Japanese stars and cultural factors

Gary Arndt highlights Ichiro, Sadaharu Oh, Shohei Ohtani, and the samurai ethos shaping Japanese baseball success.

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Today, baseball is played at the highest levels on nearly every continent. Stars come from the United States, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Korea, and far beyond.

Yet for most of its history, the sport lacked a true international championship featuring the world’s best players.

That changed in the 21st century with the creation of the World Baseball Classic, a tournament designed to crown the best baseball nation on Earth.

Learn how baseball became a global game, and how the World Baseball Classic transformed international competition on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.

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