Japanese Baseball | The Baseball Zealot

What ever happened to Matt Murton?

He’s breaking records in Japan, that’s what

On Tuesday, former Cub outfielder Matt Murton broke the Japanese professional baseball record for most hits in a single season. That record had formerly been held by none other than Ichiro Suzuki.

Murton got his 211th hit for the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday. Ichiro’s former record of 210 hits was accomplished in 1994.

One monkey wrench thrown into the whole record business… Japanese baseball has extended the season 14 games since 1994. Ichiro got his 210 hits in only 130 games while Murton hit his record-breaker in his 142nd game. I don’t know if Japanese baseball culture is hung up on that kind of thing like we were here in America ala “the asterisk”.

Humble Matt gave credit to Ichiro:

"1994 and 2010 are two different seasons. He did it in 130 games. It is what it is, it’s a great honor. In terms of Ichiro, this doesn’t change anything. He’s one of the best players in baseball."

142 games or not, I’ll bet the Cubs would like to have some of that hitting action.

Japanese team to play in spring training in 2010?

Interesting, it’s being proposed that a Japanese team play 15 games during spring training in 2010.

The team would play in Tucson and would replace the White Sox who have relocated to the Phoenix area.

Tucson tourism officials are behind the proposal but say the MLB is “open” to the idea and the Diamondbacks and Rockies have been receptive to the concept.

MARINERS: I THINK I’M TURNING JAPANESE

The Seattle Mariners named former White Sox catcher Don Wakamatsu their new skipper. Wakamatsu becomes the first Asian-American manager in major league baseball history. He is a fourth generation Japanese-American, born in Hood River, OR, to a Japanese-American father and an Irish-American mother.

Don last managed in 2000, when he guided the Erie SeaWolves of the Eastern League to a 12th place finish, with a record of 47-94, which would be seven losses better than the 2008 Mariners 101 losses, and there is no way they could finish in 12th place. Wakamatsu’s bloodlines might give him an edge in managing Seattle’s Japanese players, Ichiro Suzuki & Kenji Johjima, but more important than that are his baseball bloodlines. He’s paid his dues, is a baseball man, seems qualified for the job, and was on the Texas Rangers short list when the Rangers went with Ron Washington.

I’d like to take this opportunity to wish him, Gokouun o inorimasu, which is Good Luck in Japanese.

Female Knuckleballer gets drafted in Japanese pro league

Schoolgirl Eri Yoshida was drafted for a new Japanese independent league that debuts in April.

Those bus rides won’t quite be the same now.

Yoshida says that Tim Wakefield is her hero. She is a sidearm knuckleball pitcher and eventually wishes to play in a higher league.

I THINK I’M TURNING JAPANESE

My friend from Japan, Taka, was coming to Chicago to see the Cubs at Wrigley Field. He wanted to see Nick & me. It had been two years since we met in KC. Unfortunately Nick was unavailable and I was going to be in Waupaca, Wisconsin over the Labor Day Weekend. Fortunately Erick Robertson of Simyard was available to meet Taka at Wrigley, and join him for some Cubbie baseball.

Here is what Erick had to say of his Taka experience…

I created a sign that said "Taka" in Japanese and headed down to
Wrigley. I picked up the tickets at Will Call and then started walking
around holding this sign. I felt like a limo driver at the airport.
Several people asked me what it meant, and I think some people thought I
might be selling tickets or something. After about five or ten minutes,
Taka approached me and introduced himself. He’s a really nice guy, very
friendly, and knows a lot about baseball. He had just arrived in town
from New York where he went to a couple games at Yankee Stadium, and he
was planning on visiting Dodger Stadium and PNC Park before heading back
to Tokyo.

In my visits to Japan, the Japanese baseball fans that I had met only
knew about American players that had actually played in Japan. Taka
broke that mold. He not only knew every player on the field who had ever
played in Japan, but he also knew all about the rest of the players. At
one point, a fan sitting next to us asked us how old Jamie Moyer was,
and if it was in Taka’s guidebook. Taka knew the answer before he even
looked it up. He is a walking vault of baseball knowledge, Japanese or
otherwise.

Taka spent a good part of Sunday’s game teaching some Japanese to the
fans sitting around us. He taught them to say "izou" (Let’s Go) and
"kattobase" (make a good hit) to the players as they are batting. He
called out in Japanese to Fukodome on several occasions, and I only was
able to catch some of what he was saying.

Have you seen the Fukudome shirts in Wrigley that have Fukudome’s name
in Japanese on the back? ???? if you have Japanese characters
available. Taka and I shared a chuckle at these shirts because it is
strange to have the name written like that. Japanese player names are
always written "FUKUDOME" in Roman characters on the back of their
jerseys, but also, that specific alphabet is never used for Japanese
names. It’s very similar to how Japanese people screw up English text
when they use it in Japan, except in the reverse. We both agreed that it
was a very strange thing to see on a shirt, although it is considered
stylish in Wrigley.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay for the end of Sunday’s game
because I had a wedding to attend in Evanston on Sunday night. But I did
have a good time with Taka, and I believe he did also. We drank some
beers, ate some dogs and enjoyed both games even though the Cubs didn’t
pull out a win this weekend. I told him that I would try to see if Tedd
would come with me to Japan to see some games when the Hanshin Tigers
visit Tokyo next year. I hope we’re able to do that, Tedd, it would be a
blast! You would love games in Japan!

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Erick for meeting up with Taka! I’m glad they enjoyed watching some Cub baseball, even though the results might have been better, the Cubs lost both games. What a BLAST it would be to watch some baseball in Japan, with two of the biggest baseball fans I know, COUNT ME IN!

Baseball Zealot Radio: Interview with Erick Robertson from Simyard

It’s been a while since we’ve put out a show but this is a good one. Teddy Ballgame and CLuke put me in touch with Erick Robertson who is a programmer who has created an online fantasy baseball “universe”. I took the time to create a login at Sim Yard and it looks pretty interesting. It allows people to create teams of players and and build franchises. It’s a brand new project so we thought we get Erick on the show to talk about it.

Using the best marketing tool out there, viral marketing, Sim Yard lets people play for free for as long as they want. Of course, if you want to build a franchise, the subscription route is the way to go. Erick explains that Sim Yard is not just about winning the game but also developing your ballclub and increasing your franchise revenue.

While we were emailing each other about logistics, Erick told me he had the chance to watch more than a few baseball games while in Japan. Not only that, he took part in one of Hanshin Tigers’ cheerleading organizations. So I couldn’t pass up the chance to ask Erick about his experience with Japanese baseball from a fan’s perspective.