YOKOHAMA, Japan — On Friday night in Yokohama, Japan, Joe Ryan threw six innings of one-run ball in Team USA’s 8-1 victory over Israel. The 25-year-old Triple-A right-hander started the first U.S. Olympic baseball game in 13 years just one week after he was traded from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Minnesota Twins. (He called it a “three-team trade” since it went down while he was already with Team USA.)
Afterward, he couldn’t say enough good things about the baseball. The literal baseball.
“It is the best ball in the world,” Ryan said.