Mitch Dening has an insight into Japanese baseball that no
other player on the 2017 World Baseball Classic team has.
Dening is the only member of the team to have played in
Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), the number one league in Japan.
“Playing in the NPB was a life changing experience,” Dening
reminisced.
“After spending nine years in minor league baseball in
America and Japan, going through the grind and making it to the top level, it
was an incredible time for me.”
Dening racked up 64 games for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows,
picking up 42 hits, 22 RBI and four home runs to finish with a .222 batting
average, as well as an understanding of how the Japanese play, and what to
expect from their fans.
“Everything gets you so excited to play the game,” Dening
said.
“There are 50,000 people in the crowd with drums, trumpets
and it really keeps you in the game. Every player has a different chant, it
really takes a bit of the pressure off knowing the support is there. It was a
real eye opener for me, and I’m sure it’ll be just the same for some of the
rookies on the team.”
After playing in the last two World Baseball Classic’s,
Dening is pulling no punches about the strength of Team Australia’s 2017 WBC
roster.
“This is the strongest Australian team I’ve been apart of,”
Dening said.
“We’d like to beat up on China, and then be able to compete
with Japan and Cuba for a spot in the next round. A lot of the guys have put
their hand up to play in this tournament, and if there’s ever going to be a
time where we make some noise, it’s right now.”
Dening’s competitive nature and intensity is well known in
Australian baseball circles, combine that with the experience of playing at the
top level in Japan and you have a vital piece in Australia’s quest for history
at the World Baseball Classic.