On Thursday, the St. Louis Cardinals welcomed back a familiar and friendly face.
Lars Nootbaar, who has captured the hearts of fans in St. Louis, made his return to Cardinals spring camp in Jupiter, Florida on Thursday after winning a World Baseball Classic title with Samurai Japan.
Japan defeated Team USA by a final of 3-2 on Tuesday night to capture the title.
Nootbaar had a chance to celebrate with the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Yu Darvish.
On Twitter, the Cardinals posted a few photos of Nootbaar smiling and donning Cardinal red as he made his triumphant return to spring camp with his ever-prevalent positive energy and fun-loving personality.
NOOOOOOT IS BACK! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/phBadt8QXV
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) March 23, 2023
Nootbaar is back in town.
And he returns after having become a global phenomenon.
Nootbaar is of Japanese descent and always dreamed of playing for Japan in the WBC.
His teammates and fans in St. Louis already loved him for his infectious personality and ability to keep everybody in the clubhouse loose.
Last year, he pioneered the famous “grind the pepper” celebration every time he picked up a hit.
However, it expanded all the way to Japan when he went across the Pacific Ocean to join his new WBC teammates.
He even had stars such as Ohtani performing the move.
He also had turned into a motivational speaker for his team and was constantly relied upon for pregame hype speeches.
Now, he returns to the Cardinals after having the experience of a lifetime, living out a dream by suiting up for Japan in the WBC.
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