tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43985643778654310182023-11-16T06:42:58.562-08:00Yakyu Night OwlAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-54472402652564627222014-01-06T23:30:00.000-08:002014-01-07T10:47:33.061-08:00Foreign Player Spotlight: Kevin Beirne<div style="text-align: justify;">
KEVIN BEIRNE - Buffaloes 2003-2005 & Marines 2006</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It was a brutal campaign for the Oilers. December of 1973 ended with the franchise in a familiar basement crawling with scorpions and rattlers. The team finished with a dismal 1-13 record for the second consecutive season. Houston was once the toast of football, but the glory days of the AFL were a distant memory. Wide receiver Jim Beirne endured the worst year of his career, but there was still a reason to smile. Before everyone could hang a new calendar on the wall, he had a new baby in the family.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/beirnke01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Kevin Beirne</a></b> was born in Houston on January 1, 1974. His father joined the San Diego Chargers for the next season, but roots in Texas had grown deep. After returning to the Oilers for the 1975 & 1976 campaigns, Jim ended his career having played in 94 games with 142 receptions for 2,011 yards. In nine years of NFL service, he had never lost a football. Along the way, Jim had taken it to the house 11 times. The family business continued that tradition when <span class="st">James Beirne Custom Homes</span> was founded in 1984.<br />
<br />
The Beirne family settled in The Woodlands, an upscale community in suburban Houston developed by an energy company and dedicated the year Kevin was born. Like his father, Kevin was at home on the field of play. It didn't take long for baseball scouts to notice. By the time Kevin graduated from McCullough High School in 1992, he had developed into an athlete skilled enough to be <a href="http://www.thebaseballcube.com/draft/research.asp?Y=1992&R=43&PID=1089" target="_blank">drafted</a> in the 43rd round by the Cincinnati Reds. An all-state wideout, that fall he began a two sport career at Texas A&M on a football scholarship. After collegiate success on both the gridiron and diamond, he was <a href="http://www.thebaseballcube.com/draft/research.asp?Y=1995&R=11&P=June-Reg&PID=1089" target="_blank">picked again</a> in the 11th round of the 1995 draft and signed a contract with the Chicago White Sox.<br />
<br />
In his debut season as a professional baseball player, Kevin Beirne faced 66 batters in 1995. He never gave up a dinger and didn't
lose a game against opponents in the Appy, Gulf & Sally leagues.
While the next two years weren't quite that easy, he kept on climbing the rungs of the ladder. After finishing the 1998 season with the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League, he was <a href="http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/12668" target="_blank">ranked</a> by Baseball America as the #6 prospect in the Chicago White Sox system.<br />
<br />
Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune described the challenges Kevin Beirne faced on his way to the major leagues in an <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-02-24/sports/9902240026_1_kevin-beirne-schueler-umpires" target="_blank">article</a> published <span class="pubdate">February 24, 1999:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"First it was <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/parquji01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Jim Parque</a></b>, then <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/snydejo02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">John Snyder</a></b>, then <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wardbr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Bryan Ward</a></b>, then <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bradfch01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Chad Bradford</a> and finally <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/heathmi03.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Mike Heathcott</a></b>. Sox rookies accounted for 369
innings last season, more than 25 percent of the team's total. But
despite going 13-9 with a 3.44 ERA at Birmingham, Beirne
had to settle for a late-season promotion to Class AAA Calgary.<br />
<br />
'Seeing
all those guys come up, it makes you realize how close you are,' Beirne
said."</blockquote>
Beirne was close. Tantalizingly close. Greenstein described just how close in the <span class="pubdate">May 27, 1999 <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-05-27/sports/9905270418_1_class-aaa-charlotte-kevin-beirne-president-of-player-development" target="_blank">issue</a> of the Tribune:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="pubdate">"T</span>he most impressive minor-league starter has been 25-year-old
right-hander Kevin Beirne. Sox manager <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/manueje01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Jerry Manuel</a></b> indicated at the end
of spring training that Beirne would get the first crack at the
rotation if a spot opened. Beirne, 3-2 with a 2.57 ERA, has done nothing
to shake the Sox's confidence."</blockquote>
Unfortunately, recovering from an oblique <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-06-28/sports/9906280150_1_general-manager-ron-schueler-jerry-manuel-bottom-line" target="_blank">strain</a> was just the sort of thing to put those dreams on hold for the rest of 1999.<br />
<br />
In 2000, Beirne pitched only 11 innings in Spring Training before being optioned to AAA. Instead, the White Sox began the year with <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sturtta01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Tanyon Sturtze</a></b>. It wouldn't take long to regret that decision. In just 15 2/3 innings on the hill, Sturtze gave up 25 hits, allowed 23 runs, served up a quartet of taters, walked 15 guys and plunked 2 more for good measure. At the end of May, the Sox somehow managed to ship Sturtze south to Tampa Bay for a functional <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/graffto01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Tony Graffanino</a></b>.<br />
<br />
In the meantime, patience was finally paying off for Kevin Beirne. Even though he had not pitched above AAA, Sports Illustrated <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/fantasy/baseball/news/2000/03/21/pvr_starters/" target="_blank">listed</a> him 171st among fantasy starters to begin the 2000 season. Finally, Beirne got the call in early May. On the 17th, Kevin made his major league <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200005170.shtml" target="_blank">debut</a> at historic Yankee Stadium. Starter Jim Parque had given up 5 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings of work. Tanyon Sturtze had been torched for 4 runs on 5 hits in just a single frame. After waiting behind Parque and Sturtze in the minors, they had given up a 9 spot with the big club. Opportunity knocked with an ironic set of knuckles.<br />
<br />
26,887 faithful in the Bronx witnessed the first climb up the slope, first check of the signs and first delivery to the dish. Kevin Beirne worked the sixth inning without giving up a run, got his first big league strikeout against <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=willibe02,willibe01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Bernie Williams</a></b> and gave up his first knock to <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brosisc01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Scott Brosius</a></b>. Both <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leyriji01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Jim Leyritz</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/knoblch01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Chuck Knoblauch</a></b> hit harmless flies. If not for a fielding error, the inning might have been even quicker. The White Sox would eventually lose 9-4, but the Yankees didn't score after Beirne came into the game. He was a big league pitcher.<br />
<br />
