The Asian Invasion

That's a really ignorant article. BK Kim is Japanese?

The subtext is he just doesn't like Japanese baseball players and wishes to display his ignorance.

- ... the biggest thing ... changed the world ... fleeing to the MLB in flocks ... you heard it hear (sic) first, the Asian Invasion is in full swing ... I just gave you that history lesson ...

Oh, the humility! The modesty! The subtlety! The spelling! This guy is cringe-inducing; I don't think I could handle seeing him in one of his debates.

Wow talk about one of the poorest articles I have ever seen. First off, Kim and Wang aren't even Japanese.

Chien Ming Wang (I don't know if that's how you spell it) still has a year left before I would expect him to fall apart, so he's excluded from the discussion.

First off, Wang never pitched in any foreign league, hampering this guy's reputation. He wasn't prone to being overworked at all. He was signed by New York in 2000 and is only 27 years old showing no sign of decline anytime soon. What the heck this so-called expert is basing his decline on is unknown.

Then there are questions about whether the players from Japan can withstand the change to America. Japanese and MLB training styles differ, and many experts say that it translates poorly for the Japanese that come here. I say that if the player is a good enough athlete, he will be able to last.

So far most Japanese players I've seen except a small few (Irabu, Nomura, and Kaz) have adapted very well to the game in America. Most have also played with a high level of talent and game play. Next, I don't see how a move to a less rigorous environment would be harmful to a player.

Now, it should be obvious that I think pitchers from Japan are not such a good idea.

Wow, except most pitchers from Japan have a high level of success, minus a few again. Starting to sound like a selective argument here.

But hitters are a somewhat different story. Look, if you're a good hitter in Japan, you're going to be a good hitter in the U.S., and you're going to be a good hitter in Spain.

Yeah kind like Bill Madlock, Kevin Mitchell, Mike Greenwell, and many more good hitters in MLB were supposed to be a good hitters in Japan. No hitter is guaranteed to succeed anywhere just because they have been a good hitter in any league. Hence Kaz's struggles in New York. To my best knowledge he was a great hitter with Seibu, but has so far failed to adapt, though he is showing signs of improvement.

So Japan can keep their pitchers and bring on their hitters.

Talk about the biggest nationalistic POS I ever heard. This isn't even worth a response, and I don't plan on giving one either.

But Major League Baseball needs to work on one thing. Japanese players cannot be allowed to win the Rookie of the Year award.

Then people like Robinson, Newcombe, Dark, Jethroe, Black, and many other Negro League players shouldn't have won the award under the same basis that they played in another league. I don't hear that there. The fact still remains both leagues are separate and to be selective in who's a rookie and not is blatant BS once again. It is the player's first year regardless if he played 50 years in NPB. Also so far only Nomo, Ichiro, and Sasaki have even won a ROY.

Now onto my next beef with the Asian player: the All-Star voting. The NBA is experiencing something like this with Yao Ming. The Chinese people are stuffing the ballot box for their beloved center, and while he probably deserves to be the starter, he would most likely get it regardless of how he is playing. Baseball is seeing the same sort of thing happen with guys like Ichiro getting the starting nod. I'm not saying that Ichiro doesn't deserve to play in the All-Star Game, but it seems to me that some years there have been more deserving candidates for the start. How is baseball going to fix this? H*** if I know. This is why I'm writing for 411 Mania and Bud Selig is the commisioner [sic]. Because if it was up to me, I'd probably cause an international incident and pretty soon the whole godd*** world would be blowing up. And you know what that means? No more baseball, which means everyone loses.

This happens with players in any big market. Hence why half the AL All Star team is either Yankees or Red Sox. Same for that 2001 year when half the team was Mariners. Once again nice selective statement. The All Star game is for fans and is unlikely to change. I find little reason to complain as it isn't going to change and is only an exhibition game despite what MLB wants you to think (it's a game that matters).

Something like $50 million just to maybe pay a guy a huge sum of money? I dunno, sounds kind of like backwards business to me. And what if the Red Sox hadn't worked out a contract? Man that would have been embarrassing. But I digress.

Though he regrets to inform that they only spent $52 million signing Matsuzaka, which is a apparently a bargain seeing what Zito got and even Meche (5 years $55 million from KC). Second, the $51 million posting fee isn't counted against the luxury tax. Third since when have Boston or the Yankees cared about the luxury tax? It hasn't been a deterrent to them and isn't going to be. Finally it was Boras and not Boston who would be more at a loss, because he would had to explain to the Japanese population why they didn't get a deal done when it was Matsuzaka's wish to play in MLB.

