Japan won a ticket to what could be the final baseball tournament in the Olympic Games with the Asian Championship victory in early December, led by strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting.
While some baseball observers respect the type of baseball Senichi Hoshino's players showed in the championship — hitting for singles and trying to score one run at a time, instead of swinging for the fences, others are concerned about a lack of power in the lineup.
Japan had a total of 40 hits in beating the Philippines, South Korea and host Taiwan in the Dec. 1-3 final round of the championship in Taichung.