Dead Ball (JPN Baseball Thread)

[Greji]

Don't want to change the subject, but has anyone subscribed to MLB TV? Is it worth it in regards to quality?

GJ

BS GJ, you always want to change the subject....especially when you're taking a beating...

I subscribed in the past and couldn't access it, so I called their 800 number and they apologized and said I should not have be allowed to subscribe because Japan is considered a black-out area. They even gave me my fee back. Surprise!

So, unless things have recently changed, we can't get it on-line in Japan. If you find a way, let me know!

[GuyJean]

.. I subscribed in the past and couldn't access it, so I called their 800 number and they apologized and said I should not have be allowed to subscribe because Japan is considered a black-out area. They even gave me my fee back. Surprise!

So, unless things have recently changed, we can't get it on-line in Japan. If you find a way, let me know!

:thumbs: Cool. Thanks for the notice/warning!..

Looks like I'm stuck with the games BS broadcast..

GJ

[eddie]

:thumbs: Cool. Thanks for the notice/warning!..

Looks like I'm stuck with the games BS broadcast..

GJ

yeah i can confirm that we are the one and only country blacked out on mlb.com. what the fuck?! at least they didn't take my money when i tried to sign up. the worst part is that - having watched spring training (not blacked out) on mlb.com - i can attest that the quality's very good.

[Bucky]

There was some interest by the Ms to get Bonds earlier. It kind of died down though..

GJ

You may have seen that the M's (I presume you mean the Mariners here) were intersted in Bonds on some blogs but I do not think you have seen any official interest by the team. He has a lot of baggage to haul around with his bat.

I have also seem mention of Bonds giving it a try in Japan if nothing pans out in the US by June.

[Gilligan]

You may have seen that the M's (I presume you mean the Mariners here) were intersted in Bonds on some blogs but I do not think you have seen any official interest by the team. He has a lot of baggage to haul around with his bat.

I have also seem mention of Bonds giving it a try in Japan if nothing pans out in the US by June.

Will Japanese teams be interested in his steroid-enhan... sorry Greji, let me try again.

Will Japanese teams be interested in him even though he's been accused of taking steroids?

[Greji]

Will Japanese teams be interested in him even though he's been accused of taking steroids?

They definitely would. Like most baseball audiences, the J-crowd loves the long ball and Bonds can do that like no other. Unless MLB sanctions him for usage, or some other restriction, I think they would sign him over here in a heart beat.

The only problem is whether or not he would come. He doesn't apparently need the dust, so unless it would be a huge contract, I don't think he would bite.

[Blah Pete]

They definitely would. Like most baseball audiences, the J-crowd loves the long ball and Bonds can do that like no other. Unless MLB sanctions him for usage, or some other restriction, I think they would sign him over here in a heart beat.

The only problem is whether or not he would come. He doesn't apparently need the dust, so unless it would be a huge contract, I don't think he would bite.

Would a Japanese team put up with his crap in the club house? I don't think they would like Barry's E-Z-boy recliner .

[AssKissinger]

Hawk swoops, attacks girl at Fenway Park Fri Apr 4, 1:01 AM ET



A 13-year-old girl touring Fenway Park on a school trip was attacked by a resident red-tailed hawk that drew blood from her scalp Thursday. She wasn't seriously hurt, but some observers saw an omen for a certain New York Yankees slugger in the attack at the home of the Boston Red Sox. The girl's name is Alexa Rodriguez.

Vince Jennetta, a teacher who chaperoned her class trip from Memorial Boulevard Middle School in Bristol, Conn., told The Boston Globe that Alexa is "a little shaken, but OK."

The hawk was perched on a railing in the upper deck behind home plate while the group toured the stadium. The hawk flew at the girl and swooped with its talons extended, scratching her scalp.

A single egg lay in the hawk's nearby nest in an overhang near the stadium's press booth.

The nest and egg were removed at the direction of state wildlife officials.

[Mulboyne]

The Hook: Eastern ethic? Japanese players come out to work

Few baseball fans (unless sick or overzealous) would cheer an injury. In the spirit of fair play, I don't wish even Manny Ramirez ill, so why would I list Hideki Matsui's broken wrist as a top-10 baseball moment? Because it solved a mystery. As of April 5, there were 17 active Japanese players in Major League Baseball. No team boasts more than two on a roster, though the Braves have four in the minors. MLB better get on the stick.

