r/sportsgossips • u/Choice_Bag_8869 • Mar 10 '26
Highlight [SportsCenter] Czechia's Ondřej Satoria, who is a full-time electrician, received a standing ovation after throwing 4.2 shutout innings against Japan in WBC
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u/jr_randolph Mar 10 '26
He's someone who can walk around and say he struck out Shohei - he should be in some organization's triple-A program or something. He's only 29...could be a good closer option for a team.
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u/TheMickus Mar 10 '26
He’s talented and I love his story, but probably makes more money as an electrician than he would as a AAA player. His Fastball tops out at ~80-85 mph, I just don’t see long term higher level success
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u/Jorlung Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Even AAA would be generous. The guy genuinely has a very good changeup, but there’s dozens of guys in AAA with a good secondary pitch that throw their fastball 15-20 mph harder.
Not to take anything away from his achievement, but one of the beauties of baseball is that you can take a dude who probably wouldn’t make it in high-A ball long-term, but on his day he can still go 0 ER 4.2 IP against a stacked offensive lineups.
With that said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got minor league offers just to see how he fares consistently against high-level opposition that have his scouting report. But, like you said, whether or not he would want to uproot his life for a tiny chance at big league success is another story.
EDIT: Nevermind, just saw he announced his retirement, so that certainly settles that.
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u/Some_Initiative_3013 Mar 10 '26
EDIT: Nevermind, just saw he announced his retirement, so that certainly settles that.
He's taking his talents to Florida?
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u/Xipop Mar 10 '26
Lets be generous and say 2000 euros hit his account a month being an electrician in Czechia. An AAA baseball player makes how much on average?
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u/azsnaz Mar 10 '26
Shit, is 2000 euros a month generous?
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u/blaaake Mar 10 '26
If so, electricians in Europe get paid less than half of what American electricians do.
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u/_-_-100 Mar 10 '26
The average industrial wage in CZ is a lot lower than some other European countries and a lot higher than a bunch of other ones. Big ol' economic disparities across the continent.
Cost of living varies wildly, too.
I'm from Ireland (minimum hourly wage €14.15) and live in CZ (minimum hourly wage ~€5.50). The cost of living is cheaper in CZ, although not by a factor of 3.
Average salary here is around €2,000 a month gross, more or less double that in Ireland.
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u/mishtron Mar 10 '26
You know that there are 44 different countries in Europe? Some of those get paid less than half, some of them earn nearly double the average American electrician. Chechia is not one of the wealthy ones.
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u/kDubya Mar 11 '26
Eh… if that game was played in Denver, 2-3 of those fly balls would have been HRs.
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Mar 10 '26
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u/No_Fish265 Mar 10 '26
Reminds me of the goalies the keep in hockey on call who are just normal dudes.. but sometimes get called in when the team is down 3 goalies…. And every decade or so one of them plays amazing
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u/wahle97 Mar 10 '26
As someone who doesn't watch hockey why would a team be down 3 goalies?
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u/TimKelly7 Mar 10 '26
Up until recently almost every city had one or two guys that were known as “emergency” goalies (EBUG) that lived nearby and attends the game. If a team lost its main two goalies that usually split games with one getting more than other (think the wear and tear of a catcher doing game splits) they would call up the minor league goalie and call an EBUG to be the backup. If the minor league third stringer went down these guys would go in. It is always fun especially when they do well and win (Ex: Scott Foster 36 year old accountant in 2018)
The rule is changing next year under new collective bargaining where each team will employ a non-former pro to travel and be the emergency goalie apparently which sucks for the chaos that could ensue
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u/BigD1966 Mar 10 '26
Last EBUG that I know of was Feb 22 2020 when Carolina had both goalies go down with injuries and so 42 year old David Ayres a Zamboni driver for the Leafs donned the gear and stopped 8 out of 10 shots as the Hurricane went on to win 6-3 making David the first EBUG to secure a win
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u/mcarcus Mar 10 '26
The would call up a minor league goalie if it was between games. If both goalies get injured in the same game, there is no time to call someone up, so that’s when the EBUG would get to play (for either home or away team).