Beirne would appear in 48.2 more innings for the White Sox in 2000. Sometimes it was tidy. Sometimes it wasn't. His first big league <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE200006140.shtml" target="_blank">win</a> came on June 14th. His next appearance was 4 days later in a 17-4 pummeling of the Yankees in New York. All 29 of his chances to pitch came in relief. Many of those opportunities were blowouts. After working 1 2/3 innings in a sloppy 14-10 White Sox victory at Kansas City on July 3rd, it was a long grind to the AL Central <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2000-09-27/sports/0009270159_1_jerry-manuel-carlos-lee-comiskey-park" target="_blank">crown</a>. Beirne pitched in 16 more games down the stretch without being part of another White Sox win. All he could do was <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtk7g0uQ3A" target="_blank">watch</a> while Chicago experienced the business <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/2000/postseason/al_division1/news/2000/10/06/whitesox_mariners_ap/" target="_blank">end</a> of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDq6XsNCRlw" target="_blank">broomstick</a> in three ALDS games against the Seattle Mariners.<br />
<br />
On January 14, 2001 Kevin Beirne was sent to Toronto with <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/simmobr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Brian Simmons</a></b>, <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=willimi03,willia001mik&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Mike Williams</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sirotmi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Mike Sirotka</a></b>. In return, the new GM of the White Sox, <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=willike02&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Ken Williams</a></b>, acquired <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wellsda01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">David Wells</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dewitma01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Matt DeWitt</a></b>. Unfortunately, Mike Sirotka wasn't <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-02-10/sports/0102100144_1_ash-kip-wells-mike-sirotka" target="_blank">healthy</a>. Toronto cried <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-02-21/sports/0102210265_1_manager-jerry-manuel-mike-sirotka-report" target="_blank">foul</a>. A lengthy report was presented by the office of the commissioner to state one simple thing: Bud Selig had decided in favor of White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf. Selig even took the time to explain it in Latin, then <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/blue-jays-beware-trade-upheld/" target="_blank">explain</a> the Latin. Robbed of a long career by a torn labrum, 29 year-old Mike Sirotka <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/sirotka-finally-soft-tosses-1.284633" target="_blank">never</a> took the hill again.<br />
<br />
With the Toronto Blue Jays, Kevin Beirne pitched in three games in April and two games in October with appearances in 20 games of minor league ball in between cups of coffee. His time with the big club did not go very well. Along with 5 easy to like strikeouts, there were the far less charming 13 hits, 10 runs, and 6 walks over the course of 7 innings. He was granted free agency on October 19, 2001.<br />
<br />
Kevin Beirne signed with Los Angeles on December 3, 2001. After a single outing for Vero Beach, he racked up 88 strikeouts in 22 starts with the Las Vegas 51s. With <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gagneer01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Eric Gagne</a></b> facing suspension after being <a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=20020802&id=1iMxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HDwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1880,351301" target="_blank">ejected</a> for hitting <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dunnad01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Adam Dunn</a></b> with a pitch in an extra innings marathon, Dodgers GM Dan Evans rushed to a <a href="http://lang.dailybulletin.com/sports/articles/0802/03/gagne.asp" target="_blank">meeting</a> with officials in Philadelphia. Before taking the cross-country flight to advocate for his star closer, Evans made the call to Las Vegas for pitching depth. Beirne headed back to the bigs.<br />
<br />
His first outings were all in relief. Beirne held his own with a few <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/gl.cgi?id=beirnke01&t=p&year=2002" target="_blank">bumps</a> along the way. Down the stretch, the Dodgers were still in the <a href="http://www.canoe.ca/StatsBBN/BC-BBN-PRVW-TONITE-R.html" target="_blank">hunt</a> for the Wild Card and every game was important. Beirne stepped into a rotation that featured <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nomohi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Hideo Nomo</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/ishiika01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Kazuhisa Ishii</a></b>. He debuted as a starter in the famous blue against the Colorado Rockies and gave up two runs in a no decision. His next start against the Giants wasn't very good, but he earned a victory in his last game of the season against the Padres. Sadly, an exciting 92-70 campaign ended with the Dodgers out of playoff contention. His final line was not too shabby. He went 2-0 with 3.41 ERA, 112 ERA+ and 1.483 WHIP, but an equal ratio of 17 walks to 17 strikeouts was troubling. After his best season in the big leagues, Beirne was released on November 25, 2002.<br />
<br />
Winter brought a contract with the Kintetsu Buffaloes in Japan. Kevin Beirne went to Osaka and joined a rotation that featured an exciting 22 year-old righty named <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/iwakuhi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a></b>. Veteran baseball writer Jim Allen recalled a conversation at the beginning of Spring Training in 2003. Beirne was enthusiastic about the Buffaloes chances and shared that optimism with Allen, <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rhodeka01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Tuffy Rhodes</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/powelje01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Jeremy Powell</a></b>. When he stated that all the club needed to do was win ballgames to fill the bleachers, it was met with a collective eye roll. Allen turned to Rhodes and asked, "Do you want to tell him, or should I?"<br />
<br />
In 2001, the Buffaloes put together a 78-60 record. Tuffy Rhodes slugged 55 home runs to tie the all-time mark set by Sadaharu Oh. The club clinched the Pacific League pennant at home in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A32Eb8pkcx8" target="_blank">dramatic fashion</a> against a local Blue Wave team. Even though Orix played in nearby Kobe, the stadium was not filled to capacity. Kintetsu had a winning 70-68 record in 2002 without playing for packed houses. After the arrival of Beirne, the team had an even better 74-64 season in 2003, but the turnstiles didn't whir at Osaka Dome. The Herd quietly grazed in the territory of the ferocious Hanshin Tigers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Beirne might have been too optimistic about the draw at the gate, but he did his best to help the club win games. His first season with the Buffs wasn't spectacular, but 8-7 with 2 complete games, a 4.37 ERA and a 1.211 WHIP was bolstered by an improved ratio of 48 walks to 107 strikeouts. Hisashi Iwakuma had a breakout season in his third year and led the club with 11 complete games on his way to a 15-10 record with a 3.45 ERA and 149 strikeouts over 195 2/3 innings. Jeremy Powell pitched 1/3 of an inning more than 'Kuma while putting together a 14-12 mark with 4 complete games and 165 strikeouts. After crushing 51 home runs, Tuffy Rhodes would leave for the Yomiuri Giants. In spite of their best efforts, the Buffaloes finished third place in the Pacific League. 2003 belonged to the Daiei Hawks.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Kevin Beirne worked hard in 2004 for the Buffaloes. He walked 48 just like his debut season, but struck out 154 to lead the club. His 173 2/3 innings pitched was just shy of his career high of 175 1/3 in 1998. He also plunked a dozen guys while only giving up 10 dingers. It was a tough year for the Buffs and things got a bit <a href="http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/07/25/sports/scoreboard.html" target="_blank">chippy</a> along the way. In a July game against the Chiba Lotte Marines, Beirne questioned a call on a pitch to <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/francma01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Matt Franco</a></b>. Franco took exception and barked back unsavory things about his pitching. At the end of the frame, Beirne confronted Franco. <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/agbaybe01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Benny Agbayani</a></b> and <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/serafda01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Dan Serafini</a></b> came flying out of the dugout, both benches cleared and a melee ensued. It was the second time in the young century that 3 players were ejected from a game in Japan.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