Many baseball fans still look on Japanese baseball as silly, inferior and just not right. It's like cricket in New Jersey. They sell sushi at the ballpark. It's un-American. Funny, the first Japanese baseball team came to America in 1905, just four years after the American League's inception. Long before the Dominican Republic came into play, Masanori Murakami threw his first pitch as a San Francisco Giant. His ERA for 1964-1965? 2.77. Despite an ERA Sandy Koufax would envy, Marakami was shipped back to Nankai because of a contract dispute with his former team. No Japanese player suited up again in America until 1995.

It wasn't until 2001 that a Japanese player was brought over to do anything but pitch. In Ichiro Suzuki's first year with Seattle, he batted .350. Solid, but no better than a lot of red-blooded American players. In 2003, Japanese players got the unofficial go ahead. The Mariners are one thing, but the Yankees are another. Hideki had a so-so average, .287, but get this: of 179 hits, Hideki's RBI was 106. I've always been unimpressed with batting averages; it's more important to hit the ball when it really means something than to hit for no gain. 106 of 179 means something. Not every Japanese position player has numbers like Hideki. This is the key, though: unless a Japanese player is brought over to be a superstar (Ichiro), he tries to have numbers like Hideki. Even poor old Norihiro Nakamura, with only 5 hits for the Dodgers in 2005, had 3 RBI.

When Hideki Matsui's wrist was crushed in a diving catch, he didn't bellyache or belittle the team for having to go on without him like other players have done. "I feel very sorry and, at the same time, very disappointed to have let my teammates down," Matsui said. "I will do my best to fully recover and return to the field to help my team once again." Can you imagine Chipper Jones apologizing for anything? Ichiro aside, Japanese players have been quiet, humble utility players who do their job with little fanfare. They don't have "cribs," they aren't in Pepsi commercials, and they don't get their hair braided.

Who are these people and what do they think they're doing? They wouldn't be playing baseball by any chance, would they? Matsui's apology solved the Japanese enigma. He shed light on a culture of workhorses, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the Mets took the subway to the ballpark. Japanese ballplayers aren't on the field to entertain; they're out there to do a job, and by gum, Gary Sheffield or no Gary Sheffield, they're going to do their best for the team.There are more Japanese players in MLB this year than ever, and it's only a matter of time until their naïve dedication to the game is spoiled. With every season their paychecks are bigger, their endorsements more numerous, and their teammates more jealous.

What could be more American than that?

[Gilligan]

I just came back from watching the Dragons beat the Giants 6-1 at the Nagoya Dome (it's ALWAYS a good game when the Giants lose) and while it's only my 3rd NPB game I have to say that the whole fan experience here is, at best, AAAA (however, I've never been to a minor league game in the states, so I actually may be overrating the experience in Japan).

First of all, even though Nagoya Dome is a fairly new stadium, the seats are right out of Fenway Park 25 years ago, i.e., small, hard, and at a strange angle. My son had his elbow in my ribs the entire game.

Then, in the entire stadium, you have all of TWO scoreboards. That's it. And the information that you get on them is minimal, at best. On the centerfield scoreboard, you get the lineup and the line score; for each batter, you get his average, number of homers, number of RBIs, and (if you're quick enough) what he's done previously in the game; for the pitcher you get (again, if you're quick enough) his radar gun reading on the last pitch. Interesting things like OBP, SLG, pitch count, type of pitch thrown (which would help in interpretting speed)? Forget about it! Even stats to help interpret things like average (say ABs and hits)? Forget about! (Ironic sidenote: a player for the Giants came up for his first AB of the game, and my son was all impressed that he was hitting .400. Sarcastically, I said, "Yeah, but he's probably only 2-for-5 this season." After grounding out, he came up a few innings later and his average was .333.)

Out of town scores? Maybe in the 7th inning.

Replays on the centerfield scoreboard? Yeah, MAYBE if the batter grounds out easily to the second baseman they'll give up to the point where the guy fielded the ball. But exciting fielding plays? Forget about it! Close plays? REALLY forget about it! There was one play, a grounder to first that Woods bobbled, after he finally picked the ball up, he had to flip it behind his back to the pitcher covering first. I swear the guy was safe (we were sitting eight rows back in shallow right field, so we had a pretty good view). I immediately looked up to see the replay. Yeah, right

As to the stadium itself, it's the most boring stadium I've ever been in. Well, OK, it's tied with Tokyo Dome. But behind even old Veteran's Stadium in Philly (that was largely because of the crowd though--some chick pulling the neck of her shirt out so the firemen she was sitting with could try and toss peanuts down it. Ah, Philly...).

