Todd Frazier brings passion, power to US Olympic baseball

LITTLE FALLS, N.J. (AP) — Sitting in the dugout at tiny Yogi Berra Stadium as he prepared to play for the Frontier League’s Sussex County Miners, Todd Frazier recalled reading a quote from former Yankees teammate Masahiro Tanaka vowing Japan’s baseball team will win an Olympic gold medal.

“I didn’t know Masa talks like that,” the 35-year-old third baseman said. “You play for your country, you see some inner beast in people that you’ve never seen before. The quietest of people come out and roar like lions. The loudest of people come out and are like gazelles. And you just see the craziest thing.”

Frazier has experience playing Japan. Back when he was 12 years old in 1998, he went 4 for 4 and pitched two-hit ball over the final two innings as his Toms River East American team beat Kashima 12-9 in the final to win the Little League World Series.

Now near the end of his playing days, the two-time All-Star is the emotional force on the 24-man American roster headed to Yokohama for the six-nation Olympic tournament starting July 28 that also includes the Dominican Republic, Israel, host Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

Released by Pittsburgh in May after going 3 for 35 this season, the Toddfather helped the U.S. qualify for the Olympics on its second try, going 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs in the berth-earning 4-2 win over Venezuela on June 5 at Port St. Lucie, Florida.

When the U.S. team gathered for that tournament, Frazier was given an additional task by former big leaguer Ernie Young, the U.S. hitting coach.

“He said, `Fraiz, you know what to do. Get these guys going for every game,‘” Frazier explained. “So I would bring them all together, give a little pep talk and get them fired up, kind of like we’re playing in a Super Bowl because it was Game 7 every game.”

.

..

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Todd-Frazier-brings-passion-power-to-US-Olympic-16304079.php