One bright spot in an otherwise dismal 61-71 season was the continued maturation of a young ace. Hisashi Iwakuma began the year with 12 straight victories and didn't lose until after the All-Star break. 'Kuma went 15-2 with a 3.01 ERA, racked up 123 strikeouts, and threw complete games in 7 of his 21 starts. It would be his last year in Osaka. The season marked the end of an era in Kansai too. Few eyes were dry when the Kintetsu Buffaloes and Orix Blue Wave ended their long storied histories with a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3dVfDC9loI" target="_blank">last game</a> against one another in Kobe. When it was announced that the Buffaloes and Blue Wave would merge, Iwakuma made it clear that he did not want to be with the new club. He also refused after being drafted by Orix from the pool of former Buffs and Blue Wave players. In an extremely rare show of strength, the union backed him up, and Hisashi Iwakuma joined the expansion Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.<br />
<br />
When the dust settled after a contentious off-season, Kevin Beirne was part of the newly formed 2005 Orix Buffaloes. It was not an easy campaign. The club went 62-70. Beirne went 4-13 in 20 starts, his ERA climbed to 4.69, and while he walked one fewer batter than his previous years, it was accompanied by only 70 strikeouts. He had some small sample size success at the dish hitting .333 with 2 runs and a RBI. It would be his last year with the Buffaloes.<br />
<br />
For the 2006 season, Kevin Beirne was tapped by skipper <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valenbo02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.baseball-reference.com" target="_blank">Bobby Valentine</a></b> to join the pitching staff of the defending Japan Series Champion Chiba Lotte Marines. Franco and Agbayani were still with the club, but there wouldn't be another brawl. Beirne made 6 starts, but he was mostly used in relief putting together 65.1 innings over the course of 28 games. He walked 27, struck out 48 and ended the year with a 3-5 record. Finishing with a 65-70 mark, the Marines did not successfully retain their NPB crown.<br />
<br />
After 4 seasons in Japan, Kevin Beirne returned to the United States. On January 19, 2007, he signed with the Detroit Tigers. He was released March 9th without finding another suitor. In 2008, he returned for a short stint in the Philadelphia Phillies organization, but after 21 innings with Lehigh Valley, his professional baseball career came to a quiet end. His journey had been remarkable. Like his father who never fumbled in the National Football League, Kevin had never balked in Major League Baseball. Neither had let adversity and change keep them from pursuing their dreams.<br />
<br />
In 2009, Kevin Beirne began another chapter as a <a href="http://pitchingcoachkevinbeirne.com/" target="_blank">coach</a> and mentor to new generations of baseball players. To this day, he continues to teach the game and share his experiences. Maybe one day some of those kids will have an international adventure in MLB and NPB too.<br />
<br />
<i>[Gratitude to <a href="https://twitter.com/JballAllen" target="_blank">Jim Allen</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/" target="_blank">Baseball Reference</a>.] </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-53530081857831956572013-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:002014-03-10T23:00:34.806-07:00Ma-kun & the Numbers<div style="text-align: justify;">
Across the Pacific, a phenomenal pitching talent put together a jaw dropping historic run. <span class="st">For thirty consecutive decisions, it was automatic. </span><span class="st"><span class="st"><b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=tanaka003mas&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Masahiro Tanaka</a></b> was inked on the lineup card, took the hill, and delivered a win.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Around <a href="http://www.npb.or.jp/eng/" target="_blank">Nippon Professional Baseball</a>, fans of opposing clubs both dreaded and looked forward to his starts. Although it meant a likely loss, as the game unfolded, it became easier and easier to root for Ma-kun. A natural reaction to baseball excellence seemed like betrayal in the moment, but it could not be helped.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st">When the last out of the 2013 regular season was recorded, the <a href="http://www.rakuteneagles.jp/" target="_blank">Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles</a> were atop the Pacific League. Masahiro Tanaka had a 24-0 record with 8 complete games and a save tossed in at the end for good measure.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">Major League scouts saw a lot to like during the campaign. What began as idle speculation in 2012 had developed into a story during the World Baseball Classic. As the calendar flew through summer, there was solid interest from teams in the United States. By the end, </span><span class="st">speculation about the eventual stateside destination of Tanaka had reached a rolling boil.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st">Even though a new posting agreement between NPB and MLB had not been finalized, nor had the Rakuten Eagles made a definite statement that Tanaka would be posted, it quickly became a foregone conclusion that he would play in North America. Lists of free agents were assembled and Tanaka was discussed without many caveats.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">While the Climax Series unfolded, the tangled
complications that have held up negotiations between leagues were all but forgotten. The current contract Tanaka has with the Eagles wasn't even a footnote for a lot of fans in their haste to imagine him delivering baseballs for their hometown nine. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">By the time a Japan Series crown was won in Miyagi Stadium, followers of clubs mentioned in rumors were largely convinced he was already on his way. Even MLB treated his posting and availability like a <a href="https://twitter.com/MLB/status/397838434292625408" target="_blank">done deal</a>. It may be why you are reading this very moment.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st">Full stop.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st">There are some things Major League Baseball fans ought to know.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="st">All over Japan, and especially in the Tohoku region, the amazing run of Tanaka and the Eagles has meant a whole lot more than just the satisfaction of a first Pacific League crown and Nippon Series championship. It still does.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="st">S</span>kipper Senichi Hoshino knew how important the team was to millions of people at such a difficult time in history. He <a href="http://yakyubaka.com/2013/11/03/1132013-rakuten-eagles-blank-yomiuri-giants-3-0-take-nippon-series-championship/" target="_blank">expressed those thoughts</a><span class="st"> after the Rakuten Eagles triumphed with an exciting game seven shutout of the defending champion Yomiuri Giants:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"When I became manager there was the Tohoku Earthquake and when I saw all
the survivors and hardships they were experiencing, I wanted to provide
some comfort by winning a Nippon Series. I felt that was the only thing
I could do, and for three years I fought with that in my mind. There are
still many people still struggling. I hope this can provide some of
those people with comfort, if even to the smallest degree." </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On October 10, 2013 new figures from <a href="http://tasukeaijapan.jp/" target="_blank">Tasukeai Japan</a> showed the current number of displaced people standing at 282,111. In American terms, that means roughly the population of Toledo, Ohio are still living in temporary accommodations. Toledo has a baseball team.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On that same day last month, the National Police Agency of Japan released an <a href="http://www.npa.go.jp/archive/keibi/biki/higaijokyo_e.pdf" target="_blank">updated list</a> of victims. If those who perished, are still missing, were injured, and children who lost one or both parents in the disaster are included, the sad total climbs to 308,375. That is a few thousand more than the number of people who live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pittsburgh has a baseball team.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At the peak of evacuations, an <a href="http://475,000/" target="_blank">estimated</a> 475,000 people were without homes in the wake of the earthquake, tsunami and radiation. Or, approximately the same number of folks with a place to call their own in Sacramento, California. Sacramento has a baseball team.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Take a quick glance at this list of a dozen cities that hosted a Major League Baseball team in 2013. 8 of these clubs had a playoff chance with a 162 game schedule in the books. A pair met in game number 163. The remaining 7 teams were part of an exciting postseason.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<ul>
