Just in time for the League Championship Series round of the MLB postseason, a video has been making the rounds from Japan that must be seen to be believed. A samurai licing a 100 mph baseball in half with a samurai sword? Yes, this happened.
Oh, and swordsman Isao Machii was standing 30 feet away from the pitching machine. Also, he wasn’t holding the sword ready to swing, like a hitter would with a baseball bat. He pulled the sword from its sheath, then sliced the baseball. OK, enough description. Just check the video out.
Let’s see the Cubs’ Kris Bryant or Kyle Schwarber do that against a Mets fireballer like Noah Syndergaard or Jacob deGrom. (I’m betting Ichiro Suzuki could have done this in his prime, but his skills have diminished with time.) Actually, let’s hope that we don’t see a major leaguer trying this hours before a game or even during batting practice. No swords on the field, please.
Although there may be some baseball coaches in Japan or the United States that want to talk to this samurai about possibly trading his sword in for a bat. That is some seriously impressive reaction time.
