Ha! I bet there are some kids who are really intimidating. This pitcher is one of them. I realize the angle of the photo gives his arm an optical illusion of being above normal in size, but he still looks like he’d take your head off. I was watching replays of the series and the white kids seemed slower and more interested in power offense and pitching, while the Japanese kids seemed quicker and very good on fielding skills.
Yeah the Japanese kids have the whole discipline and concentration advantage going for them too. They do the game by the book and will not deviate. Watching them drill is like looking at a drill team. Which at that level, is a huge advantage. I think that’s one of the reasons they are seemingly always there at the end.