<li>Kansas City, Missouri</li>
<li>Atlanta, Georgia </li>
<li>Miami, Florida</li>
<li>Oakland, California </li>
<li>Minneapolis, Minnesota</li>
<li>Cleveland, Ohio </li>
<li>Arlington, Texas</li>
<li>Anaheim, California</li>
<li>St. Louis, Missouri </li>
<li>Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania </li>
<li>Cincinnati, Ohio </li>
<li>St. Petersburg, Florida </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Now, read it again with the knowledge that the list is made up of cities with populations that are progressively smaller than the reported number of people whose lives were directly impacted in almost <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc4sQT_2GGE" target="_blank">incomprehensible</a> ways on March 11, 2011.<br />
<br />
Beyond the documented suffering, there are untold thousands more who lost loved ones, friends, neighbors, classmates, colleagues, home towns, earthly possessions and their livelihoods. For those who survived that fateful day, and those who continue to live in fear of what is happening down the coast in Fukushima, the Rakuten Eagles have been a steady source of both pride and comfort.<br />
<br />
Jim Allen covered the Eagles return to Miyagi Stadium on April 29, 2011. Masahiro Tanaka threw a complete game and <a href="http://bis.npb.or.jp/eng/2011/games/s2011042900378.html" target="_blank">won</a> an emotional homecoming. On Japan Baseball Weekly, Jim <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.03.Rakutens_home_opener.mp3" target="_blank">spoke</a> with colleague John E. Gibson about a baseball game being anti-climactic after spending time with local survivors. He distilled the moments into The Hot Corner <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/writers/display.gsp?id=37568" target="_blank">column</a> published on May 5, 2011. After sharing the thoughts and stories of strong willed people who were carrying on in spite of it all, he wrote:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Baseball people are fond of saying their season is not a sprint but a
marathon. Yet, when the Eagles' marathon ends, so many of those
struggling to rebuild lives will still be closer to the start than the
finish. A ball club can only help so much, provide a rallying point, a
beacon in dark times. But there are times when people need all the help
they can get."</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When it comes to Masahiro Tanaka, one should not consider the individual numbers without taking the numbers of individuals into account. Along with <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/iwakuhi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a></b> and other Eagles teammates over the last three seasons, his performance on the field had an impact that can't be measured in baseball terms, but can be seen on the faces of thousands of children at the ballpark.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ismac.co.jp/english/" target="_blank">Marty Kuehnert</a> is Senior Advisor to the Eagles and has been involved with the team since their inception. A few days ago, Marty was <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._3.39.Kuehnert,_Posting_System,_Free_Agents.mp3" target="_blank">interviewed</a> by John E. Gibson for the latest Japan Baseball
Weekly. They discussed the bonds that developed between the ballclub and the people of the Tohoku region in the wake of catastrophe. The entire podcast is essential listening. Here are a few things he shared:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Our
players spent a lot of time visiting evacuation centers and giving out
food and needed supplies.... We've continued to do things with people
from the most affected areas... We're the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, not the Miyagi or Sendai... the adjoining prefectures have pretty much adopted the ballclub and we've adopted them."</blockquote>
This past week, the Japan Times ran a <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2013/11/05/baseball/in-good-or-bad-times-title-winning-eagles-fans-share-special-bond-throughout-tohoku/#.UnzKsOLOR3D" target="_blank">piece</a> by Kaz Nagatsuka (with an assist from Jason Coskrey) that gives great insight into the relationship between the Eagles and their fans. Go read it if you haven't yet. The following quote from a former MLB arm was included in the article.<br />
<br />
When Sendai native <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/saitota01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Takashi Saito</a></b> started his NPB career in 1992, there was no team in the area. He played down in Yokohama and stayed with the BayStars through 2005. He spent seven campaigns stateside with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Braves, Brewers and Diamondbacks, before coming home this year to pitch for the Eagles. After the final victory for Tohoku, Saito spoke to NHK:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
"Those people suffering have been praised for their persistence from
all over the world, not just from inside Japan, even before we became
the Japan Series champions. Maybe we could say this is their second championship. Without them, we couldn’t have become the champions."</div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Without comparing the relative impacts of intensely tragic events, fans in North America should be able to understand the range of powerful emotions that still linger in the raw fall wind
that blows through Miyagi Baseball Stadium in Sendai.<br />
<br />
After a horrific attack on marathon competitors and fans in the streets not far from
Fenway Park, "Boston Strong" became a rallying cry the Red Sox carried
through a World Series championship.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Trophies were held high when saves from <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/ueharko01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Koji Uehara</a></b> and Masahiro Tanaka ended the final games. Smiles spread across millions of faces. Baseball had bound communities together. It left a trace of magic in the air where there once was choking dread and sorrow.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In November, the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles will be competing in the <a href="http://www.asiaseries.org/2013/" target="_blank">Asia Series</a> from the 15th to 20th. Fan Appreciation Day is scheduled for the 23rd. A victory parade will be held on the 24th. It would be nice for millions of fans all over Japan to be able to savor those days before MLB teams swooped in on their ace.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If circumstances dictate that Ma-kun stays on the Eagles roster and defends the NPB championship in 2014, folks on this side of the pond will just have to hold their horses. After all, if he were one of your hometown heroes, that is exactly the outcome you would fervently wish for, right?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps the breathless faithful in the United States will channel some
of that eagerness into a list of nice things to do for the many people
still suffering in Japan who found beauty and a bit of solace watching
Masahiro Tanaka win ballgames.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For now at least, everyone in baseball should let the Eagles and their fans enjoy this moment at the top. It was earned in ways that can't be fully explained with numbers, or words for that matter.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>[Updated 11/11 to include thoughts of </i><i>Marty Kuehnert in JBW interview. Gratitude to <a href="https://twitter.com/gwynar" target="_blank">Gen Sueyoshi</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/JballAllen" target="_blank">Jim Allen</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/JNYakyu" target="_blank">John E. Gibson</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/kaznagatsuka" target="_blank">Kaz Nagatsuka</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/JCoskrey" target="_blank">Jason Coskrey</a>.]</i></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-51520352100329322302013-03-06T00:25:00.001-08:002013-03-11T00:32:57.455-07:00Japan Baseball Weekly<div style="text-align: justify;">