Last year, I went to see a Dragons game and sat dead on home plate two rows back of the backstop--best seats I've EVER had in ANY stadium. And the game was a GREAT pitchers duel that the Dargons won 2-1. And I still thought the experience was only just above average.

[ttjereth]

As to the stadium itself, it's the most boring stadium I've ever been in. Well, OK, it's tied with Tokyo Dome. But behind even old Veteran's Stadium in Philly (that was largely because of the crowd though--some chick pulling the neck of her shirt out so the firemen she was sitting with could try and toss peanuts down it. Ah, Philly...).

Gil, are you from the Philly area? I still haven't been inside the new stadium, but I hear it's nice. Still the vet was awesome when I was a kid and you could buy the 4 dollar nosebleed tickets and slink down to the lower deck because the Phillies pretty much never sold out the stadium

Now JFk, that was a crappy stadium. Used to get plastic/fiberglass splinters in your ass from the shitty old bleachers they had

[Gilligan]

Gil, are you from the Philly area?:cool:

Sorry, ttj, I'm from central Mass.

I did, however, live in Philly for 4 years. If I never go back, it'll be too soon--perhaps the second worst city I've ever lived in. In all fairness, though, I lived in West Philly (48th and Spruce), and I think my experience (and consequently my opinion) would have been different had I lived in, say, Center City like a lot of my friends.

Which is not to say there aren't good things about Philly: the Art Museum is great (free admission on Sundays with special programs for kids) and the historical district rocks.

And Philly Cheesesteaks ...

In case you haven't seen it yet, though, here's Steven Colbert touring Philadelphia.

[cc]165956[/cc]

[ttjereth]

Sorry, ttj, I'm from central Mass.

I did, however, live in Philly for 4 years. If I never go back, it'll be too soon--perhaps the second worst city I've ever lived in. In all fairness, though, I lived in West Philly (48th and Spruce), and I think my experience (and consequently my opinion) would have been different had I lived in, say, Center City like a lot of my friends.

Which is not to say there aren't good things about Philly: the Art Museum is great (free admission on Sundays with special programs for kids) and the historical district rocks.

And Philly Cheesesteaks ...

In case you haven't seen it yet, though, here's Steven Colbert touring Philadelphia.

Yeah, West Philly could negatively affect one's opinions. Unless you like drug dealing and random shootings of course

Could have been worse, I grew up in North Philly

Pretty much everything below the Greater Northeast is mostly a shithole now. Not sure when you lived there, but Philly has had a string of bad mayors (especially John Street, who actually used city employed security personnel to wait in line for an iphone for himself, and then the two frigging moronic city papers stuck up for him... if I start on that track I'll never stop) who took a bad situation and made it increasingly worse (the British folks on the forum might find it amusing and appropriate that the current person holding the office is Mayor Nutter)

I was raised mostly in Philly, and have some good memories of the place, but yeah, overall it's a dump. High crime, overall mismanagement of the city, poor public education (which of course leads to new generations made up of mostly dumbasses), poor sanitation, etc.

When we "visit the old neighborhood" it's at high speed in a car with all the windows rolled up and the doors locked

My parent's, sister and mother's family all still live there or moved back there, but everybody has moved up to the Far Northeast to get away from all of the really shitty areas. It's like a giant donut of shittiness. Center city is alright, but then everything around it up until the Far Northeast is rapidly turning into ghetto. It's weird, every year the shitty areas expand outwards more and more until I figure that we'll eventually be left with center city and the suburbs and everything in between as one big ghetto/slum.

The Colbert video was alright, but man where did they dig up that park ranger...

[Behan]

Not a very important question but I thought I'd take this opportunity.

Do you know what the Norristown area is like? I was born there but moved away when I was a baby. Never been back. Just a little curious.

[ttjereth]

Not a very important question but I thought I'd take this opportunity.

Do you know what the Norristown area is like? I was born there but moved away when I was a baby. Never been back. Just a little curious.

