WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL B - CZECH REPUBLIC VS CHINA

March 8, 2023

Eric Sogard

Martin Muzik

Daniel Padysak

Tokyo Dome

Team Czechia

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Finally you have opening games. What's in your mind right now?

ERIC SOGARD: I'm proud to be here. This is a very special group of guys that have worked very hard to get here and now they're excited to get on the field with the best of the world, in front of great fans, in a beautiful stadium. So we're very excited to get out there.

MARTIN MUZIK: For me I haven't seen my teammates the past six months because last six months I played baseball in Australia. So I was so excited to be playing here in Tokyo Dome for tomorrow, starting from tomorrow.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Like Martin said, being in playing here in Tokyo Dome is one of our dreams. We are and I am working hard so tomorrow will be very special. So excited.

Q. Arriving here in -- a couple of weeks ago and you've been working hard. How is your condition right now? Are you preparing well?

ERIC SOGARD: Yes, for me this is my first time joining the team and being a part of the group. It's a great group of guys. I learned from day one how hard these guys work, how hard they prepare and how much they love the game.

So it's been great for me to be able to jump right in and join them. And they've greeted me with open arms, especially for me not playing the last year and a half, it's been really helpful for them, the way they brought me in to get comfortable and be with them and get prepared. And we're ready to go now.

MARTIN MUZIK: The main goal is we want to win at least one game. And let's go make a step, one step forward for the next WBC tournament in the future. And we play against professionals. So that's what I am expecting.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Personally, not only the Czech Republic, but I'd like to show the world, the whole world that the Czech Republic can play baseball. We had experience playing in Czech domestic, but if we could keep pushing our baseball, our level is going up.

Q. You clinched the tournament first and this is the first time playing in the World Baseball Classic tournament. Do you have any specific feeling, nervous, anything?

ERIC SOGARD: I'm excited to be here. And we know this is a tournament that's the best of the world. And to be able to be on this stage and compete with the best is what this group is excited to do. And they're very well deserving of doing it. They have earned to be here. And I promise there will be surprises, I think, from this team in how well they compete at this level.

MARTIN MUZIK: Not only me, but the whole team, this is the first time ever for us playing baseball in front of 20, 30,000. It's such an honor. I cannot imagine how big pressure it will be in the actual game. I can't imagine. But all our opponents will be the greatest. So I am so excited to play against such beautiful athletes.

DANIEL PADYSAK: I was a bit nervous at the beginning because we had lack of experience. We didn't have that much experience yet, and playing in front of many, many fans. But I have (indiscernible) right now because we are just focusing on playing baseball.

Q. You have the opening game, play against China. What's in your mind? What's your impression of Team China?

ERIC SOGARD: We feel very confident in our preparation. It's gone very well. And we're just excited to get out there under the bright lights at the Tokyo Dome. We are focused, one pitch at a time, one game at a time. And we'll give everything we have and have some fun doing it.

Q. What's in your mind, especially for the first game against China?

MARTIN MUZIK: We have no fear right now because we are just simply playing baseball. Baseball is just baseball, no matter where you play. I am just thinking, focusing to get a win and show what we can do.

DANIEL PADYSAK: Play well and fight until the last. That's it.

Q. You all three mentioned that you're excited to play against professionals here at the Tokyo Dome. It's not your first game, obviously, but do you have any early impressions about the Japanese team because they have a lot of Major Leaguers on their team. Do you have any early impressions about that team?

ERIC SOGARD: Yeah, the Japanese team is one of the best in the world, if not the best. So we're excited to get out on the same field as them and compete to see what the best is like.

I know a lot of these guys, it will be their first time competing against the best, but I'm very excited for them. And I'm excited that they will compete and they will have fun and they will surprise people while they do it.

MARTIN MUZIK: Well, it's going to be really exciting. You don't get to play against the best players in the world every day. And Team Japan is really strong. I've been following them for a couple of years. And it's just amazing. I love Asian baseball, Asian style. And I'm really excited.

DANIEL PADYSAK: I've been following the Japanese team and the players they have on that team, and obviously I'm a huge fan. But at the end of the day, once you face them on the field, they're your opponents. And, like, at the end of the day you want to beat them. So that's the ultimate plan.

Q. Eric, is there something that surprised you by playing with these guys? And for Martin and Daniel what have you learned from Eric, and what have you taught him as well while he's been on the team?

ERIC SOGARD: It's been a great experience for me just from day one. I took some time off, a year and a half from playing, and day one out there with these guys, I think we were going at it for about six and a half hours straight, working out, riding to the game.

And just the amount of focus they put toward the game is impressive, the work ethic. And, again, that's why these guys are here today.

They don't have the amenities that everyone has around the world, but they get the job done. It's a game of baseball and they find ways to get it done. And it's neat to see it can be done.

It's just a special group. You can see the bond, the brotherhood these guys have. And I'm just grateful to be a part of it and join them.

MARTIN MUZIK: It's awesome to have a guy on the team who has got 10 years with Major League experience. And we all can learn from him, his movement on the field.

And what I love about him is he's always smiling. He pops out, he breaks his bat, he strikes out, he comes in the dugout smiling, nothing happening. Not everybody is like that.

And we can take that positive energy and you're not going to go down; he's just going to, what's the word, get you up or cheer you up, you know? And it's awesome, and I'm excited he's on the team.

DANIEL PADYSAK: It's actually pretty funny because when I was younger, around 12 years old, I actually played a baseball game. And Eric was part of the team that I was playing for. So having him on the team is obviously great.

Him and both Willie are great additions to the team and they're just super positive. And we're glad to have them, for sure.