Baseball reporter <a href="http://twitter.com/DYBaseball" target="_blank">John E. Gibson</a> is celebrating his third season of putting together this excellent <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/japan-baseball-weekly/id443149184" target="_blank">podcast</a> from Japan. He is regularly joined by author and veteran sportswriter <a href="http://twitter.com/JballAllen" target="_blank">Jim Allen</a>, and on occasion, Michael Westbay, founder of <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/">JapaneseBaseball.com</a>, the site that features Japan Baseball Weekly.<br />
<br />
If you haven't dived into the richly informative JBW <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/services/jbw-podcasts.jsp" target="_blank">archives</a>, here is a selection of shows with featured interviews. These guests have backgrounds in all aspects of the game and the conversations can often be quite candid. Topics run the gamut from the front office to the playing field and from scouting to writing about baseball in Japan.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._3.04.Hillman,_WBC,_Nakaji.mp3" target="_blank">3.04</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=68109" target="_blank">02/25/2013 </a>Trey Hillman</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._3.03.Guiel,_WBC,_Camps.mp3" target="_blank">3.03</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=68070" target="_blank">02/11/2013</a> Aaron Guiel </li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._3.02.Boomer,_Itoi,_Camps,_WBC.mp3" target="_blank">3.02</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=68040" target="_blank">01/28/2013</a> Greg Wells </li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._3.01.Whiting,_NPB_Future,_Matsui.mp3" target="_blank">3.01</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67989" target="_blank">01/14/2013</a> Robert Whiting</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.42.Graczyk,_Acquisitions,_Westbay,_WBC.mp3" target="_blank">2.42</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67937" target="_blank">12/17/2012</a> Wayne Graczyk</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.39.Matt_Winters,_Free_Agents.mp3" target="_blank">2.39</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67807" target="_blank">11/12/2012</a> Matt Winters</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.34.Houlton,_Climax_Series,_Bobby_V..mp3" target="_blank">2.34</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67656" target="_blank">10/08/2012</a> D.J. Houlton</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.33.Rasner,_PL,_WBC.mp3" target="_blank">2.33</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67629" target="_blank">10/01/2012</a> Darrell Rasner</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.32.Whitesell,_Races,_Triple_Crown.mp3" target="_blank">2.32</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67593" target="_blank">09/24/2012 </a>Josh Whitesell</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.30.Barnette,_WBC,_Tigers_GM.mp3" target="_blank">2.30</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67544" target="_blank">09/10/2012</a> Tony Barnette </li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.29.Eldred,_Ishi-Taku_Retirement.mp3" target="_blank">2.29</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67513" target="_blank">09/03/2012</a> Brad Eldred</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.28.Bass,_Giants,_Marines.mp3" target="_blank">2.28</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67475" target="_blank">08/27/2012</a> Randy Bass</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.27.Messenger,_Brothers,_Kokubo.mp3" target="_blank">2.27</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67435" target="_blank">08/20/2012</a> Randy Messenger</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67390" target="_blank">2.26</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67390" target="_blank">08/13/2012</a> Bobby Scales</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.25.Carter,_PL-CL,_1st_Pitches.mp3" target="_blank">2.25</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67357" target="_blank">08/06/2012</a> Chris Carter</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.22.Rami-chan,_Runners_And_Runs.mp3" target="_blank">2.22</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67298" target="_blank">07/16/2012</a> Alex Ramirez </li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.21.Wolfey,_Races,_Debate.mp3">2.21</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67275" target="_blank">07/09/2012</a> Brian Wolfe</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.20.Coco,_All-Stars,_Kanemoto.mp3" target="_blank">2.20</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67238" target="_blank">07/02/2012</a> Wladimir Balentien</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.19.DeFreitas,_Rookies,_Interleague_MVP.mp3" target="_blank">2.19</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67194" target="_blank">06/25/2012</a> Dave DeFreitas</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.18.Murton,_Giants,_Interleague.mp3" target="_blank">2.18</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67156" target="_blank">06/18/2012</a> Matt Murton</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.17.Evan,_Interleague,_Notes.mp3" target="_blank">2.17</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67123" target="_blank">06/11/2012</a> Evan MacLane</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.16.Jose,_No-Hitter,_Notes.mp3" target="_blank">2.16</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67092" target="_blank">06/04/2012</a> Jose Fernandez</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.15.Williams,_Bullpens,_Carp.mp3" target="_blank">2.15</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67046" target="_blank">05/28/2012</a> Randy Williams</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.14.Mathieson,_Rakuten,_Injuries.mp3" target="_blank">2.14</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=67010" target="_blank">05/21/2012</a> Scott Mathieson</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.13.Mann,_Micah,_Interleague.mp3" target="_blank">2.13</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66991" target="_blank">05/14/2012</a> Brandon Mann & Micah Hoffpauir</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.12.Bullington,_Shinya,_Masa.mp3" target="_blank">2.12</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66951" target="_blank">05/07/2012</a> Bryan Bullington</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.11.Sledge,_Homers,_Notes.mp3" target="_blank">2.11</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66911" target="_blank">04/30/2012</a> Terrmel Sledge</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.10.Seth,_Milestone-Men.mp3" target="_blank">2.10</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66874" target="_blank">04/23/2012</a> Seth Greisinger</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.09.Bowker,_Darvsy,_Etc.mp3" target="_blank">2.09</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66834" target="_blank">04/16/2012</a> John Bowker</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.08.Brazell,_Team_Evaluating.mp3" target="_blank">2.08</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66796" target="_blank">04/09/2012</a> Craig Brazell</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.07.Milledge,_Opening_Day.mp3" target="_blank">2.07</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66756" target="_blank">04/02/2012</a> Lastings Milledge</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.06.Rocca_II,_PL_Breakdown.mp3" target="_blank">2.06</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66698" target="_blank">03/26/2012</a> Larry Rocca (Part 2)</li>