Norristown isn't bad, but it's not great either. It's sort of the worst area within one of the best areas around Philly (Montgomery County). Montgomery County has a lot of people with money, and a good education system, I'm not sure what the situation is currently, but I know up until a few years ago there was a 10 year waiting list to get a teaching position in Montgomery County because the schools, pay and benefits were so good that they had way more qualified applicants than jobs.

Norristown is where most of the people who work in the service sector in Montgomery County live, but it's still better than pretty much any area in Philly

[Greji]

Sorry, ttj, I'm from central Mass.

I did, however, live in Philly for 4 years. If I never go back, it'll be too soon--perhaps the second worst city I've ever lived in. In all fairness, though, I lived in West Philly (48th and Spruce), and I think my experience (and consequently my opinion) would have been different had I lived in, say, Center City like a lot of my friends.

It's a shame that MLB doesn't have any real teams in Philly, or Pittsburgh. The residents must be bored with only those little league teams to watch.

[ttjereth]

It's a shame that MLB doesn't have any real teams in Philly, or Pittsburgh. The residents must be bored with only those little league teams to watch.

Nah, we make up for it by watching our football, basketball and hockey teams stomp all over most of you most seasons. ]Mike Schmidt[/URL] said part of the reason for him retiring was that he was tired of being the only star player and bearing the burden for all the teams losses.

[Greji]

[quote="ttjereth"]Nah, we make up for it by watching our football, basketball and hockey teams stomp all over most of you most seasons. ]

Didn't have any. I'm from the Chicago area and unfortunately Michael Jordan couldn't skate! Taro actually believes there's a francaise at Wrigley field, but I think that's been disproven in Snopes....

[ttjereth]

Didn't have any. I'm from the Chicago area and unfortunately Michael Jordan couldn't skate! Taro actually believes there's a francaise at Wrigley field, but I think that's been disproven in Snopes....

I don't think chicago has room to be knocking baseball teams The Cubs, well, they were a great team before WWII, if I was a baseball fan in Chicago I'd stick to rooting for the Sox, at least they've been in the series twice in the last 60 years For hockey the blackhawks haven't been in a cup for like 50-60 years? The flyers are sort of like the Cubs of hockey, we don't get the cup very often but they are fairly consistent at winning their division and conference, which is fairly impressive considering we have some of the best teams in the NHL in our conference. The Bulls were the team in the 90's, but they haven't been doing too much since the turn of the century ]lacrosse team[/URL] too. There's been a lot more interest in the "lesser sports" (those outside of the big 4) with all the strikes, and poor performance of the "major" teams, so lacrosse and AHL hockey have a pretty decent following in Philly.

The Phillies were threatening to move out of the city a few years back (which is what got them the new stadium, huge waste of money...) and most of the people in the city seemed to be of the opinion "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out".

[Mulboyne]

Lengthy four page profile of the life and times of Hideo Nomo here.

[Gilligan]

ESPN.com has a lengthy piece, "Daisuke 2.0", that, while purporting to be about Yu Darvish, rambles on about all things baseball in Japan--to the point that I think I could have rightfully posted this in the "newbie reporter" thread.

Some high (low) lights:

One thing you must be clear on before going any further is Darvish pitches for the Nippon Ham FIGHTERS, not the Nippon HAM FIGHTERS. American fans get this wrong all the time. "Everybody probably thinks you're out there beating up pigs," says Trey Hillman, who managed Nippon Ham for five years before taking over the Kansas City Royals this season. "Pigs out on the field and you're out there with baseball bats."

Darvish starred at the Koshien national high school baseball tournament -- like Dice-K, he threw a no-hitter in the event -- but Nippon Ham somehow was the only team that drafted him (the Japanese draft system allows multiple teams to choose a player). Just as [Darvish's father] Farsad felt discrimination in America, Yu's Iranian background in a very homogenous society, Valentine says, prevented at least one team from drafting him. "My scouting director here didn't think he was what our fans really would like to root for," Valentine says. "That scouting director is no longer with us."

So, does Darvish want to pitch in the majors? Unfortunately, the conditions for an interview with the pitcher come with the following stipulation: No questions regarding his thoughts on Major League Baseball. Which is telling in itself. If Darvish had no desire to play in the majors, wouldn't it be easy for him to just say so?

"I told him not to say anything, because it would increase interest," Fighters director of operations Toshi Shimada says. "I told him it will increase his popularity and make the club more popular."

(Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Darvish publicly state he DIDN'T want to pitch in the States?)

