Australia has started the World Baseball Classic in Japan with two wins in a sign the Aussies are no easy beats on the diamond.
The campaign began with a thrilling win over World No. 2 Chinese Tapei before Team Australia continued the strong form with a 5-1 win over Czechia on Friday.
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Curtis Mead produced a three-run homer in third inning to set up an impressive victory for the Australians.
The victory puts Australia one step closer to the knockout rounds, but next up is a clash against Japan, a baseball powerhouse and reigning champions of the event.
An interesting moment occurred early in the game as Czechia’s first innings got underway — Czechia’s Milan Prokhop made his way to the plate and offered a handshake to Australian catcher Robbie Perkins.
But Perkins shook his head and rebuffed the handshake, prompting some intriguing reactions from eagle-eyed baseball fans. The clip has gone viral on social media, with more than 4.3 million views.
Ben Verlander, brother of World Series winning pitcher Justin Verlander, tweeted: “Any lip readers out there?”
Popular baseball YouTuber Jomboy summed it up: “Pretty odd moment where this Czech batter tries to walk up and say to the Australian catcher, pretty normal.
“The Australian catcher is like, ‘Nah, I don’t want to shake your hand, bro’.
“It’s weird, right. It’s pretty awkward, the Czech batter’s like ‘Oh, OK’.
“This catcher, everyone says he’s a veteran, really nice guy. No malice to him. If that’s what he needs to save his competitive fire, so be it.”
But there was an innocent explanation to the handshake snub.
The Athletic’s Sam Blum said: “Talked to Aussie catcher Robbie Perkins about this.
He said it’s just a competitive thing, and nothing personal. If he sees the Czech team at the hotel he’ll check in.
According to Blum, Perkins said “there’s absolutely no malice.”
Baseball catchers may also be reluctant to shake hands with batters who have pine tar and other sticky substances on their hands to aid them gripping the bat.
Australia next take on Japan in their Pool C game on Sunday night at 9pm (AEDT), before another tough match-up against Korea.
“I don’t know why people keep thinking these are upsets,” Perkins said.
“We beat Korea last time, and we beat Chinese Taipei today. I think we’re there with the best in the world on any given day. I think we need to start acknowledging we can give it to them.”
Led by Shohei Ohtani and stacked with MLB stars, Japan are the favourites to win the tournament, three years after they defeated the USA in the final.
Ohtani blasted a home run to ignite Japan’s World Baseball Classic campaign as the defending champions thrashed Taiwan 13-0 in their tournament opener in Tokyo.
Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Ohtani’s grand slam set the tone as Japan scored 10 runs in the second inning alone in front of around 42,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome.
Their dominance meant the game was cut short after seven innings under the so-called mercy rule.
“Everyone stayed focused after my home run and that gave us a good start,” said Ohtani.
The result gave Japan a dream start to the tournament as they go in search of a record-extending fourth title.
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