More on the Japanese Exidus

An anononymous reader pointed out an interesting article on the Daily News entitled "Saying Sayonara Japanese baseball frets as top players keep bolting to America" by Wayne Coffey. (If you subscribe to the site or are willing to pay for the article, click on "Search/Archives," then search for "sayonara ishii" and the results should give you a link to the above headline. I couldn't find it in the 6 day archive even though it was dated January 6 (and it's now the 10th) - but then, the site looks like it was built with ASP, so I have very little faith in the quality of programming there.)

Nonetheless, Coffey, like most writers in the U.S., makes a few mistakes - but all well within tollerance levels. Also, several things have transpired since he wrote the article:

1. The Dodgers won the bidding for Ishii, and according to today's Nikkan Sports, has filed papers accepting the bid. Ishii is now thinking of contract negotiations and is more concerned with having a three year "no trade" clause than he is with the total amount of money he'll be getting.

2. Taguchi decided to sign with St. Louis, turning down Hoshino's Tigers.

Back to the article, though. I found this particularly interesting:

Compared with the more than 1,600 Dominicans and nearly 800 Venezuelans who signed last year, this is not a mass infusion, nor does anyone really expect one; there are limited numbers of players who have the ability and aspiration to play in the U.S., and the powerful tug of a traditional culture that prizes loyalty and obedience should not be underestimated.

Still, the movement of Japanese players to the major leagues is a shift that carries an impact far beyond its numbers, because of the stature of the players involved. Imagine how it would go over in the U.S. if Pedro Martinez, Alex Rodriguez and Mariano Rivera opted to go play for the Chibe Lotte Marines or the Nippon Ham Fighters.

I was asked the other day if Japanese baseball would have a big impact on the game in the Majors. My reply was kind of guarded as I said that North America is the big melting pot of peoples and cultures, and MLB is a good example of that. Yes, Ichiro probably made a big impact on what will be expected of lead-off hitters for a long time to come, bringing back the excitement that Ricky Henderson had in his time. Also, looking through the history of MLB, you'll find that Italian names were big at certain points, South Americans, and especially players from the Negro Leagues all contributed a great deal to change MLB at other points in time as well. Any influence would be similar to the waves that have gone before.

But I think that Coffey-san said it best, that Japanese influence may not be made by great numbers, but "in the stature of the players involved." (I guess that's why he gets paid to write.)

The biggest blooper for Coffey-san, though was this:

In the first post-Ichiro season, things were not nearly so robust in recession-bound Japan. Average attendance was down 17% for Ichiro's Blue Wave. Leaguewide attendance was down 5% and TV ratings were also down markedly.

Yes, Orix attendance was down, but in the Pacific League, where the Orix play, overall attendance was up! Is this reporter putting Orix in the Central League as well?

Furthermore, I have yet to be convinced that TV ratings are down. Yes, TV ratings for Giants' games are down, but that isn't all of Pro Yakyu! It used too be the main indicator because the other games broadcast were too few to be significant. But I watched baseball on TVK, JSky Sports 1&2, a couple of Osaka based channels, and UHF channels from Chiba and Saitama last year. Are people not moving from NTV to other channels, now that they're available? The only statistics I've seen have been for NTV - none of these other channels.

Society is changing and the Giants are losing their monopoly on baseball fans. Fans now have a choice on what games to watch, and I believe that they're excercising their right to choose.

Fortunatly, Coffey-san recovers from that "Doom and Gloom" FUD with a quote from Nobuhisa Ito, the International Relations specialist from the Pro Yakyu Commissioner's Office:

Ito says he admires the fortitude of players who give up million-dollar deals in Japan to go try their skills in the best league in the world. He is convinced that, while there may be some short-term falloff in interest, the game in Japan will rise above all individual stars.

"Baseball here is very strong," Ito says. "For us it is like your four major sports combined. Japanese fans in their heart just like their native players to be successful. They will cheer for players in the big leagues, and also cheer for the players in front of their own eyes. Baseball in Japan will be the way it has been for 60 years. It will be fine."

Now, that's more like it! In fact, there were similar thoughts by one of the front office men at Yakult when talking about Ishii's signing expressed in today's Nikkan Sports. I don't have the paper with me right now, but the gist of it was that he was proud to have had so many players (Yoshii and Ishii so far) who longed to improve themselves to play at the highest levels, giving Yakult a high standing for quality while said players are here. And he hopes that more players have the same drive to be the best in the world.

Reading these two optimistic attitudes toward Ishii's going over to the Majors in the same day helped to warm this cold winter morning. There are people in Pro Yakyu who "get it." And I hope that more come around to seeing that all isn't doom and gloom, as many reporters seem to be stuck on.

Yes, Pro Yakyu will continue to go on and adapt.