March 20, 2025 • 10 mins
On March 20, 2006, Japan made baseball history by defeating Cuba 10-6 in the first-ever World Baseball Classic Championship at PETCO Park in San Diego. Led by MVP Daisuke Matsuzaka, Ichiro Suzuki, and Sadaharu Oh, Japan’s dominant performance established them as an international baseball powerhouse. In this episode, we break down the key moments, clutch performances, and game-changing plays that led Japan to victory. We also dive into the lasting impact of this historic win, including how it shaped global baseball, MLB careers, and the future of the WBC.
🎙️ Topics Covered:
⚾ The Road to the Championship – How Japan & Cuba reached the final
🔥 Key moments from the game – Matsuzaka’s dominance, Ichiro’s leadership, and Cuba’s fightback
🏆 The lasting legacy – How this win changed international baseball forever
🚀 The rise of Japan’s baseball superstars & future WBC dominance Tune in to Daily Sports History as we relive this iconic baseball moment!
📅 Listen now! 👉 DailySportsHistory.com 📲 Follow for more daily sports history insights! Hashtags:
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#WBC #WorldBaseballClassic #JapanBaseball #CubaBaseball #DaisukeMatsuzaka #IchiroSuzuki #BaseballHistory #OnThisDay #SportsHistory #MLB #SamuraiJapan #BaseballLegends #DailySportsHistory
🎙️ Topics Covered:
⚾ The Road to the Championship – How Japan & Cuba reached the final
🔥 Key moments from the game – Matsuzaka’s dominance, Ichiro’s leadership, and Cuba’s fightback
🏆 The lasting legacy – How this win changed international baseball forever
🚀 The rise of Japan’s baseball superstars & future WBC dominance Tune in to Daily Sports History as we relive this iconic baseball moment!
📅 Listen now! 👉 DailySportsHistory.com 📲 Follow for more daily sports history insights! Hashtags:
Email: dailysportshistory@gmail.com
YouTube: YouTube.com/@dailysportshistory
Twitter: twitter.com/dailysportshis
Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61551687917253&mibextid=ZbWKwL
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dailysportshistory.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/dailysportshis/profilecard/?igsh=OWl1MzIyYndqOGU2
Threads
https://www.threads.net/@dailysportshis
#WBC #WorldBaseballClassic #JapanBaseball #CubaBaseball #DaisukeMatsuzaka #IchiroSuzuki #BaseballHistory #OnThisDay #SportsHistory #MLB #SamuraiJapan #BaseballLegends #DailySportsHistory
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
On March twenty, two thousand and six, is a night
that changed baseball forever and a night in a classic
night game for baseball, Japan and Cuba battled for the
very first World Baseball Classic, showing who was really the
best country at baseball. Led by future household names Ichro
Suzuki in Dice gay Matsasaka, Japan put on a masterclass
(00:24):
in skill and strategy despite Cuba's team of warriors built
on tradition is resilience. The teams fought as hard as
they could as this moment could define their country and
make history forever. So how did Japan claim the victory
and change how the world saw baseball forever in one night?
(00:45):
This is Daily Sports History and the story of how
Japan became the first World Baseball champion. Welcome to Daily
Sports History. I'man Reese, your guide as you daily learn
more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. So before
(01:09):
two thousand and six, the biggest international competition for baseball
was the Olympics, which it wasn't until two thousand when
they started to allow professionals to actually play in this game,
as the summer Olympics usually took place during the MLB season.
