An up-and-coming St. Louis Cardinals outfielder with the Dutch name of Lars Nootbaar seemed an unlikely pick for the Japanese national team in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

But it turns out Nootbaar is half-Japanese, likes Japanese foods and takes his shoes off before entering a home. 

Hideki Kuriyama, the Samurai Japan skipper, is a fan of Nootbaar’s speed, hitting and power, and thinks he’ll be a good fit for his squad. 

Kuriyama, 61, held an online news conference on Jan. 11 to make the historic announcement.

Kuriyama said he had sounded Nootbaar out about joining the Japan national team, and the 25-year-old Japanese-American outfielder, born and raised in Southern California, has accepted the offer.

It is the first time for a “Nikkei” player who is a foreign national to be selected for the Samurai Japan roster.

Nootbaar’s father, Charlie, is American, and his mother, Kumiko, is Japanese and holds Japanese citizenship, which qualifies him to play for Japan in the international tournament.

FANS SCREAM FOR THEIR ‘NOOOOOT’

Nootbaar was born and raised in El Segundo, a city in southern Los Angeles County that has a large Japanese-American and Japanese expat community.

Nootbaar started playing baseball when he was about 5 years old.

He also played football at El Segundo High School, where he was a star quarterback.

He attended the University of Southern California and played for the Trojans baseball team.

In 2018, he was drafted by the Cardinals.

Nootbaar debuted in the major leagues in 2021.

In the 2022 season, he played in 108 games and hit 14 homers with 40 RBIs and recorded a .228 batting average.

He also has good speed and can play all the outfield positions.

At Cardinals’ home game, fans scream, “Nooooot!” every time he steps to the plate.

ROLE MODEL FOR KIDS

Kuriyama likes Nootbaar’s all-around skills. 

“He is a well-balanced player on a robust growth path,” the manager said.

But there is more.

Earlier this month, Kuriyama held a news conference and announced 12 key selections for the team, including Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres. 

But this time, he called up journalists for a news conference just to announce the name of Nootbaar, because of the significance of the selection for the future of baseball in Japan.

The manager hinted at the possibility of selecting a Nikkei major leaguer for the national team during an interview at the end of last year.

Kuriyama said he has been in a disconsolate mood watching the Russian-Ukrainian war.

He said that he started to realize his responsibility to tell children that having someone with a different background as a friend and a teammate is, and should be, normal. It will also help realize a world with less conflict.

“One of the powers of sports is to show that human beings are one,” Kuriyama said in the interview.

Nootbaar has limited Japanese speaking ability.

Showing children not only how the team is playing to win a championship but also how other Samurai Japan members accept a player like him and become “one team” together is important, Kuriyama said in the interview.

NATTO, WASABI AND ‘KOSHIEN’

His mother gave Nootbaar the Japanese name Tatsuji Enokida, which is her father’s name.

When he was little, he used to travel to Saitama Prefecture once a year to visit his mother’s family.

Nootbaar’s father majored in Japanese at a university. So he grew up in a household that maintains traditional Japanese customs.

For example, family members take off their shoes before entering the house and often eat Japanese dishes with rice and miso soup.

Nootbaar himself likes natto and wasabi.

But more than anything else, what connected young Nootbaar to his mother’s homeland was baseball.

In summer 2006, when he was 9, the Japanese high school national team toured the United States.

Members were selected from the high school teams that competed in the summer national tournament, known as “Koshien.”

The team was full of talent, including Masahiro Tanaka, a future New York Yankee star pitcher, who currently plays for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, and Yuki Saito, whose sensational performance at Koshien earned him the fan-favorite nickname, “Handkerchief Prince.”

Kumiko followed sports news in Japan and knew about the Japanese team’s U.S. tour. The Nootbaar family became one of the host families that took in some of the players.

A young Nootbaar opened up to the players quickly and never wanted to leave their side.

The high schoolers also loved Nootbaar and communicated with him in broken English.

The team let Nootbaar be part of the national team by doing stretch training together and allowing him to sit on the team bench as a ballboy for the games.

He learned some Japanese words, too.

“They loved Lars like he was a mascot for the Japanese national team,” Kumiko said.

At the end of the tour, the boys gave Nootbaar a surprise gift.

It was a navy baseball cap with a “J” logo on the front. All members signed their names in kanji characters on the brim.

Nootbaar put on the cap with a huge smile, but he cried his eyes out when he had to send the team off at the airport.

Shortly after the goodbye, Nootbaar was selected to a little league all-star team.

While shooting a self-introduction video for the team, Nootbaar put on a cap and folded the brim firmly and longitudinally, mimicking the high schoolers’ style. Then he said, “I’m representing Japan.”

Now a symbol of his dream, he treasured the gifted cap and kept it neatly in his room for 16 years.

“I couldn’t imagine it becoming true and he is really representing Japan,” Kumiko said in astonishment.

When Kuriyama hinted at the possible addition of a Nikkei player, Nootbaar was very excited and asked his mother, “What will you do if I am chosen for the Japanese national team?” 

Just in case, Nootbaar started preparing what to say if the moment came, and he wanted to do it in Japanese.

In early January, Kuriyama and Nootbaar talked online.

“I want you to play as a member of the Japanese national team,” the skipper said.

Nootbaar, with the J cap beside him, responded with the traditional Japanese greeting, “yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” 

If anyone is concerned about Nootbaar’s limited Japanese speaking ability, it should pose no problem. 

One more familiar Japanese face from the major leagues is expected to join the Samurai Japan dugout. Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s popular interpreter, will help Nootbaar on the team.

(This article was compiled from reports by Ken Murota and Shiro Yamaguchi.)