<li><a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.05.Rocca_I,_CL_Breakdown.mp3" target="_blank">2.05</a> | <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66623" target="_blank">03/12/2012</a> Larry Rocca (Part 1)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.04.J.P.,_Skippers,_Rule.mp3" target="_blank">2.04</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66576" target="_blank">02/27/2012</a> Jeremy Powell</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._2.03.Hopkins,_Errors,_Camps.mp3" target="_blank">2.03</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66527" target="_blank">02/12/2012</a> Gail E. Hopkins</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.31.Series,_Cromartie.mp3" target="_blank">1.31</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66104" target="_blank">11/14/2011</a> Warren Cromartie</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.29.CS_1st_Stages,_Alex.mp3" target="_blank">1.29</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=66034" target="_blank">11/01/2011</a> Alex Ramirez</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.26.Murton,_Aarom,_Races.mp3" target="_blank">1.26</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65889" target="_blank">10/10/2011</a> Matt Murton & Aarom Baldiris</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.24.Jose,_Lions,_Orix.mp3" target="_blank">1.24</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65796" target="_blank">09/26/2011</a> Jose Fernandez </li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.23.Scales,_MVPs.mp3" target="_blank">1.23</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65752" target="_blank">09/19/2011</a> Bobby Scales </li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.20.Standridge,_Races.mp3" target="_blank">1.20</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65640" target="_blank">08/29/2011</a> Jason Standridge</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.18.Bullington,_Tactics.mp3" target="_blank">1.18</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65555" target="_blank">08/14/2011</a> Bryan Bullington </li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.14.Sarfate,_Alex_streak.mp3" target="_blank">1.14</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65356" target="_blank">07/18/2011</a> Dennis Sarfate</li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.13.Falky,_Strategies.mp3" target="_blank">1.13</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65293" target="_blank">07/11/2011</a> Brian Falkenborg </li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.10.Keppel,_Iwase,_Leagues.mp3" target="_blank">1.10</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65103" target="_blank">06/20/2011</a> Bobby Keppel </li>
<li><a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/audio/JBP_Pod_Vol._1.09.Interview_Hawks.mp3" target="_blank">1.09</a> | <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.gsp?forum=1197&thread=65067" target="_blank">06/13/2011</a> Matt Murton </li>
</ul>
<br />
<a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/blogs/blog.jsp?blogid=1197" target="_blank">Japan Baseball Weekly</a> is on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japan-Baseball-Weekly/146034025479437" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and the podcasts are available from <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/japan-baseball-weekly/id443149184" target="_blank">iTunes</a>. It is an interactive show and listeners are invited to send questions either in an email or an MP3 under 60 seconds. Immense gratitude to John, Jim and all the guests over the years. The information and insights have been invaluable. Thanks also to <a href="http://www.shooters-nagoya.com/aboutus.asp" target="_blank">Shooters</a> in Nagoya and <a href="http://www.oneworldsports.com/" target="_blank">ONE World Sports</a> for sponsoring the show.<br />
<ul>
</ul>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-49285971657911606922013-02-24T23:04:00.000-08:002013-02-26T08:25:14.635-08:00A Mistress SpeaksDear Marlins Fans,<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It brings no pleasure to correspond under these circumstances, but in light of what the owner of your franchise <a href="http://miamiherald.typepad.com/fish_bytes/2013/02/jeffrey-lorias-letter-to-our-fans.html" target="_blank">wrote to you</a> this weekend, it seems like there is little choice. Our hearts go out to all of you and your families. Best wishes to all the players and coaching staff in the coming season as well. We hope that by sharing some of our side of the story, perhaps the healing process can begin.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is not a secret that your owner and the powers that be in MLB have had an inappropriate relationship with our fair city for a long time. Baseball fans in this area have been treated like a cheap booty call and an easy mark. The suits have engaged in an unsavory habit of making empty statements about our chances to land a ballclub with a total disregard for our feelings. It has gone on for decades. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Whenever there was difficulty in a marriage with another metropolis, the usual suspects would show up at all hours with a bouquet of gas station roses and cheap red wine. In the past, we've let Jeffrey Loria and others play us like a fiddle and prey on the insecurities of our
politicians. The insincere compliments and half-hearted flirting made this bedrock Pacific Coast League town with a rich baseball history
feel something akin to attractive and important. We were taken for fools.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Well, that is simply not acceptable anymore. Now that things are going poorly in Miami, we would like your owner to rethink any future overtures to our town. In fact, we would very much like it if everyone involved with the Marlins franchise simply stayed away. It will be awkward if we have to get a restraining order.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is true that Jeffrey Loria could not possibly be the most despicable person ever involved with baseball in Portland. We are pretty sure that title will always belong to the man who once said that "<a href="http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-3820-the_bad_boy.html" target="_blank">women are a lot like dogs</a>" and did unspeakable things to young ladies on videotape while ranting on and on about Adolf Hitler. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It would also be hard to accuse Jeffrey Loria of being the most underhanded person involved in athletics in our state. Some might argue that one of our universities is essentially run by a shoe mogul. Recently, lawmakers in Salem used the fog surrounding a horrific shooting at a local mall to ramrod a "<a href="http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/12/oregon_legislature_approves_ni.html" target="_blank">sweetheart deal</a>" for the shoe mogul that shifted a growing portion of his future tax burden to the citizens of Oregon for the next 30 years.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While schools closed, park programs were cut and a growing number of kids faced poverty, this community paid over $70 million to rebuild the same sports <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeld-Wen_Field" target="_blank">facility</a> twice in a decade. In the not so distant past, we supported and helped launch the careers of an ice skating <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/olympics1998/history/timeline/timeline.htm" target="_blank">thug</a> and a race baiting <a href="http://deadspin.com/5748972/the-worst-men-in-sports" target="_blank">sportscaster</a>. No, Loria wouldn't be the worst excuse for a human being in sports around this neck of the woods. The all-time rosters have set unbreakable marks. The competition is far too fierce.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With all that said, we think Mr. Loria and Mr. Samson should explain a few things to you wonderful fans in Miami. Before you put them on the hot seat, maybe we ought to refresh their memories with a handful of highlights from the past few years of our lengthy affair:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
February 24, 2006: The Florida Marlins <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2006-02-24/sports/0602231330_1_alfredo-amezaga-miguel-olivo-dontrelle-willis" target="_blank">announced</a> new contracts for ten players including Ricky Nolasco, Josh Johnson, Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. All were signed for the major league
minimum of $327,000. Maria Cantwell received <a href="http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?26020382926" target="_blank">$1,000</a> from Marlins President David Samson for her reelection campaign. A lifelong baseball fan, Senator Cantwell of Washington has a very good relationship with the Seattle Mariners. With Safeco Field less than 175 miles from downtown Portland, territorial issues would have been an important part of any potential deal. Senator Cantwell could have been a valuable teammate in negotiating a move of the Marlins to Portland.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
August 7, 2007: Mauro Zárate made his major league debut and
became the fourth player in Florida Marlins history with a "Z" last name.
