Pro Yakyu - the Changing American View
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Re: Pro Yakyu - the Changing American View
[ Author: Guest | Posted: Sep 28, 2001 7:42 PM
]
CFiJ,
You hit the nail on the head with your observations of the American public's perceptions of Japanese baseball. I can still remember when Ichiro first signed with the Mariners, some know-it-all Seattle beat writers predicted the Ichiro would hit around .270 or .280 his first year in the majors. And of course there was Rob Dibble who was so sure that Ichiro wouldn't win the batting title that he said he would run naked(which wouldn't be a pretty sight) through the streets of New York if Ichiro won the batting title this season. I didn't know that some New York announcers had said that Ichiro wore #51 for Bernie Williams. What a joke!
But it's not just the Americans who are off the mark with their observations. There are a lot of baseball pundits over here in Japan who think that Mike Piazza is truly the second coming of Johnny Bench when we all know that while Piazza is better or equal to Bench offensively, defensively Piazza isn't all that. Just like the American public is just starting to learn what Japanese baseball is all about, the Japanese public didn't really pay attention to Major League Baseball until about 1995 in my opinion. Even now, I don't think too many Japanese baseball fans can name the starting infield of the Minnesota Twins, yet they act like they know everything about the majors. It's very rare to see someone like yourself who truly knows both the history and the quality of both Japanese and American baseball. I wish more people like you would cover baseball for one of the media outlets. Baseball is truly becoming international and we need to see more willingness to understand the game from both sides instead of people just assuming things like what we're seeing right now.
You hit the nail on the head with your observations of the American public's perceptions of Japanese baseball. I can still remember when Ichiro first signed with the Mariners, some know-it-all Seattle beat writers predicted the Ichiro would hit around .270 or .280 his first year in the majors. And of course there was Rob Dibble who was so sure that Ichiro wouldn't win the batting title that he said he would run naked(which wouldn't be a pretty sight) through the streets of New York if Ichiro won the batting title this season. I didn't know that some New York announcers had said that Ichiro wore #51 for Bernie Williams. What a joke!
But it's not just the Americans who are off the mark with their observations. There are a lot of baseball pundits over here in Japan who think that Mike Piazza is truly the second coming of Johnny Bench when we all know that while Piazza is better or equal to Bench offensively, defensively Piazza isn't all that. Just like the American public is just starting to learn what Japanese baseball is all about, the Japanese public didn't really pay attention to Major League Baseball until about 1995 in my opinion. Even now, I don't think too many Japanese baseball fans can name the starting infield of the Minnesota Twins, yet they act like they know everything about the majors. It's very rare to see someone like yourself who truly knows both the history and the quality of both Japanese and American baseball. I wish more people like you would cover baseball for one of the media outlets. Baseball is truly becoming international and we need to see more willingness to understand the game from both sides instead of people just assuming things like what we're seeing right now.
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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.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
Ichiro went over and has succeeded far beyond what anyone expected, leading the Seattle Mariners to a truly historic season. Several rookie records seem destined to fall, and maybe even a few major league records. (It looks like Ichiro will hold the highest BA with runners in scoring position since that stat was first tracked!) Tsuyoshi Shinjo also went over and while his numbers have not been as flashy as Ichiro's, he has been (somewhat uncharacteristically) quietly bringing the New York Mets back to respectability this season. His clutch hitting and sparkling defensive play have in fact made him quite popular in New York.
Meanwhile in Japan, a whole lotta shakin' has been going on. While most pundits predicted a repeat of last years O-N Series, the Yakult Swallows have made their presence felt, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes have surprised everyone by winning the Pacific League Pennant! And while Ichiro has led the Mariners to their historic season, the Bison have been led (or co-led, it would seem) by Tuffy Rhodes and Nori Nakamura. Tuffy's tied Oh's single season record, and he and Nori have accounted for very nearly half of their teams collective dingers.
As someone who until very recently lived in Japan and who has followed both MLB and NPB, I've often found myself in some very interesting positions. Until this year, American knowledge of the Japanese leagues has been, generally, nil. Many active and former players who had played in Japan knew of Ichiro, and a few scouts had seen him. But as far as the American sports press (and ergo, the American public) was concerned, Ichiro was completely off their radar, and seemed to come from nowhere. And suddenly, misinformation and misconceptions where flying all over the place.
For example, someone on the MSNBC.com Baseball BBS asked me if it was true that the reason Ichiro wore number 51 was because he was a big fan of Bernie Williams. This is was apparently reported by some New York TV announcers. I had to explain that when Ichiro received number 51, Bernie wasn't even an everyday player yet, let alone a major star.
Listening to the radio broadcast of a Mets game, I heard the announcers explain away a Shinjo baserunning blunder by saying that "Shinjo's not used to playing with the pitcher batting. In Japan's Central League, they use the DH, like the American League." Sorry guys, Shinjo just kicked it, that's all.
The American press' extreme ignorance of the Japanese pro leagues is, on one hand, fairly annoying. Today on ESPN, analyst Tim Kurkjian ran down some of the surprises of the season, using a "Who knew?" motif. "Who knew," he asked, "that Tsuyoshi Shinjo would be this good defensively?" Well, excuse me, Tim, but I knew. And so did most people who use this forum and/or read the j-ball mailing list. NPB doesn't just hand out Golden Gloves pell-mell, and they've been doing it almost as long as the majors have, so you'd think they'd know good defense when they saw it, and you'd think someone who won seven of them would be in the top echelon of defensive ability. I'm ranting here, and I hope you will excuse me, but my A-#1 frustration this year has been the apparent lack of homework done by American sportwriters in this area. (Those who want to hear more ranting, ask me about Rob Neyer.)
Moving on to happier thoughts, one thing I've particularly enjoyed was communicating with the fans of the shigetoshi-hasegawa.net BBS. We talked about the differences between MLB and NPB playing styles, baseball slang, "unwritten rules" and a host of other topics. To communicate with these people and to share a love for the game with them has made me truly glad that I studied the Japanese language.
But most importantly, Japanese fans are learning more about the American game, and misconceptions aside, the American fans are finally being exposed to the wonderful Japanese game. There is still some trepidation, and a bit of a superiority complex does remain. But Ichiro and Shinjo have together knocked down a big wall, and while there is much uncertainty in Japan about the future of Pro Yakyu, I think Ichiro and Shinjo have presented Japan with a tremendous opportunity. Now is not the time for closed-door protectionism. Interest in the Japanese leagues will increase, and if the Puro yakyuu no daimyou (to paraphrase a Ring Lardner expression) aren't careful, Pro Yakyu will get picked apart. But if they play their cards right, then I foresee a future where NPB is an equal, perhaps a partner, with MLB, and baseball lovers on both side of the Pacific will be able to experience the best of both worlds. The best baseball ever played; fast, powerful and fundamentally sound. Japanese speed and skill combining with Latin power and pizzazz and American resources and know-how to create great baseball.
I hope others will share my enthusiasm.