Many team owners and players didn't actually want to play
in the Olympics due to this issue, but the goal
(01:30):
was to create a World Cup style similar to this
soccer World Cup tournament that featured the best of the world,
from Major league superstars to other international professional athletes, as
well as top amateurs competing for their country to see
who was really the best in the world. Now, baseball
was not featured in the very first Olympics, but it
(01:50):
did make its first appearance in the second one in
nineteen hundred at the Paris Games. Now, as we know previously,
especially when we talked about the Dream Team episode, having
professionals play in the Olympics was something that was frowned
upon until about the nineteen nineties. It was all about amateurism,
and being an amateur meant a lot. And in two
thousand and five, the IOC voted baseball and softball out
(02:13):
of the twenty twelve London Olympics, making the first sport
to be voted out since polo was eliminated in nineteen
thirty six. Now, at the time they said this was
due to competition and issues with anti doping, but in
two thousand and nine they actually voted to bring back
baseball for the twenty sixteen summer games, so it only
(02:34):
had a one Olympic hiatus, but that's eight years total,
meaning lots of players were past their prime for that time,
so you took a generation out of their chance to
win gold medal, which really sucks. But what happened was
Major League Baseball really wanted to feature something and they
actually put their backing to start the World Baseball Classic.
This is really how it got started. Because it was
(02:57):
taken away from the Olympics. Baseball and it's fam wanted
to see this happen and at a time that made
more sense. Major League Baseball's played during the summer. Most
baseballs played during the summer across the world, whether it's
professional amateurs, So if you have a summer Olympics, it
makes it very hard for these players to play in
this game because they have teams they're already playing for.
(03:18):
So playing at at better time made it easier for
teams to make it. And they actually started with sixteen
teams for the first year, divided into four pools, playing
a round robin type tournament, and then would follow with
a single elimination semi final in a final. Very similar
to what the World Cup does in soccer, and they
would play all over their world. Pool A would play
(03:39):
in Tokyo, Japan featuring China, Chinese, Type A, Japan and
South Korea. Pool B would play in Phoenix, Arizona at
Chase Field featuring Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.
Pool C would play in San Juan, Puerto Rico featuring Cuba,
the Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico, and Pool D would
(04:03):
play in Lake Bueno Vista in the United States featuring Australia,
the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Venezuela. And there was some
big names back then featured in this. The US team
had stars like Derek Jeter, King, Griffey Junior, and Roger
Clemens on it. The Dominican Republic had David Ortiz, Albert
Poolholtz and Andre Bell. The Japan team had Ethuzuki and
(04:23):
Dice came Matchazaka, and the Japan team was led by
Santa rue Oh Will we covered on a previous episode
who is the all time home run leaders in the
world as their manager now. In Group A, Japan, Japan
and South Korea advanced, while in Group B Mexico in
the United States advanced, Group C, Puerto Rico and Cuba advanced,
(04:43):
and Group D the Dominican Republic in Venezuela advanced. Now
this is a second round pool in place. Now this
was separated to Pool one and Pool two. Both these
pools would be playing in America, one in Anaheim and
one in San Diego. Where in Pool one featured Japan,
South Korea, the United States and Mexico, where South Korea
(05:05):
and Japan advanced to the championship round, leaving the United
States the host city and heavily favored out with a
losing record in this pool. Then in Pool two featured
the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, where Dominican
Republic in Cuba advanced to the championship round, which would
be a four team, one game elimination. Cuba would take
(05:26):
on the Dominican Republic beating them three to one, where
Japan would take on South Korea beating them six to zero,
setting a final setting a final championship between Cuba and Japan. Now, Japan,
as we talked about in the Home Run King episode,
has a history of baseball that dates back for many
years and has probably the second best professional league in
(05:46):
all of baseball, but they had never won a top
international tournament and this game was a chance for them
to showcase their Samurai liked baseball, and Cuba had a
determination as their team was completely amateur players that had
been playing together for a long time and would show
that they were a force to be reckoned with in
international baseball as well. Now, the stakes were high that
(06:06):
this would be the first ever World Baseball Classic champion,
and the hope was this would continue throughout the years
so the baseball could continue be at a world stage. Now.
In the first inning, Japan wasted no time setting the tone.
