Free agent Fan

I can tell you that I will NOT be a Giants fan. That seems to be a bandwagon jumping situation for many. We have people like that here in the States. We call them "Yankees fans."

Testify!

> I do not yet have a favorite team.

So here
> is my question to Pro Yakyu fans. Why are you a fan
> of your team?

Geography plays less of a part of it than one might think, at least as far as Japanese fans...

I'm a Cubs fan, so one might think I'd root for Hanshin. They are often called the Cubs of Japan, but given their rivalry with the Giants and the fact that they actually won a championship, I prefer to think of them as the Japanese Red Sox.

When I was in Japan, I tried to root for the Orix BlueWave. They had just lost Ichiro, and seem to be the underdog of the underdog Kansai area teams (which also include Hanshin and Kintetsu). I also really liked the manager Akira Ohgi, and I like their uniforms. But Ohgi has retired, and it's hard to get info on their team.

I would also suggest the Chiba-Lotte Marines. The only fans they have left are the die-hard (and knowledgable) ones. Or the Nippon Ham Fighters; they have a great offense and seem poised to put it all together one of these years. Start rooting for them now so you can jeer at the bandwagoneers later!

I've got a suggestion: why don't you just watch and enjoy NPB without having a favorite team? That's what I do. I just root against the 2 teams that I hate-the Giants and the Lions. I hate teams that have all the resources to buy the best talent and I've always rooted for the underdog, so that's why I hate those 2 teams, and it works for me. Whenever those 2 teams fail to make the Japan Series I'm as happy as a pig in slop!

For me geography plays a big part. I live in Nishinomiya, in the heart of Tiger territory, although I have soft spots for Orix and Kintetsu because they're the other clubs in the region. It was especially exciting last year with Kintetsu winning that close PL pennant race and Tuffy Rhodes's bid to overtake Oh's HR record.

But what I'm looking forward to is a possible subway series between the Tigers and Buffs this year - and move the Japan Series lock, stock and barrel to Osaka. Tokyoites think they're the center of the universe, so it would be good to bring them down a peg or two - unfortunately, the opportunity doesn't arise that often

Hi Tom:

I'm a Yakult Swallows fan and I think I started following them primarily because they weren't the Giants and that they had players such as Atsuya Furuta
and Takahiro Ikeyama plus some decent pitching and they
were managed at that time by Katsuya Nomura, who, at the time, I only knew was a former Nankai Hawks slugger. Btw, I thought that Nomura did a horrible job handling the Hanshin Tigers. And let's not forget that
Meiji Jingu Stadium is just so damned funky. But at least you get real fans there as opposed to Giants
games at Tokyo Dome, which have all the atmosphere of
a gigantic board meeting in a sterile indoor ballpark.

As for the PL teams, I used to be a big Seibu fan only because they had some great talent on that club at one time and it was just too much fun to watch as a fan
of the game of baseball. And even today, I tend to follow players more than teams in the PL, though if you put a gun to my head now and told me to pick one it would be Daiei. It amazes me that the Hawks don't just feast on that third rate Kintetsu Buffaloes staff and haven't been able to beat Seibu in their season series for 20 seasons in a row now. But that's why you play the games. If you want to read about Japanese baseball day to day, go to my columns on Baseball Guru at:
http://www.BaseballGuru.com And if you have any more questions, feel free to post them here.

Gary's reply reminded me of a game I saw in June of 1995 between the Giants and the Swallows at Jingu Stadium. I sat with my friends Jeff Alcorn (anti-Giants) and Charlie Matsumoto (Dragons' fan) along side ex NPB/Major Leaguer Masanori Murakami and Giants' fan Fumihiro "Fu-chan" Fujisawa. When the Swallows blew out the Giants, Jeff, Charlie, Masanori, and I laughed while Fu-chan sulked. At the same time the Kyojin oenden fans were pelting the field with debris while the Swallows' fans were hoisting thier green umbrellas. Quite a sight!!!

- At the same time the Kyojin oenden fans were pelting the field with debris...

