****TUFFY RHODES**** The True HR Champ

Before you start complaining about Oh's Daiei Hawks for "screw"ing Tuffy Rhodes because he was a "foreigner" and "black" (thus villainizing Japanese Baseball in general), take a good look at this piece of Major League Baseball history.

"The 1938 season brought more drama for (Hank) Greenberg when he challenged Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season. With five games left, Greenberg had hit 58. With the eyes of the world on Greenberg in those last five games, several pitchers chose to walk him rather than give him a chance to break Ruth's record. While Greenberg never complained, many observers believed that Major League Baseball did not want a Jew breaking Ruth's record."

Source: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/greenberg.html

Before you start complaining about Oh's Daiei Hawks for "screw"ing Tuffy Rhodes because he was a "foreigner" and "black" (thus villainizing Japanese Baseball in general), take a good look at this piece of Major League Baseball history.

I agree with CFiJ and Gary and doubt the Hawks' actions were race related. However, I don't understand your point, yoyogi1231. Assuming race was a factor, are you suggesting that Greenberg's treatment in 1938 justifies the Hawks not pitching to Rhodes in 2001?

"Justifies" as in an eye for an eye? No.

With the presumption that race/minority was a factor,
that a baseball scenerio like this happened in BOTH the Japanese Leagues... AND Major Leagues. Yes

With the presumption that race/minority was a factor,
that a baseball scenerio like this happened in BOTH the Japanese Leagues... AND Major Leagues. Yes.

True enough. Two points: 1) the fact that it happened in BOTH leagues doesn't make it any less pernicious and 2) a lot has changed in the Majors in 64 years.

Uh, Rhodes wasn't robbed of the title. The Hawks gave him nothing to hit, but he had two games against the BlueWave where they did everything but lob it in there. And in the series before the Hawks series, the Seibu pitchers pitched to him. Daisuke Matsuzaka challenged him, and Rhodes hit number 55 off him. I may be recalling incorrectly, but I thought I remembered Tuffy saying something to the effect that he had his chance, and just didn't do it.

Also, it wasn't that the Hawks didn't pitch to him because he is black. They didn't pitch to him because he had 55 home runs. As long as the Hawks are managed by Oh, they're not going to pitch to anyone who has a chance of breaking the record. Maybe Matsui, if they were in the same league, but that's about it.

As for Cabrera, I imagine the Hawks won't pitch to him, everyone else will, and he'll end up with somewhere between 55 and 60 home runs.

Tuffy is lucky no one threw at him like the did with Charlie Manuel back in the 70's as he approached Oh's single month mark. Charlie ended up with a broken jaw. The sight of him spitting out teeth and blood bent over home plate is an image I'll never forget. Good thing he wasn't Black!

And just to expand on that earlier point, at Osaka Dome, there is a plaque near where Rhodes landed his 55th homer and Tuffy Rhodes is very well liked in Osaka, with a lot of people considering him one of their own. So his race has nothing to do with his inability to break the record. It is true that now former Daiei bullpen coach Wakana said that the team's pitchers weren't going to give Rhodes anything good to hit, but Rhodes also hardly walked every time up against the Hawks the last couple weeks of the season. Thus, it was only mildly akin to what happened to Randy Bass, not a direct analogy.

Incidently, Rhodes will have a chance to make another run at the record next season, since he has reportedly agreed in principal to re-sign with Kintetsu.

Sorry yuyoji, I did not mean to diss Japanese baseball,
Just Oh & the Hawks.

Well, I do mean to diss Japanese baseball. I couldn't be sure that race had some part in the Rhodes situation, but for sure stinking sportsmanship had a big part. I was at a season ending game in Nishinomiya Stadium when the Hankyu Braves' Matsunaga and the opposing teams batter were in a virtual tie for the batting crown (don't remember the other team, maybe Lotte, or the batter--maybe someone can help me with the info??? About 1988). Well, their player was just slightly ahead of Matsunaga and they sat him out and walked Matsunaga every at bat (I believe it was a rare double header) even when it cost them runs. Matsunaga began throwing his bat at the ball after he got 3 balls on him. It was the worst display of sportmanship I have ever seen.

How about continuing this thread at here.

I totally agree about the no hype comment. Cabrera hit #53 the other day and the Daily Yomiuri only mentioned the fact that he led the league. Nothing about the fact that he is just TWO away from tying the record. Can you imagine McGwire hitting #59 and the only comment he gets is that he leads the league. The Yomiuri is however occasionally posting a TRIPLE CROWN watch -- Matsui is a Giant. And Cabrera is a foreigner.

I hope he smashes the record so we don't have these [darn] Tuffy Rhodes type debates.

Nikkan Sports has been doing a daily "triple crown watch" for quite a while now. The day after Cabrera hit #53, Takanohana's triumphant return to the Sumo world after a year and four months took the front page. (Musashimaru defeated him on the final day to win.)

Also, one of Japan's favorite sons, Kiyohara, returned to the Giants' lineup and went 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs in Takahashi's complete game victory over second place Yakult, reducing the Giants' magic number to 6.

Furthermore, Minchey was the real hero of the game Cabrera hit #53 in. Minchey blanked the M-1 Lions over 8 innings of work, Cabrera not getting a single hit against him. Cabrera's 9th inning home run was too little, too late as he hit it with one out and nobody on against Sikorski to make the final 1-6.

Personally, I found that the seven year B-class team holding the Lions at bay was more interesting than trying to create hype amidst an empty home run.

Nikkan's "Data Center" segment following the article noted that Cab is on pace for 59 home runs with two to go to match the record. It also points out that Cabrera is the second player to hit 102 home runs in back to back seasons, the first being Ochiai (1985-6, 52 and 50 respectively).

Nikkan Sports, after Daiei's tie caused the Lions to win the championship, also prematurely named Cabrera the Pacific League MVP in their headlines. OK, they did clarify that he was the "leading candidate" in the actual article.

Now that the pennant race is done and there's nothing left to play for but the batting and pitching titles, perhaps focus will change.

Of course, if he hits #55 on the same day the Giants clinch the pennant, the Giants will have the front page. No doubt about it. "Real" baseball fans would probably care more about the record and prefer to read about Cabrera. But the newspapers aren't trying to get true baseball fans to buy their papers, they're trying to get the common salaryman to pick up their paper among a group of other colorful papers at the kiosk in the train station. The average salaryman knows the Giants and Kiyohara. All the typical salaryman knows about the Lions is that they're a team the Giants meet every few years in the Nihon Series.

On the one hand, the press dicates who to hype, and they chose to hype the Giants more than anyone else. On the other hand, if they try to break the mold and hype other players, especially those in the Pacific League, they fear losing their base of followers who they feel they've brain washed, (I mean, trained) well.

The hype surrounding Ichiro in the 1994-5 off season turned me off from Ichiro completely. The same overdone hype about Matsuzaka had the same result. I have a tendency to just glance over Giants' articles as well as they're mostly hype.

Personally, I've found the articles on Cabrera to be of better quality than those that recieve all the hype. Same with Rhodes last year. I'd much rather read quality write ups by staff writers who have followed the bid to break the record the entire season than a bunch of hype articles by writers trying to jump on the band wagon at the last second. I have no complaints about how much (or little) press Rhodes or Cabrera have received. I think it's better quality than what the Giants get. (Kind of reminds me of the "VIP medicine" President Lincoln received and was controversially killed by.)