They jumped out to a four to zero lead at
the top of the first inning, with Ichio Suzuki leading
off the game, setting the tone for the whole team
(06:28):
as he did throughout his career in Major League baseball. Now,
despite the tough start, Cuba refused to panic and they
came back scoring one run of their own to try
to break into the lead. The next three innings, both
teams would settle in and they would go score this
until the fifth inning, when Japan would get aggressive using
bunning and hit and runs to score two more runs
to extend their lead six to one, but Cuba would
(06:51):
not give up. They would hold Japan score this for
the next three inning, while in the sixth Cuba would
score two more runs, and then the eighth they would
two more, bringing it into a one run game heading
into the final inning of the game, giving them the
championship that everyone wanted. The end of the game one
run to see who would be the World Championship. There
(07:13):
were millions of people watching, not only in America but
across the world looking to see who would be the champion.
But Japan would not take their foot off the gas
and they went on another run led by Ichiro Suzuki,
where they scored four more runs, increasing their lead ten
to five. Now Cuba would fight back, scoring one more
(07:35):
run in the bottom of the ninth despite Japan's closure
coming in, but it was too little, too late, and
Japan would end up winning the very first World Baseball
Classic with over ten million people watching in Japan celebrating
showing their dominance and how good baseball was in Japan.
As players that come to the Major League Baseball from
Japan are some of the best players in the league
(07:57):
to this day. Dice game matches would be named Tournament MVP,
with each Ro Suzuki and Toma Sazuk from Japan also
being named All Tournament Team, which featured two Americans despite
not making it past the second round, and Derek Jeter
and King Griffy Junior. Now the impact showed that people
(08:18):
wanted this, it still showed you how good some of
these players were. Lots of these players from the smaller
countries would go on to sign majors to the contracts,
giving them the chance and an opportunity to make more
money than they could have ever made anywhere else. This
also showed how baseball had grown across the world, as
in America we often think we're always the best. We
(08:40):
played the World Series here we have to be the best,
but that's not true. We didn't even make it to
the semi final round and during this seventeen day event
there was over one hundred thousand spectators to watch all
the games. The television ratings were stronger than expected, drawing
over one million for just pool games and getting more
(09:01):
worldwide viewed overall, and the revenue made from the World
Baseball Classic was distributed to other countries. Japan out the
most then Cuba, and then they separated it and then
they're separated then by who was left, giving each team
chance to continue to grow. And unlike the other World Cup,
they actually play this every three years, So in two
(09:22):
thousand and six they played it and they've played it
every three years, although they did cancel the twenty twenty
World Baseball Classic due to COVID. And if you haven't
watched one of these games, it's it's always fun to
watch these teams as it's great to see a sport
that is focused on going international. We play games in
other countries all the time. It's great to see that
(09:43):
the game is truly growing international. The game is not
just an American game. We always call it America's pastime.
It's not just America. It's a world that plays this game.
It's the world that gives us most of our stars.
Our biggest star right now in baseball is Shoheo Tani
from and most of our biggest stars from two thousand
and one have been from another country. So it shows
(10:06):
that competition is growing across the world and it's giving
us up. It's giving us better baseball, and I hope
that baseball continues this tradition, and I want to thank
you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you
want more NBA content, check out the Dime Droppers podcast
where they dive into all things NBA and we'll put
(10:27):
a link in the description for you to check them out.
And if you enjoy today's episode of Daily Sports History,
please make sure you are subscribed wherever you're listening. That way,
you do not miss a single episode. Come back tomorrow
for more Daily Sports History.
On March twenty, two thousand and six, is a night
that changed baseball forever and a night in a classic
night game for baseball, Japan and Cuba battled for the
very first World Baseball Classic, showing who was really the
best country at baseball. Led by future household names Ichro
Suzuki in Dice gay Matsasaka, Japan put on a masterclass
(00:24):
in skill and strategy despite Cuba's team of warriors built
on tradition is resilience. The teams fought as hard as
they could as this moment could define their country and
make history forever. So how did Japan claim the victory
and change how the world saw baseball forever in one night?
(00:45):
This is Daily Sports History and the story of how
Japan became the first World Baseball champion. Welcome to Daily
Sports History. I'man Reese, your guide as you daily learn
more about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. So before
(01:09):
two thousand and six, the biggest international competition for baseball
was the Olympics, which it wasn't until two thousand when
they started to allow professionals to actually play in this game,
as the summer Olympics usually took place during the MLB season.
