Atsushi Nomi walked through Union Square alongside teammate Takashi Toritani, heading south on San Francisco's Powell Street in the direction of Samurai Japan's hotel, a little after midnight Monday morning, just hours after Japan was eliminated from the World Baseball Classic.
The square was lit by the soft glow of street lamps and the light that emanated from the concentration of upscale establishments populating this part of The City by the Bay's downtown area, but with everything long since closed for the night, there was nowhere for the Hanshin Tigers duo to go.
AT&T Park would also be bright, yet tantalizingly off-limits hours later, when the World Baseball Classic kicked back into high-gear. Because for the first time, Nomi and Japan had no where to go and no more games to play. Japan lost to Puerto Rico 3-1 in the WBC semifinals on Sunday, and were in the air, headed home and back to their various teams, by the time the tournament resumed Monday night.
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