OLOMOUC, Czech Republic — The next emergency call could come at any moment during one of Martin Schneider’s 24-hour shifts at Olomouc’s Fire and Rescue Brigade. It might be for a car accident, a fire or a capsized canoe in a river, and in an instant he and his colleagues would slide down a pole, jump into a truck and go.
Schneider faces life-threatening situations on a routine basis and pressure is normal for him. So the thought of standing on a mound in the middle of the Tokyo Dome — with 55,000 fans screaming, chanting and banging on drums when the great Shohei Ohtani walks to the plate — does not frighten him.