When St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar left spring training with the MLB club to join Samurai Japan for the World Baseball Classic, he was not sure what to expect.
Nootbaar, an American, jumped at the chance to represent his mother Kumiko’s homeland when Japan reached out. The 25-year-old knew he would play with MLB stars Yu Darvish, from the San Diego Padres, and Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani.
He was also supposed to team up with Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki, who withdrew with an injury. Suzuki, though, sent word to the Japanese team to vouch for Nootbaar as a player and a person and encourage them to welcome him with open arms.
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