ESPN on Monday night broadcast ‘Koshien: Japan’s Field of Dreams,’ a 2019 documentary by Ema Ryan Yamazaki highlighting the acclaimed Japanese high school baseball championship tournament held for over a century.
Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani gained national acclaim during the Koshien tournament in 2012 when, at only 18 years old, he threw 100 mph.
“Koshien is like our World Series,” Ohtani said during the documentary. “Except that it’s single-elimination, so one loss and it’s over. The hardest part is even getting to Koshien.”
The filmmaker went even further, comparing the tournament to both the World Series and the Super Bowl, in an interview with C.