In conclusion this guy needs to stop posting on the subject of baseball period. This is even bigger BS than what Ozzie Guillen said, and that's sickening.

Jbroks86 is "spot on" - I agree.

One correction: Alvin Dark was white and not a Negro League player.

The following Negro League veterans became Rookies Of The Year: Jackie Robinson - 1947; Don Newcombe -1949; Sam Jethroe -1950; Willie Mays -1951; Joe Black -1952; and Jim Gilliam - 1953.

Many problems have already been discussed about this article (blog rambling?). The thing that struck me was how much he said about Matsuzaka without even knowing a thing about him.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to fall into baseball obscurity in 5 years, mark my words.

This phrase actually struck a cord with me, but for a different reason. Back in 1998, right after Matsuzaka threw a 250 pitch complete game to defeat PL Gakuen in the quarter finals at Koshien, people on the J-Ball mailing list were screaming that he'd never make it two years as a pro. Yet he's not only surpassed that mark, but he's been pretty dominating for 8 years, only missing a chunk of the season in 2002.

There is supposedly some pitch he throws that has "never been seen before" that I have heard called the gyroball. Matsuzaka as denied ever throwing a gyroball [...]. Now, my minimal amount of research has shown no conclusive evidence on such a mystery pitch.

No evidence that Matsuzaka has thrown it, I can well believe. But the gyroball does appear to exist.

That his minimal research hadn't yet uncovered the Captain's expose on the pitch is forgivable. As is not knowing Matsuzaka's high school history. However, this statement blew his credibility out of the water:

I worry that Daisuke only has this mystery pitch and then some decent pitches. If this is the case, then the Red Sox are boned.

Well, a little bit of research would have helped him out here. Matsuzaka is not limited to just one, or two, or even three pitches. According to DataStadium [this week's Shukan Baseball - but pitch variation has been published before], these are Matsuzaka's pitch break downs for 2006:

  Pitch        %age Thrown
  Straight       22.2%
  Curve          17.6%
  Slider         17.3%
  Cut Ball       22.7%
  Fork           17.0%
  Changeup       23.1%

While Matsuzaka only throws the slider a little under 1/6th of the time, that's his out pitch. Matsuzaka striking out over 200 batters per season for four of his eight seasons shows that he knows how to mix up his pitches. Add to that a 1.79 walks per 9 innings in 2006, and Matsuzaka's control of his pitches is undeniable.

Yea, a little more research on Matsuzaka's history (he did do a history lesson at the beginning), or even glancing over his career stats, instead of researching the gyroball would have been a good idea on Owen-san's part.

Rookie of the Year

The idea that Japanese players should be excluded for Rookie of the Year award consideration, though, is a topic of debate. If MLB wishes to consider NPB below MLB level, then NPB veterans should be considered. If MLB accepts NPB as being a peer, an equal, then I can accept no more RoYs from Japan. As it stands, one is granted so many games (or at bats/innings pitched) at the MLB level over previous seasons and still be considered a rookie. One may develop a formula for time served in NPB beyond which one is no longer considered an MLB rookie (kind of like MLB equivalent stats for games served). I'd be happy with that, too.

With the Negro League players, MLB stubbornly refused to accept the Negro Leagues as being equal, so those who joined MLB teams from the NLs were considered rookies (right or wrong, the past can't be changed). It's currently the same situation with NPB. If/when MLB recognizes NPB as being on the same level (or works out an equivalence formula), then this debate will be over. I doubt if the current MLB bigwigs will be willing to accept such a concession any time soon, though.

Fellas, I don't know why you are all getting in a lather about a shoddy article written by a rank amateur - a nobody. This is not a professional sports outlet.

Westbay-san, I was glad to read that we share the same thinking on ROY award eligibility for proven NPB vets in MLB. That topic has been posted on ad nauseam.

Matsuzaka may win both Rookie of the Year and the Cy Young this year. Has that ever happened before? Considering all the media pressure and the fact that some guys, like Kaz Matsui, struggle big time, I'd say guys like Godzilla, who do adjust and "make it" do deserve the ROY award. As long as there are skeptics who say, "Well, we've never seen the guy at the Major League level," I'm all for giving veteran Japanese players the Rookie of the Year award.

Yes, that's happened before. Fernando Valenzuela did in 1981, though I think he's the only guy to ever win the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young in the same season.