31/05/2021 - 05/06/2021

#Baseball #RoadtoTokyo  

Hosted by:   USA

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Baseball Americas Qualifier - Official Payoff

Todd Frazier: Playing for your country ‘one of the best things in my life’

Todd Frazier: Playing for your country ‘one of the best things in my life’
06/06/2021
“The excitement level is out the rule every game, every play we played, the five games we played nothing really can top that in playing baseball. You're playing for your country.”

Todd Frazier had a big game Saturday night in Port St. Lucie, helping USA beat Venezuela, 4-2, and sending his team to Tokyo. "It's hard to put into words, because it means a lot to me. This is something that I'll never forget, this is one of the best moments in my professional career, playing for your country."

Asked about international playing, he was categoric. "You can see the pride that every team had, every player wanted to win so badly,” the veteran third baseman said. “And that's what make the Olympics exciting, playing for USA, playing for Canada for instance, or Venezuela. I wish you guys could understand it felt like a Major League game in playoffs. That much fun."

"I pinch myself everyday to be honest for the career I've had so far,” he recognized. “And we still have a great opportunity in a month, a month of a half... to finish maybe my career with an Olympic gold medal that would be the best icing in the cake."

"You have to hear the crowd here, it was unbelievable. Packed house screaming 'USA', and I had one the better games I had in a long time... I just kept telling myself, 'I'm not letting this go away, because it's one of the last opportunities to play for my country'. And now we got a ticket to go to Japan... I'm so excited, to be honest."

Asked if he would take an offer to play in the MLB before the Olympics. "It would have to be a big opportunity,” he said.

Asked about the difference between international baseball and the regular season, he said: “You play in 162 games in baseball. There's days where you're not going to be the healthiest, the loosest... to be honest, it's a job. But today, what we did here... playing for your country is not a job.” 

He added: “The five games we played (in Florida), nothing really can top that in playing baseball -- you're playing for your country.”