Many team owners and players didn't actually want to play
in the Olympics due to this issue, but the goal
(01:30):
was to create a World Cup style similar to this
soccer World Cup tournament that featured the best of the world,
from Major league superstars to other international professional athletes, as
well as top amateurs competing for their country to see
who was really the best in the world. Now, baseball
was not featured in the very first Olympics, but it
(01:50):
did make its first appearance in the second one in
nineteen hundred at the Paris Games. Now, as we know previously,
especially when we talked about the Dream Team episode, having
professionals play in the Olympics was something that was frowned
upon until about the nineteen nineties. It was all about amateurism,
and being an amateur meant a lot. And in two
thousand and five, the IOC voted baseball and softball out
(02:13):
of the twenty twelve London Olympics, making the first sport
to be voted out since polo was eliminated in nineteen
thirty six. Now, at the time they said this was
due to competition and issues with anti doping, but in
two thousand and nine they actually voted to bring back
baseball for the twenty sixteen summer games, so it only
(02:34):
had a one Olympic hiatus, but that's eight years total,
meaning lots of players were past their prime for that time,
so you took a generation out of their chance to
win gold medal, which really sucks. But what happened was
Major League Baseball really wanted to feature something and they
actually put their backing to start the World Baseball Classic.
This is really how it got started. Because it was
(02:57):
taken away from the Olympics. Baseball and it's fam wanted
to see this happen and at a time that made
more sense. Major League Baseball's played during the summer. Most
baseballs played during the summer across the world, whether it's
professional amateurs, So if you have a summer Olympics, it
makes it very hard for these players to play in
this game because they have teams they're already playing for.
(03:18):
So playing at at better time made it easier for
teams to make it. And they actually started with sixteen
teams for the first year, divided into four pools, playing
a round robin type tournament, and then would follow with
a single elimination semi final in a final. Very similar
to what the World Cup does in soccer, and they
would play all over their world. Pool A would play
(03:39):
in Tokyo, Japan featuring China, Chinese, Type A, Japan and
South Korea. Pool B would play in Phoenix, Arizona at
Chase Field featuring Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and the United States.
Pool C would play in San Juan, Puerto Rico featuring Cuba,
the Netherlands, Panama, and Puerto Rico, and Pool D would
(04:03):
play in Lake Bueno Vista in the United States featuring Australia,
the Dominican Republic, Italy, and Venezuela. And there was some
big names back then featured in this. The US team
had stars like Derek Jeter, King, Griffey Junior, and Roger
Clemens on it. The Dominican Republic had David Ortiz, Albert
Poolholtz and Andre Bell. The Japan team had Ethuzuki and
(04:23):
Dice came Matchazaka, and the Japan team was led by
Santa rue Oh Will we covered on a previous episode
who is the all time home run leaders in the
world as their manager now. In Group A, Japan, Japan
and South Korea advanced, while in Group B Mexico in
the United States advanced, Group C, Puerto Rico and Cuba advanced,
(04:43):
and Group D the Dominican Republic in Venezuela advanced. Now
this is a second round pool in place. Now this
was separated to Pool one and Pool two. Both these
pools would be playing in America, one in Anaheim and
one in San Diego. Where in Pool one featured Japan,
South Korea, the United States and Mexico, where South Korea
(05:05):
and Japan advanced to the championship round, leaving the United
States the host city and heavily favored out with a
losing record in this pool. Then in Pool two featured
the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico, where Dominican
Republic in Cuba advanced to the championship round, which would
be a four team, one game elimination. Cuba would take
(05:26):
on the Dominican Republic beating them three to one, where
Japan would take on South Korea beating them six to zero,
setting a final setting a final championship between Cuba and Japan. Now, Japan,
as we talked about in the Home Run King episode,
has a history of baseball that dates back for many
years and has probably the second best professional league in
(05:46):
all of baseball, but they had never won a top
international tournament and this game was a chance for them
to showcase their Samurai liked baseball, and Cuba had a
determination as their team was completely amateur players that had
been playing together for a long time and would show
that they were a force to be reckoned with in
international baseball as well. Now, the stakes were high that
(06:06):
this would be the first ever World Baseball Classic champion,
and the hope was this would continue throughout the years
so the baseball could continue be at a world stage. Now.
