AB H 2B 3B HR BB Avg OBP Slg
2001 437 147 39 3 32 47 .337 .402 .661
2002 479 157 46 0 29 54 .328 .397 .605
Another poster asked about Steve Cox. His 2001 and 2002 numbers are as follows:
AB H 2B 3B HR BB Avg OBP Slg
2001 443 122 29 0 28 39 .276 .334 .516
2002 530 144 29 1 25 71 .272 .358 .471
I really want reasonably full-time players (leaving out guys like Jose Ortiz) and am leery of extending guys who have injuries (like Ivan Rodriguez in the past couple of years). Also, please note there are no park adjustments in these figures.
Jim Albright
Team | HR |
---|---|
Osaka Orix Seibu Chiba Nippon Ham Fukuoka | 125 116 97 109 177 129 |
Total | 753 |
Now here are the numbers for 2001:
Team | HR |
---|---|
Osaka Orix Seibu Chiba Nippon Ham Fukuoka | 211 143 184 133 147 203 |
Total | 1,021 |
Look at that jump! Seibu nearly doubled their home run output! And here are the numbers for 2002
Team | HR |
---|---|
Osaka Orix Seibu Chiba Nippon Ham Fukuoka | 177 102 183 101 146 160 |
Total | 869 |
While the acquisition of Cabrera and McClain in 2001 can account for some of Seibu's increased production, it can't account for all of it. Nor does it account for the increases experienced by almost all teams.
My feeling is that following a particularly anemic year for offense, Seibu started using a slightly livelier ball. Probably (Osaka) Kintetsu and Fukuoka as well. The next year, spooked by the assaults on Oh's record, Fukuoka stopped using it, but Kintetsu and Seibu probably continued.
Of course, this is far from the ideal analysis. What would be best was if we had data from, say, around 1998, and then a statistical test called factorial analysis of variance could be performed. The factorial ANOVA would tell us if there was an overall unusual jump in homers beyond random chance, and also, which teams experienced unusual jumps. If I had the data, I could possibly do such an analysis. I'd have to download a demo of a statistical program like SPSS, but I could do it, I suppose...
Anyway, just for comparison, here are the league numbers for the same period in the Central League:
Year | HR |
---|---|
2000 2001 2002 | 848 781 826 |
I apologize for this rant. I just wanted to clear these things up before I get many more of these attacks.
The question is not how patriotic anybody is, it's how valid is the patriotic defense? And do baseball fans actually fall for the smoke screen and not ask for a better reason?
Please reach your own conclusions as to how this will work out.
[...] It wasn't Japanese baseball organization who wanted the Major League opening game in Japan. Nor the Players' Association. It's the Major League Organization that wants to expand into the Japanese market. [...] This has nothing to do with Chunichi. [...]
She's got a point. I really don't think that the NPB teams would shed a tear if Seattle and Oakland cancelled. Such a threat to cancel opening day in Tokyo would have zero effect. (Besides, Shukan Baseball and other sources all seem to concur that the cancelation threat is due to the heightened terrorist warning [2nd segment - specific?] in the U.S.)
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder