Japanese ball players in America

Ah, so Graczyk-san has come around to reading my stuff and laid off the Doom and Gloom angle? That's good to hear.

Do you have a URL to the artile, or was it only in the paper edition? I don't seen anything like it on the Japan Times Sports Page. Just a lot of filler on how Nikkan Sports comes up with "interesting" headlines. (That's why I rarely pay any attention to the front page stories. Better details are usually on page 2 or 3.)

> When Japanese baseball players that are very popular
> like Ichiro, Sasaki, Nomo, Irabu, etc. leave Japan
> does it help the Japan league or not? I would think
> that it wouldn't but I recently read an article by
> Wayne Graczyk off the Japan Times Sports website, and
> says it is helps Japanese baseball. The author says
> it does and gives plenty of points to back up his
> opinion. The article is pretty intresting, and was
> wondering what other people's opinions were on this
> subject.
> ---------
> Thanks

I don't think it's bad. It forces a time of transition, which is painful, but ultimately I think it will improve Japanese baseball. Already it's bringing improvements to the players' situation, things like free agency, the ability to negotiate contracts using agents, better facilities and coaching methods, and higher salaries. Personally, I think that if most Japanese players could play ball in Japan like they can in the US, they would stay. In the end, I think that's will happen.