Japanese Pitcher Apologizes For 101 MPH Pitch To The Kneecap With Enough Candy For A Month

Ever been plunked by a 101 MPH Roki Sasaki heater in the shin? Me neither. Apparently, it hurts like hell, but it also comes with a couple perks.

Just ask William Escala!

Along with getting a free base, assuming you can still walk, you also get two enormous bags of candy for your trouble. Not a bad deal!

Worth it? I don't know, you tell me.

Roki Sasaki gifts Czech player with candy

Goodness gracious. Look at those things. They're packed to the brim with God knows what, but I'm sure our man Roki Sasaki doesn't skimp.

And for those of you who don't know how to translate a tweet, don't bother. Here ya go:

"As an apology, I brought Lotte sweets to Escala, who hit a dead ball against the Czech Republic."

I'll be honest with you, I have no idea if that's what the above tweet says, but that's Elon Musk's problem.

Anyway, apparently this is also tradition over in Japan? Who knew? They really are the nicest people.

Sasaki reportedly met with Escala outside the Czech team hotel after plunking him, gave him enough candy for the next month and also signed a baseball. Those who know more than this simple-minded American say the 21-year-old was following a Japanese tradition of giving a gift after hitting a batter.

"He gave me some goodies, and a bunch of different candies and stuff like that," Escala said. "And then I asked him if he could sign the ball as a memory for me. Something I will keep. Very cool. Something I'll cherish and never forget."

Sasaki, by the way, punched out eight over 3⅔ innings in Saturday's 10-2 victory over the Czechs, and topped 100 mph on 21 of his 66 pitches.

Insanity.

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Zach grew up in Florida, lives in Florida, and will never leave Florida ... for obvious reasons. He's a reigning fantasy football league champion, knows everything there is to know about NASCAR, and once passed out (briefly!) during a lap around Daytona. He swears they were going 200 mph even though they clearly were not.