Japanese Baseball 'hot topic' in North America
I'm afraid that I was happier when the mass media of North America wasn't spreading a bunch of false information about Pro Yakyu. It seems that everybody became an expert on Japanese baseball last year without ever having seen a Pro Yakyu game or even setting foot in Japan. I had a very low impression of the U.S. media before last year, and it actually got lower.
By the way, if the above is taken from another site, please post a URL from where you got it. While I don't respect most North American press writers, I don't believe in plagerism.
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FOREIGN PLAYERS SHUNNED
by: Rob Fai
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Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) -
As the 2002 First Year Player Draft in North America draws closer to the Major League season. Many in Pro baseball circles continue to hesitate taking players of Japanese origin for concerns that lack of experience to the North American game will hamper there progress towards the Big Leagues.
Yes, the Japanese baseball circuit is closely watched by a handful of North American scouts looking for a 'diamond in the rough', but the scouts don't look for a youthful player. For the most part they are looking for a player who has alreay established himself as a star in the Japanese game.
Don Mehaan, regional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League says that although the talent may be somewhat equal to that of the North American game. The language barrier hampers the coaching efforts as the progress is slowed to a snail's like pace.
"We really do like the Japanese game. It is a condensed version of the game our fans see. However, the players that we value are the players that can intergrade themselves into the system with little problem. We like the fact that the Japanese players are humble, but in this day and age, we have little time to waste on a player coming across, and acclimatizing to a whole new world."
When asked about the differences between a Japanese import and perhaps a Central American import, Meehan had this to say on the subject.
"To be perfectly honest, the Japanese players are perfectly satisfied playing in Japan. The Japanese have great baseball and for them to come here, is sometimes not worth they're trouble. Hey, we have a great game, but they do too. Many of them don't want to come here. On the other hand, the Dominicans for example live in such poverty in comparison to both us and the Japanese, that baseball is sometimes they're only way out.
"So of course they want out, at any price. The Japanese, they are content where they are, and for us, that's fine. They develop the players, and if the situation arises that we need a proven player, then we perhaps will negotiate to do so." said Meehan.
All are valuable points, but skirt the issue of neglecting Japan's youth come draft time. Is it a waste of a selection during the draft to not take a chance on a Japanese player?
"Hey, if the kids good enough, we'll always take a chance. But in reality, we haven't developed a strong enough relationship with the Japanese to feel confident in selecting a player and feeling sure tat he will leave home to come and fulfill his selection."
Rob Fai
[Layout edited by: westbaystars on Apr 15, 2002 1:04 PM JST]
I've cleaned up the above submission a bit. Is that better?
My first thought when I saw the dateline of the article was that it was cut and pasted from another site - which I disapprove of. But Google searches didn't turn up anything, and the submitter claims to be the author. I know that people can lie as guests, but I have no reason to disbelieve the submission in this case.
Nonetheless, thank you for your concern. And any suggestions on how I could be a better, more efficient "copy editor" would be greatly appriciated.
As the 2002 First Year Player Draft in North America draws closer to the Major League season, many in pro baseball circles continue to hesitate taking players of Japanese origin for concerns that lack of experience to the North American game will hamper their progress towards the Big Leagues.
Yes, the Japanese baseball circuit is closely watched by a handful of North American scouts looking for a 'diamond in the rough', but the scouts don't look for a youthful player. For the most part they are looking for a player who has already established himself as a star in the Japanese game.
Don Mehaan, regional scout for the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League says that although the talent may be somewhat equal to that of the North American game, the language barrier hampers the coaching efforts as the progress is slowed to a snail's like pace.
"We really do like the Japanese game. It is a condensed version of the game our fans see. However, the players that we value are the players that can integrate themselves into the system with little problem. We like the fact that the Japanese players are humble, but in this day and age, we have little time to waste on a player coming across and acclimatizing to a whole new world."
When asked about the differences between a Japanese import and perhaps a Central American import, Meehan had this to say on the subject.
"To be perfectly honest, the Japanese players are perfectly satisfied playing in Japan. The Japanese have great baseball and coming to North America is sometimes not worth their trouble. Hey, we have a great game, but they do too. Many of them don't want to come here. On the other hand, the Dominicans for example live in such poverty in comparison to both us and the Japanese that baseball is sometimes their only way out so. The Japanese are content where they are, and for us, that's fine. They develop the players, and if the situation arises that we need a proven player, then we perhaps will negotiate to do so."
All are valuable points, but skirt the issue of neglecting Japan's youth come draft time. Is it a waste of a selection during the draft to not take a chance on a Japanese player?
"Hey, if the kid's good enough, we'll always take a chance. But in reality, we haven't developed a strong enough relationship with the Japanese to feel confident in selecting a player and feeling sure that he will leave home to come and fulfill his selection."
The argument about the language barrier brought up by Mehaan-scout kind of bothers me. I mean, it tends to be easier for people to learn a new language while younger than older.
I do like to see that somebody involved with baseball agrees with me that many players will be satisfied to stay in Japan, especially at the beginning of their careers. Finally, some evidence (well, support) to back up my theory that the flood gates haven't opened as wide as most of the mainstream press seems to believe.
> that the MLB amateur draft (craftily renamed the
> "first-year player" draft) applies only to North
> American residents. Aren't Japanese, like
> Dominicans, signed directly?
I believe Westbay-san mistakenly wrote "draft" when he meant "sign"...
have the Mariners and the Mets scouting Tsuyoshi Wada,
the lefty out of Waseda University who is the Tokyo Big Six Univerity League strikeout king (threw an 11 K shutout in that school's season opener), and who is likely to go in the first round of the draft in the top five or higher.
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean particular TEAMS won't be miffed, as seen in the heated exchange that Tommy
Lasorda reportedly had with Shigeo Nagashima over Hayato Terahara. But then again, there was no hue and cry when Boston signed Ryo Kumagai right out of Tohoku Fukushi University.
I have yet to see an inclination on the part of NPB officials to do what members of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) did, which was to send an actual delegation to MLB's offices and demand that the majors stop scouting Korean amateurs. So, at least for now, it is open season.
> these guys graduate to get them on paper. Why would
> NPB wait until November to conduct its draft? That
> makes little if any sense.
There is a logic to it. They wait until November because that's the start of the off-season. The manager of the team is heavily involved in the courting of top prospects, and he couldn't fulfill this function very well during the season.
Also, the Japanese school year begins in April and ends in March. The high school players are drafted before their actual graduation. High School Phenom Matsuzaka Daisuke, for example, threw a no-no in the Summer National Tournament final, was drafted by Seibu in November, signed sometime in late November/early December, and played in some spring exhibition games all before he officially graduated.
Besides, since MLB can attempt to sign a 16-year old prospect (with parents' permission, of course), they needn't wait until he graduates anyway.
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
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
From the first time Hideo Nomo made his way to the mound for the Dodgers, to Ichiro hitting .429 in the A.L.C.S, Asian Baseball has continued to make huge strides in getting the respect of the North American fan of the game.
For many years, Major League Baseball in North America had long known that the Japanese Leagues have been a wonderful place to find the occasional 'diamond in the rough', but now, it seems that the fans have finally been let in on the secret.
Blame the lack of interest prior to the past couple years on the lack of media by North American outlets. But, with 'Ichiro-mania' amongst the solid play of Chan-Ho, Suzuki and Sazaki and a host of others, the Asian-Pacific rim is now a focal point of the 'who's who' in baseball circles.