◆ WBC warm-up match: Hanshin Tigers vs. Japan (3rd, Kyocera Dome Osaka)

Samurai Japan outfielder Kensuke Kondo added another point.

With the score at 1-0 and two outs in the third inning and a runner on third, he hit breaking ball from Hanshin Tigers 's Ragsdale to center field. He hadn't hit in 12 at-bats since the send-off game against Softbank Hawks on the 22nd (at Hinata Sunmarine), but he finally lit up the long-awaited H lamp. The Samurai players on the bench celebrated with their new "tea making pose."

In the previous day's warm-up game against Orix Buffaloes (Kyocera Dome), he was batting first, but on this day he replaced Ohtani and played as the second batter. He played a valuable role. At a talk show at the end of January, he said, "I would never bat after Ohtani," but he still produced solid results.