That's rather unlike them isn't it? I've always found Giants' fans to be well behaved. In fact, the only indicents of missile throwing that I've ever actually seen first-hand were, unfortunately, by we Hanshin supporters. Actually, no, I take that back: the supporters didn't do it; a bunch of drunken hoons did. Furthermore, I've only ever seen one person throw something onto the ground at Koshien. Things got quite ugly as the oendan set upon him.

But don't let those isolated events put you off following the Tigers, Free Agent Fan. There's nothing more enjoyable than sitting in the packed Koshien outfield stand when the Tigers are winning (a slightly more regular occurrence these days).

- Why are you a fan of your team? I know geography is a part of it but what would you say to someone like me to convince them that your team is worth rooting for?

I began to enjoy Pro Yakyu in 2000, when I visited Tokyo and Kanazawa. I do have two favourite teams, one for an odd reason, and the other for an, er, better reason.

The Hiroshima Carp I like because of the name, and there are players such as Maeda and Ogata who interest me the most.

As for the Pacific League, I like the Buffaloes because of Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes and Phil Clark, when he played there. I am disappointed the Mets did not sign Nakamura, but hey, you can't have it all.]

Happy holidays!

I like any team that beats Kyojin. My sentimental favorite is the Hanshin Tigers because they were the favorite of my grandfather who lived in Otsu, Shiga-ken in the Kansai region.

I used to be a big Kaku Taigen fan, so Seibu. I don't really have a favorite player now, but Seibu's been the only team broadcasting their games online in the last couple of years (am I right?), so what little Pro Yakyu I've seen recently are still Lions games.

People say they have the top pitching staff in NPB, but I'd like to think their early '90s staff had to be even more dominating. They virtually had H. Watanabe, Kaku, Kudoh, and Ishii taking turns to be the staff ace on a yearly basis, plus Shiozaki and Katori to close.

While he doesn't have the best career record on paper, I'm most fond of Kaku because he really had MLB ace stuff as a rookie. It's really a shame that he got injured and had to become more of a control pitcher (but still dominated!). Let's hope the same thing doesn't happen to Matsusaka.

HOW do you assume that Yankee Fans are bandwagoners? I have been a Yank's fan since 1963, rooting on Mantle. I went through the 1980's drought of championships, and now all true fans and I are rewarded with 4 championships.

I went through the 1980's drought of championships ...

Cry me a river, Ted.

I always recommend the Lions. Not only because am I a big fan of the Seibu Lions. It's always been the best franchise in Japanese baseball. Good plan (except Higashio), focus on defence, speed, picthing.

Of course, network Lions live is only way to meet yakyu.

My page with Lions info! [Link - ESPN SportsNation]

I'm in the same position. I really want to get into Pro Yakyu, but I dont have a team. I'm a Mets fan in the States, so I couldn't like the Giants.

How about everybody gives a reason why I should like their favorite team, and I might decide in their favor!

I've already given my reason above why I'm a Hanshin Tigers fan, but since you're a Met fan, maybe you should back one of the teams that have to share Tokyo with the Giants, like the Mets have to share New York with the Yankees. My suggestion is the Yakult Swallows who have a recent winning tradition and a unique pre-war ballpark. Further away in the Tokyo area are the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Seibu Lions. I didn't mention the Nippon Ham Fighters who share Tokyo Dome with the Giants until the Fighters move to Sapporo in 2004.

All 12 NPB teams are so unique and have reasons for fans to back them!

The Chunichi Dragons are the answer to your question, Tom. Nagoya needs all the support they can get.

Not only am I a Met fan, but I'm somewhat of an Athletic Fan also. Thus, my question is, which team has the best farm system and the best luck in raising young players? Any good young teams in Pro Yakyu?

- Thus, my question is, which team has the best farm system?

A while back, I had a question about farm teams in Japan (as compared to MLB). That thread is here. It might contain some useful information.

Here's my story. Since you'll be in Osaka, you may want to substitute Hanshin for the Giants and Kintetsu or Orix for Yokohama, but that's up to you.

