It is often said that Japan takes its lead from the U.S.
It’s too bad that the umpires who are officiating in the Japan Series between the Yomiuri Giants and the Seibu Lions this year have taken to mimicking the poor performance of their Yankee brethren during this year’s World Series.
ESPN has a *very* long article on 21-year old pitching phenom Yu Darvish. It covers his interesting background (his Iranian father met his Japanese mother in the U.S.!), impresssive ability, and celebrity status.
The article discusses whether (or when) Darvish will go to the U.S. to play and then pivots to discuss a lot about Japanese professional baseball including the impact of the exodus of top talent to the U.S. Case in point was the impact Ichiro’s departure had on his team; attendance plummeted and they were eventually merged with another team. Xenophobia, real or perceived, is also mentioned. Some found it suspicious that Darvish’s obvious talent was ignored by many teams.
The article ends by pivoting once again to discuss the future of Japanese baseball via little leaguers playing all over Japan and the contrast with American little leaguers.
It’s really an interesting article, as long as you have the time to read it!
U.S. baseball card maker Topps has announced that it played an April Fools joke on baseball card collectors.
On February 6, Topps released a card for a Japanese high school pitcher named Kazuo “The Uzi” Uzuki, who boasted some pretty amazing stats.
Although listed at only 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds (1.8 meters and 75 kilograms), “The Uzi” was said to be known for his devastating 104 mph (167 kph) fastball and was on his way to becoming the first Japan-based high-schooler to jump straight to professional baseball in America.
The card of the fictitious Uzuki was included in every 72 packs of cards.
Thanks to Mr. Pink.
The NPR sports program (an apparent oxymoron, I know) Only a Game, has a nice story (audio) on Japanese baseball. It covers some of the differences between the U.S. and Japanese fans and game including practice and training, the A’s/Red Sox series, Matsuzaka, and the view of MLB in Japan. There’s also a second story about international baseball and future possibilities.
I know that Edward discussed Japanese baseball in this week’s podcast and it reflected well my experiences at games here. It is definitely different than going to an MLB game in the U.S. I’ll give my blog a shameless plug since I wrote a post on Japanese baseball with photos from some games I attended last year (go Carp!).
This weekend I had my fantasy baseball draft with my friends from back home (I got Hideki Matsui and Kosuke Fukudome). I’m curious: does fantasy baseball exist in Japan? If so, is it popular?
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.
The United States baseball world has invaded Japan to start the 2008 season with the Boston Red Sox and Oakland A’s. A byproduct of the corresponding wave of sportswriters is this entertaining piece via ESPN.com (the U.S. sports juggernaut). In 7 months here it has become apparent by all of the ads which feature them that Daisuke Matsuzaka (or Dice-K in U.S. parlance), Ichiro, and Matsui are heroes, but I didn’t realize the extent of it until I read that each has a *museum* dedicated to him! The best part of the article? Knowing that if I venture to Nagoya to the Ichiro museum, I can see his high school dental retainer in person!
Have you ever noticed that when two groups occupy a similar space, rivalries emerge? Whether you’re talking about Mac vs PC, Coke vs Pepsi, or the national rugby teams of Australia and New Zealand, each party will try as hard as they can to win against their hated rivals.
The top two private universities in Japan are Waseda and Keio, and like Harvard and Yale, the schools have a rivalry that goes back to their founding a century ago.
Keio University was founded in 1858 by Yukichi Fukuzawa, a visionary who travelled to the U.S. to study education at Brown University; he also promoted public education of all children and launched an influential early newspaper.
Waseda was launched in 1882 by a former samurai named Shigenobu Okuma who had been taught English by a missionary in Nagasaki using the Bible and the Declaration of Independence as his study guides.
Today the rivalry between the two schools is fierce, with Keio students mocking the name of Waseda for containing the characters for “rice field” and laughing at the many used book stores that can be found around the campus, implying that the students are too poor to buy new books, while Waseda-ites dislike the snobbery of Keio’s wealthier students. Everything comes to a head twice a year with the So-Kei (Waseda and Keio) baseball match, which is watched by so many students that classes at both schools have to be cancelled.
The rivalry between Waseda and Keio extends far beyond the current generation of students, since many members of the government are alums of the two schools.
When Japan moved to update the faces appearing on its currency a few years ago, Prime Minister Koizumi (a Keio alum) made darn sure that no one removed Mr. Fukuzawa from the 10,000 note, which was the only bill that didn’t get refreshed.
Remora writes in to point us in the direction of The Official Online Shop of the Boston Red Sox, where they are selling a complation of Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka’s favorite inspirational tracks by both Japanese and American artists, from R&B and Hip Hop to Rock.
Music they claim will “get you pumped up for your next big start!”
Music from the Mound – Track List
Price:$14.99
Once disgraced Japanese pitcher Kizuhito Tadano is poised to return to Japan . . . as a pitcher. He’d been banned in the past for having performed in a gay porn video.
He’s been in the US which, as stated before, seems to be the new way that Japanese embroiled in scandals “go to rehab.” But unlike disgraced popstars who come to the US to “study English,” Tadano was at least able to continue to play baseball, which he did recently with the Cleveland Indians till Japan welcomed him back.
As for whether Tadano will engage in a repeat performance of his scurrilous performance:
“I was young, playing baseball, and going to college and my teammates and I needed money.”
Tadano also emphatically denied being homosexual stating, “I’m not gay. I’d like to clear that fact up right now.”
If you are wondering how the Japanese are viewing the recent Boston Red Sox sweep of the World Series, here is a shot of three major Japanese sports dailies that I picked up at the local train station yesterday.
All three of the papers feature a large photograph if Daisuke (Dice-K) Matsuzaka with the headline Matsuzaka sekai-ichi (Matsuzaka, number 1 in the world!).* The fact that the Boston Red Sox won the World Series is mentioned in small sub-headlines, almost as an afterthought.
Though Matsuzaka performed very well during the World Series, I would hardly say that he won the 162-game season, elimination playoffs, and World Series all on his own.
* In the sake of fairness, I should point out that one of the papers shown above (Sports Nichi) tempers their headline somewhat by saying Matsuzaka sekai-ichi shiawase (Matsuzaka, happiest in the world), noting that Matsuzaka and his wife also are expecting their second child in March 2008. However, the upcoming birth was given a bigger headline than the Red Sox victory.
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
Shes definitely at the top of my hot list.
perfeckt 10:10