The triumphant Samurais returned home late Wednesday to cheers from more than 1,000 fans camped out at Tokyo's Narita airport.

The team's five US Major Leaguers -- including Classic MVP pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki -- did not make the trip, instead heading to pre-season camps.

Team manager Tatsunori Hara said the focus in baseball-obsessed Japan would now shift to domestic play.

"After this interview, I will graduate from this national team and try to win a third straight league title as the manager of the (Tokyo) Giants," he told reporters massed at the airport.

Japan's pitching ace Yu Darvish chimed in: "Our real battle begins once we return to our teams."

The 22-year-old right-hander was set to start for the Nippon Ham Fighters in a pre-season game on Sunday.