I started off as a Giants' fan in Japan for the simple reason that I was raised a San Francisco Giants' fan from as long as I can remember what baseball was. Just change the "SF" to a "YG" on the hat, and I was in dress for the game.

And as fate would have it, the Giants are covered very well by the local press. TV, radio, and newspapers all lead in with the Giants, have more segments/articles on the Giants, are are generally more focused on the Giants. It's Giants' paradise (in the Kanto area). Furthermore, I worked at Ocha-no-Mizu, a short walk from Tokyo Dome, so it was easy to go there with some friends straight from work. Yes, it was easy to be a Giants' fan.

In 1995 I started a home page called "Japanese Baseball this Week." Every Sunday I'd gather a week's worth of newspapers and type in some of the articles that interested me. And, since there was next to no information in English about Japanese baseball at that time, I got a lot of requests for information about teams that I soon realized I didn't even know. It started dawning on me, I only know the Giants and nobody else. How am I going to "set the record straight" about what's going on over here if I only really pay attention to the Giants' PR machine?

So, I started reading more and more about the other teams. I stopped turning off Pro Yakyu News after the Giants' segment. And I started to discover that the Giants weren't all the press hyped them up to be. After a few players retired or were fading out, I realized one day that there weren't any players on the starting line-up that I was a big fan of. Then the way they treaded Ochiai after getting Kiyohara was the final staw. I had come to see the Giants as the root of all evil.

By this time, I lived in Yokohama, and really admired Haru in center. Cheering for Yokohama, who hadn't won a pennent since 1960 was a less stressful choice of team to cheer for than the Giants. After all, they're expected to never finish higher than third (more like my San Francisco Giants through the 1970's), whereas the mighty Giants were expected to start up another V9 series every year.

Right, less stress. They went on to become Nippon Ichi in 1998, their first pennent in 38 years. Whew, glad we got that out of the way, soon. Now I can relax for the next 38 years.

Nonetheless, I have a little theory about the lifecycle of a Pro Yakyu fan. One starts off liking the Giants because, well, in most areas of Japan, Giants' baseball is the only thing available on TV. (This is no longer true thanks to J-Sky Sports on satalite and cable TV.) After many years of Giant fandom, one takes notice of a star or two on other teams - at first as a nemisis, then as a great ball player. With torn emotions when ever the Giants play against that player, one starts to feel for the patch of fans on the other side of the stadium. It's safe in the midst of the black and orange, but what's it like over there?

From that point, ones view of Pro Yakyu start to broaden. The broader the view, the dirtier the Giants look compared to other teams. Finally, one "graduates" from Yomiuri Land and becomes a well rounded Pro Yakyu fan.

While many become anti-Giants, feeling mistrusting of the abusive godfather of Pro Yakyu, that isn't a requirement. Even many anti-Giants fans find that they appriciate players like Matsui, Takahashi, and Abe. With such a large talent pool to choose from, it's hard to hate the players for it. (Or perhaps one is so old when one graduates from being a Giants' fan that it's hard to hold a grudge.)

Nonetheless, I'm in the phase now where I can appriciate all the teams, and especially like pulling for the underdog. After last season, it's hard to be more underdog than Yokohama, although I think that Orix may be.

In the Pacific League I like the Chiba Lotte Marines. I was living in Chiba when their new stadium was built - that gave me a bit of connectivity. My wife and I also got to see a game from the VIP boxes with the sister of a player one year. That was certainly exciting. The fans in the outfield are top class - even visiting players say so. They win often enough to give one hope, but not often enough to get into A-class (the top half of the standings) by the end of the season. Irabu's 158 kph pitch, Kuroki's tear after giving up a home run which cost them the longest losing streak in Pro Yakyu history, then his defiance of super-rookie Matsuzaka - defeating him in front of a rare packed house, Kosaka's persistence at keeping pace with K. Matsui in stolen bases, and many more emotional moments. They've got something special there across Tokyo Bay from Yokohama.

Well, I think I've jabbered on way too long. Not that this will help you choose a team, but once you become more knowledgable about Pro Yakyu, you'll probably stumble across this page again with a new, appriciative understanding.

I hope you enjoy your stay.

Well said!