Marlins President David Samson sent <a href="http://herndon1.sdrdc.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?27020330267" target="_blank">$2,000</a> to Oregon's former junior senator, Gordon Smith for his reelection campaign. The frozen food magnate is a professed baseball fan who advocated publicly for moving a franchise to the area. He could have teamed up with his colleague from Washington to help bring the Marlins to Portland during his time in Congress. It never came to fruition.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
July 18, 2009: The Philadelphia Phillies led the Florida Marlins 2-0, but the game was
rained out in the second inning. Ground was broken on a brand new $515
million stadium for the Miami Marlins. "<a href="http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/Marlins-Stadium-Groundbreaking-Drowned-Out-in-Boos.html" target="_blank">Thousands of fans were booing</a>" during the ceremony. Some of the funding for the facility was secured when 1,700 county employees were laid-off in the week prior to the groundbreaking.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
February 13, 2010: The Florida Marlins hosted the 15th Annual Fan Fest. It looks like Marlins owner
Jeffrey Loria celebrated his big day with the Miami faithful by filing a <a href="https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/transactionPubDetail.do?tranRsn=705688" target="_blank">$50,000</a> campaign contribution in Salem, Oregon. Loria soon doubled down this bet on former NBA backup and then candidate for Oregon governor, Chris Dudley.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
August 23, 2010: Popular Florida outfielder Cody Ross was claimed off
waivers by the San Francisco Giants. Documents showing that the Florida
Marlins lied about their financial status surfaced on <a href="http://deadspin.com/5619235/florida-marlins-financial-documents/gallery/" target="_blank">Deadspin</a>. By not
seeing these figures before approving a stadium, Miami-Dade County was
apparently swindled out of over a billion dollars.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
October 4, 2010: It was one day after the Florida Marlins schedule closed on a
win. Dan Uggla had finished 3 for 3 with a home run. With the past season of baseball fresh in his mind, it seems a cruel coincidence that the last half of
Jeffrey Loria's <a href="https://secure.sos.state.or.us/orestar/transactionPubDetail.do?tranRsn=904350" target="_blank">$100,000</a> contribution to the Chris Dudley campaign was filed with the Secretary of State's
office in Salem. Even though it had been over a year since the ground was broken on a new facility, it seemed like the Marlins were still trying to buy their way into Oregon politics.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
October 15, 2010: Lines formed as Miami residents <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/15/1874562/miami-dade-mayor-recall-effort.html" target="_blank">signed a petition</a> to
recall Mayor Carlos Alvarez for raising taxes largely to pay for a
stadium the region could not afford. Ballots were <a href="http://www.sos.state.or.us/executive/pages/pressandcolumn/pressreleases/2010/10/15.html" target="_blank">mailed</a> out to Oregon residents for the upcoming election. As the race for governor entered the home stretch, backup center Chris Dudley was in a hotly contested battle with Dr. John Kitzhaber. Contributions to the Dudley campaign cost double what the Florida Marlins <a href="http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/apnews/stories/032403/D7PVLIO00.html" target="_blank">saved</a> by dismissing John Routh, the original Billy the Marlin.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why does your unfaithful owner and his sidekick keep texting us lurid things after you fall asleep? Well, the answer dates back to the days when Jeffrey Loria left the Montreal Expos in ruin. In 2003, the year your hometown ballclub won the World Series, our gullible legislature decided that a pig in a poke was better than no pig at all. So, they voted to start a contest for relocating MLB teams with a whopping $150,000,000 grand prize to give away. Neither MLB nor the Expos ever seriously considered Portland as a viable option, but knowing the <a href="http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/184.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></a><a href="http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/184.html" target="_blank">ORS 184.400 to 184.408</a> money is still on the table keeps the men who run your baseball team interested in our town. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Moving the Marlins to Portland would drain our state of scant financial resources in much the same way it has devastated your communities. We know how hard it is for you to keep supporting a team with so little to lose and everything to gain. All we ask is that you keep these men away from us. While there are a few stubborn magical thinkers among the ranks, realistic fans have moved on from believing there is any future with MLB, and specifically, the Marlins. We are dedicated to other big league teams and we are happy. Minor league ball is <a href="http://www.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t419" target="_blank">returning</a> to the area too. The game feels beautiful to us once more. We sincerely hope that baseball brings you joy again someday soon. It hurts us to see them treat you with such disdain and cruelty.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In Sympathy,</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Portland</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-65275192149195427422013-02-15T22:15:00.001-08:002013-02-19T05:44:59.064-08:00Flying Past Fenway<div style="text-align: justify;">
Freeways in Boston could be beautiful
at night. My brother and I discovered the lights of Fenway from the friendly confines of our car seats. The world outside the Volkswagen wasn't always easy to understand,
but it was well worth the effort. Dad being Dad, we drove past the park pretty often during ballgames. I remember the surreal way that the Citgo sign raced toward us like an eager young lighthouse keeper with a lantern running out to meet a vessel. It stood perfectly still as we sped past, then became smaller and smaller in the back window until it was lost. The aura of the stadium lights lasted a few seconds longer before being swallowed up in the sea of headlights behind us.<br />
<br />
Early memories of Fenway include another landmark too. It's still difficult to describe the catharsis that came with deciphering the fourteen letters that stood proud and tall on a nearby rooftop. In the realm of childhood achievements, piecing together "BUCK PRINTING CO" was an immeasurable triumph. After the meaning of glass doors with "TIXE YCNEGREME" had eluded me for a few frustrating weeks, I finally had to ask someone what the words said. As a developing young reader, solving this latest riddle on my own felt like a personal breakthrough of mammoth proportions.<br />