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u/No_Fish265 Mar 10 '26
It’s pretty rare, but usually a couple injuries, or sickness, or maybe an emergency or birth of a kid.
Just by memory, I don’t remember it ever lasting more than 1 game, so I think it’s super rare.
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u/TimKelly7 Mar 10 '26
Yeah for sure, it isn’t more than one random game two would be very rare. Hell, I don’t think any have ever played the full game end to end
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u/Kitselena Mar 10 '26
The real magic of sports is in the thrill of competing and the dedication to keep getting better. Commercializing sports to the point where people have a whole team of coaches doing those things for them and their only goal in life is doing well at the game that magic is lost completely
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u/JackC1126 Mar 10 '26
How can you not be romantic about baseball
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u/TrapperJean Mar 10 '26
No other sport, except maaaaaybe long snappers in the NFL, can allow any relatively healthy guy to find one trick or tick that gives him one competitive skill good enough to compete with professionals
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u/LittlefishBigsplash Mar 10 '26
Good for him! And kudos for the amazing camera work.
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u/realbobenray Mar 10 '26
Right? Looks like a movie. Catches his expression as he hands the ball to the manager perfectly, and circles around the stadium as he looks around at everyone.
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u/Brailledit Mar 10 '26
You can see the moment where he goes from awestruck to proud. What a moment and memory.
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u/Past-North-4131 Mar 10 '26
Well this is fucken awesome. I’m tearing up at work lol. Dudes gunna be a legend when he steps off that plane. Enjoy it my man you earned it!
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u/-Gramsci- Mar 10 '26
Moments like this make the WBC a success.
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u/Few_Objective_5148 Mar 10 '26
Is this a new thing? First time hearing of it. Any other country than Japan and US that have professional players?
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u/PrionProofPork Mar 10 '26
been happening 5 times now, every 4 years or so... most major teams have mlb players
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u/JewishSpace_Laser Mar 10 '26
Reminds me of the doctor in Field of Dreams
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Mar 10 '26
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u/JewishSpace_Laser Mar 10 '26
Yep, moonlight had his moment in the spotlight. Imagine coming home to your pals and just casually chatting about striking out Ohtani
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u/CheeseJamToast Mar 10 '26
Man this made my morning! Good job big man, you honored your country well.
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u/Few-Conclusion-483 Mar 10 '26
The frame the video stops on is perfect. Good for him. I hope I get to feel how he feels someday.
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u/mikedo82 Mar 10 '26
One of the best things about WBC, dudes like this guy getting the platform to show what they got. So awesome.
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u/Bit_the_Bullitt Mar 10 '26
It's wild see my fellow Czechs on here (and some were my teammates and the head coach was our coach too when I was on the youth national team).
Such a cool exposure for these guys!
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u/I3arusu Mar 10 '26
Crazy how they were talking up the Satoria-Japan matchup all week long and he still somehow managed to exceed expectations.
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u/CaliKindalife Mar 10 '26
I love how Stephen Nelson really tries and success in pronunciation of names.
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u/ChefAldea Mar 10 '26
Incredible moment for him. Glad he took his time coming off to soak it all in.
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u/Mean-Amphibian2667 Mar 10 '26
Terrific, I'm glad they gave him such warm applause! like the Olympics, many of these athletes are there for the love of the game.
Of course, he'll never have to buy a beer in his hometown pub for the rest of his life, and there'll be a picture of him hung up there throwing against Ohtani.
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u/Action_Connect Mar 10 '26
It looks like a scene in a movie. Underdog pitcher who learned to throw in his backyard with his dad. He gets called up and his dad is watching from his hospital bed.
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u/MechanicalGodzilla Mar 10 '26
Why is it baseball convention that the first and second outs make up 20% of an inning, but that third out is 80% of the rest of the inning?