"People think of Japan as the land of the group, and they think of America as this group of entrepreneurs who are all independent of one another," Valentine says. "But the fact is, in American baseball there are 30 teams that are owned by rich guys and they work together. They promote each other's teams, they share revenues, they share ideas and they prosper together with TV contracts and sharing the wealth of the game. Here, there are 12 teams that work independent of one another. They share nothing."

"What's amazing watching kids play baseball here is the amount of respect they have for everybody," says [Jim] Small [MLB International's VP for Asia], whose son, John, plays for a Tokyo Little League team. "When they get on the field, they drop their hats and they bow, because the field is sacred. And when they go to the batter's box and the umpire is there, they bow to the umpire. And the worst thing you can do -- and my kid was taught this really early -- is throw your glove. Because his glove is his tool, and the glove is sacred.

"They're taught -- and you see this with Dice-K and with the top players here -- from when they're this tall to respect the game," Small says with his hand held waist high. "And I just think it's wonderful the way they do that."

[Captain Japan]

to the point that I think I could have rightfully posted this in the "newbie reporter" thread.

Right. He only spoke to one Japanese guy, the baseball coach. So seeing a lot of material that we have already seen before isn't all that surprising.

I am beginning to think that foreigners are more interested in the decline of the Japanese game than the Japanese.

[Greji]

One of the Gomiuri Giants pitchers last year was Geremi Gonzalez. The news is unclear yet, but he was apparently killed by a lightening strike in his native Venezuela yesterday, age 33! Not much more at this moment.....

[Iraira]

One of the Gomiuri Giants pitchers last year was Geremi Gonzalez. The news is unclear yet, but he was apparently killed by a lightening strike in his native Venezuela yesterday, age 33! Not much more at this moment.....

Let me know if his condition improves, ok?

[Gilligan]

One of the Gomiuri Giants pitchers last year was Geremi Gonzalez. The news is unclear yet, but he was apparently killed by a lightening strike in his native Venezuela yesterday, age 33! Not much more at this moment.....

If anyone's interested, here's a piece from ESPN.com about his death (no mention of time spent in NPB, though).

[Greji]

If anyone's interested, here's a piece from ESPN.com about his death (no mention of time spent in NPB, though).

Hmmm, doesn't look like he's going to improve. What a shame, that's too young.

He became famous in Japan and endured himself to FG ball fans in the fabled isles for ever, when he was pitching a game (against Hanshin, I think) and got in trouble. He grooved one right down the middle for what should have been strike three and out of the inning; however, the Ump said ball four and the Giants manager pulled Gonzales for another pitcher.

On his way back to the dugout, Gonzales picked up a ball and threw his best pitch of the night, right at the Ump. Taking the "dead ball" to heart, the Ump threw Gonzales out of the game, which was interesting, because thanks to the Ump, he was already out of it.

Ahh, That's the stuff legends are made of!
RIP mi joven hermano

[Captain Japan]

He became famous in Japan and endured himself to FG ball fans in the fabled isles for ever, when he was pitching a game (against Hanshin, I think) and got in trouble. He grooved one right down the middle for what should have been strike three and out of the inning]
Are you sure you don't mean Balvino Galvez? From Wikipedia...

On July 31, 1998, the Giants played against the Hanshin Tigers at Koshien Stadium, and Galvez faced Tomochika Tsuboi in the bottom of the 6th inning. Galvez's pitch was closely called a ball by the umpire, Atsushi Kittaka, and Galvez lost his cool, giving up a home run to Tsuboi on his next pitch. Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima emerged from the dugout to signal a change of pitchers, but Galvez refused to leave the mound, shouting insults at umpire Kittaka. Galvez allowed his teammates to drag him back to the dugout, but quickly turned back around to throw the baseball at umpire Kittaka (the ball narrowly missed him). The game erupted into a huge mess afterwards, and Galvez was given a suspension for the remainder of the season. The next game between the Tigers and Giants also erupted into a brawl, and both teams were warned for throwing dangerous pitches on the August 2 game.

[Captain Japan]

Here's the Galvez incident on Youtube:

[Captain Japan]

Here's Galvez going after Takeshi Yamasaki:

[Greji]

Are you sure you don't mean Balvino Galvez? From Wikipedia...

The Galvez toss is more famous, but Gonzalez made the grade as well. I haven't be able to find it yet, but it was one of his last games over here before they released him. He might have learned the "pitch" from Galvez!