The Washington Post is among the bevy of news outlets running articles on baseball in Japan corresponding with the opening of the MLB season at the Tokyo Dome.  This article is long, expansive, and meandering, but interesting nonetheless.  It covers such disparate topics as yesterday’s baseball game, a history of Japanese players in the U.S. (starting with Masanori Murakami with the San Francisco Giants in 1964), the “Big 3″ (Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, and Daisuke Matsuzaka), and Japanese advertising in U.S. ballparks!  I found the following quote interesting:

A total of 32 Japanese players have played major league baseball — and 15 of them were on team rosters as of mid-March. Five are making their debuts this year.

Whiting said there are now at least 50 players in Japan with the talent to make the jump — and nearly all of them are eager to do so. Under current rules, they cannot go to the States until they have played nine seasons in Japan.

“The really good players in Japanese all want to go the major leagues because of the money, the prestige and all the hassles of playing in Japan,” he said. “In Japan, you have to carry your own bags, travel by train and stay in second-class hotels. You also have to put up sometimes with abusive coaches and excessive practices.”

I didn’t realize that players had to play for 9 seasons before going to the U.S.  Personally, I wish Ichiro could have played his entire career in the U.S.  I think he could have had a crack at breaking the all time hits record held by Pete Rose.  Speaking of Rose, I contend that Ichiro is the best hitter since Charlie Hustle.  His swing is pure beauty.