Lars Nootbaar stays in Japanese spotlight after WBC star turn

St. Louis – Five Japanese reporters accompanied by still and broadcast cameras covered baseball’s opening day in St. Louis. Curiously, the only player on either team who was born in Japan was pitcher Yusei Kikuchi of the Toronto Blue Jays, whose first start would not come until the next series.

Instead, the Japanese contingent was there to document the season debut of Lars Nootbaar, a St. Louis Cardinals outfielder with a Dutch last name who was born in Southern California.

Nootbaar, who impressed many with his play for St. Louis last season, became an unlikely international star thanks to the World Baseball Classic. His mother is Japanese — she came to the United States for college and met her future husband here — and her passport qualified her son to represent Japan at the tournament. That made him the first player born outside Japan to be selected for the national team.