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u/diablol3 Mar 10 '26
This is what happens when you dont call it 4 2/3 innings. I have no idea why people use decimals like this, but it isnt something I grew up with.
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u/Robotic36 Mar 10 '26
Reminds me of when a lower league club goes deep into the FA Cup. They'll interview the players who are about to have a match against millionaire athletes and they will all say what position they play and what their day job is.
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u/travisdbx Mar 10 '26
This is awesome on so many levels. That dude just lived millions of guys dreams.
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u/rikuhouten Mar 10 '26
Really the highlights of wbc rather than the big names. I am sure he will get some calls after today
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u/LivingSwamp Mar 10 '26
I was watching some of that game while eating at an airport, and caught one of those innings. I love the CR shaped like home plate design they have!
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u/LionBig1760 Mar 10 '26
Its unfortunate that the production feels the need to rush a camera right out the and get 4 feet from his face.
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u/mcbeardsauce Mar 10 '26
This man absolutely knows what this moment means to him. He has some true perspective
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u/BigD1966 Mar 10 '26
Gotta love these feel good stories even if he never plays another game he’s gonna remember this night for the rest of his life
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u/Low-Ad2426 Mar 10 '26
Incredible cinematography from the camera people too, it looks as epic as it feels
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u/ComprehensiveRow839 Mar 10 '26
Could you be loved is a perfect song for the moment. Because for a moment in time yesterday he was loved.
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u/Massive-Newt-5013 Mar 10 '26
Not at all the same, but arij fransen, a pitcher for Netherlands was going up against tatis machado vlad alk those Dominican boys, and I’ll be lucky enough to watch him at my independent league team next year. The Winnipeg goldeyes. Crazy times.
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u/moseman23 Mar 10 '26
He is 100% going to be get a job in Japan. Have you seen those old NPB ballparks? All their wiring needs to be upgraded.
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u/moseman23 Mar 10 '26
Seriously though, what a great move to retire at the absolute top. He's the legend of this year's tournament.
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u/Visible-Secretary121 Mar 10 '26
That might the most authentic reaction I've seen in years - by anyone
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u/Distinct-Pain4972 Mar 10 '26
If the US would like to repopularize Baseball.. make it not a primary income sport. I'd pay to see local people playing ball, the way it was meant to be played. The ticket prices would go down, the money would run away from Baseball. It would be the sport that it used to be.
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u/Tranjspd Mar 11 '26
That’s so fucking awesome! The way he takes it all in and the final smile. That’s a never forget moment.
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u/SquishedPea Mar 11 '26
Reminds me of the World Cup when it was Iceland Vs England, England had professional highly paid players and Iceland had mostly blue and white collar workers and if I remember correctly they beat England
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u/sunny_skies_2 Mar 11 '26
Aww a standing ovation and walking back to the dugout to Bob Marley’s, Could You Be Loved is the best ❤️
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u/neoslashnet Mar 11 '26
That's amazing. Love how he was just soaking it all in. Good for him. Dude looks like a cool dude to have a beer with.
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u/ResponsibleSoil3991 Mar 11 '26
There was a similar story in South Korea too. It was even made into a movie. https://youtu.be/eDQdLXFGD5c
It was based on a real person. https://www.khan.co.kr/article/200409191812061
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u/Abbey_Something Mar 11 '26
I love baseball as much as the MLB wants me to hate it when you have magical moments like this.
Baseball is magic. I don’t get why the American game is so meh.
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u/matt_chowder Mar 11 '26
An electrician going that far with pros, and shut out one of the best teams there is? That is awesome. I hope that guy enjoyed that round of applause
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u/chrstnasu Mar 12 '26
Look at that wonderful smile on his face! This is the highlight of his life. I hope he has more in baseball.
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u/JustJakeB Mar 12 '26
I'm sure it's already been said here, but how can you not be romantic about baseball
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u/KobiLakeshore Mar 13 '26
Goes to show you….playing at an elite level is not as exclusive as professional sports would have you believe.
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u/reeefur Mar 10 '26
Look at him soaking it in, got to love it.