Being selected to play for Japan has fulfilled one of Lars Nootbaar's childhood dreams, but hearing of encouraging words from Hall of Fame slugger Sadaharu Oh gave him chills on Saturday.
Before Samurai Japan's World Baseball Classic opener against China on March 9 at Tokyo Dome, Oh praised the contributions of two Americans to the WBC teams of their mothers' homelands — Nootbaar with Japan and Tommy Edman with South Korea.
"Nootbaar is producing, and because of that you don't hear a single person complain that he is in the starting lineup," Oh had told Kyodo News after Nootbaar played in two warmup games. "I wish them both the best success."