In the first inning, Japan wasted no time setting the tone.
They jumped out to a four to zero lead at
the top of the first inning, with Ichio Suzuki leading
off the game, setting the tone for the whole team
(06:28):
as he did throughout his career in Major League baseball. Now,
despite the tough start, Cuba refused to panic and they
came back scoring one run of their own to try
to break into the lead. The next three innings, both
teams would settle in and they would go score this
until the fifth inning, when Japan would get aggressive using
bunning and hit and runs to score two more runs
to extend their lead six to one, but Cuba would
(06:51):
not give up. They would hold Japan score this for
the next three inning, while in the sixth Cuba would
score two more runs, and then the eighth they would
two more, bringing it into a one run game heading
into the final inning of the game, giving them the
championship that everyone wanted. The end of the game one
run to see who would be the World Championship. There
(07:13):
were millions of people watching, not only in America but
across the world looking to see who would be the champion.
But Japan would not take their foot off the gas
and they went on another run led by Ichiro Suzuki,
where they scored four more runs, increasing their lead ten
to five. Now Cuba would fight back, scoring one more
(07:35):
run in the bottom of the ninth despite Japan's closure
coming in, but it was too little, too late, and
Japan would end up winning the very first World Baseball
Classic with over ten million people watching in Japan celebrating
showing their dominance and how good baseball was in Japan.
As players that come to the Major League Baseball from
Japan are some of the best players in the league
(07:57):
to this day. Dice game matches would be named Tournament MVP,
with each Ro Suzuki and Toma Sazuk from Japan also
being named All Tournament Team, which featured two Americans despite
not making it past the second round, and Derek Jeter
and King Griffy Junior. Now the impact showed that people
(08:18):
wanted this, it still showed you how good some of
these players were. Lots of these players from the smaller
countries would go on to sign majors to the contracts,
giving them the chance and an opportunity to make more
money than they could have ever made anywhere else. This
also showed how baseball had grown across the world, as
in America we often think we're always the best. We
(08:40):
played the World Series here we have to be the best,
but that's not true. We didn't even make it to
the semi final round and during this seventeen day event
there was over one hundred thousand spectators to watch all
the games. The television ratings were stronger than expected, drawing
over one million for just pool games and getting more
(09:01):
worldwide viewed overall, and the revenue made from the World
Baseball Classic was distributed to other countries. Japan out the
most then Cuba, and then they separated it and then
they're separated then by who was left, giving each team
chance to continue to grow. And unlike the other World Cup,
they actually play this every three years, So in two
(09:22):
thousand and six they played it and they've played it
every three years, although they did cancel the twenty twenty
World Baseball Classic due to COVID. And if you haven't
watched one of these games, it's it's always fun to
watch these teams as it's great to see a sport
that is focused on going international. We play games in
other countries all the time. It's great to see that
(09:43):
the game is truly growing international. The game is not
just an American game. We always call it America's pastime.
It's not just America. It's a world that plays this game.
It's the world that gives us most of our stars.
Our biggest star right now in baseball is Shoheo Tani
from and most of our biggest stars from two thousand
and one have been from another country. So it shows
(10:06):
that competition is growing across the world and it's giving
us up. It's giving us better baseball, and I hope
that baseball continues this tradition, and I want to thank
you for listening to today's Daily Sports History. If you
want more NBA content, check out the Dime Droppers podcast
where they dive into all things NBA and we'll put
(10:27):
a link in the description for you to check them out.
And if you enjoy today's episode of Daily Sports History,
please make sure you are subscribed wherever you're listening. That way,
you do not miss a single episode. Come back tomorrow
for more Daily Sports History.
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