<br />
Seeing the game played professionally for the first time was an eye-opening experience too. Crowded into a living room of restless relatives, a few cousins and I shared a small island of rag rug in front of the television. As the game progressed, adults that I'd known my entire life were expressing levels of emotion that weren't often seen outside of a four alarm crisis. There was whooping, hollering, begging, imploring, arguing and passion that seemed to get more intense throughout the course of the game. The vibe in the air was a little scary. It wasn't the result of demon possession, or palatable potions in translucent Tupperware. It was the agony and ecstasy of baseball.<br />
<br />
The Yankees were playing somebody pretty damn good. Since green jerseys are etched in memory, I'm guessing it must have been the A's. The camera angles made me flinch for the first frame or two until my Grandpa asked why I was twitching with every pitch. Everyone had a good laugh when I explained that the mound was dangerously close to the batter and the catcher was bound to get his brains bashed in. The sport was just an abstract at that point. My experience was an ever-growing number of days playing catch, a collection of scattered concepts gleaned from conversations, and of course, those wonderful drives back home hearing an impassioned Ned Martin and his partners on the radio. Most of the time, it seemed like they were speaking in a foreign language.<br />
<br />
It was no different for me in front of the television except that it was my relatives carrying on about the game and the discussions were framed with familiar gestures and rising tones. The true value of my new found silence became apparent as the game wound down to the final outs. As the room quickly hushed, everyone was staring at the screen with both the ashen certainty of a doomed submarine crew and the optimistic intensity of a bomb squad. After a few anguished moments, it was all over. My Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Skip and the other men headed out to the backyard to discuss the outcome. I tagged along to see what might be learned from the debriefing. In order to communicate with my elders during ballgames in the future, I would figure out how to understand grunts. I also learned that baseball at my Grandparents' house in upstate New York
usually involved the Yankees playing somebody pretty damn good. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/1975_World_Series.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/2a/1975_World_Series.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
In the fall of 1975, my family moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon. Thanks to the merciful winds of fate, I wasn't raised in the heart of Red
Sox Nation with relatives that followed the rival New York Yankees. Weeks after we headed west, Boston lost an epic seven game battle with the Big Red Machine. After settling into our new hometown, my brother and I discovered the lights of Civic Stadium. Dad still went out of his way to drive us past the historic ballpark, but we were often heading to a secret parking space in Goose Hollow. Membership in the Knothole Club was affordable, so we nursed our critical cases of Beaver Fever with season tickets in the bleachers.<br />
<br />
Our home at the park was the sovereign territory of wise old timers weighed down with patches and pins,
unrepentant loudmouths with swimming pool sized beers, little kids with doting thoughtful parents, and the occasional
drunk who lunged for a home run ball before succumbing to gravity. I would learn a whole lot about live baseball in a rising cloud of cigar smoke overhearing blasts of commentary that were often every bit as blue. One night a game-ending call at the plate was so bad that everyone in attendance chanted a euphemism for cattle feces at the top of their lungs for ten straight minutes. It was a positively glorious thing to behold. It would happen again with equal vigor a couple years later at a contest with the Dukes. That night Lucky was ejected for swapping out the visitors city on the scoreboard with a replacement that read, "Albuturkey."<br />
<br />
Baseball might have been on television once in a long while, but it was on the radio every day. The pair of transistor sets we got for Christmas were keys to another universe. In the magical spring and summer of 1977, Trailblazers basketball was the biggest story in town. As fantastic as the run was that year, Bill Schonely could only call 'em one at a time and they didn't pound the hardwood every night. Coincidentally, The Schonz was the play by play voice of the Seattle Pilots in 1969. He came to Rip City in 1970 to start over with another expansion franchise. The debut of the Seattle Mariners made that spring and summer just that much more amazing and succinct. Even though it would be a long time before the excitement of that glorious year was matched, both Dave Niehaus and Bill Schonely would be radio mentors to young sports fans all over the Northwest for generations.<br />
<br />
Following the Beavers on the road became part of our routine in the summertime. From the debut of the Mariners in 1977, I was enchanted by the sounds of the Kingdome too. In time, Dave Niehaus grew into a surrogate Grandpa. It didn't take long to discover outlets in San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles and San Diego. Vin Scully, Lon Simmons and others became great-uncles. Minor league affiliates in places like Vancouver, Calgary, Tacoma, Salem, Boise and Eugene could be heard sometimes too. Between live play by play and midnight baseball rebroadcasts, games could potentially be enjoyed from the moment I got home from school into the wee small hours of the morning.<br />
<br />
Once school was out for the summer, my brother and I would go outside and play marathon games of Wiffle Ball. On a good day, there would be an afternoon game to keep us company and an evening matchup to make sure we were exhausted. Sometimes we would try to re-enact the game as it happened. Other times we would try to play and keep an ear on the broadcast. These attempts to multitask would often result in a resounding thwack on the siding of the neighbor's house. As right handed batters, one lapse in concentration led us to naturally hit toward left field. We may have left Boston, but we kept the monster. Our monster was grouchy.<br />
<br />
After the sun went down, it was time for dinner and more baseball. Long nights after full days became a routine ritual during the summer. Even after coming home from a double-header downtown. Looking back it seems like a great many childhood things led me from Yawkey Way to Puro Yakyu. The late night drives, the slow frustrating process of learning a new language, the hometown heroes playing in historic parks, the rhythmic chanting in the bleachers, and the transistor radio hidden in my pillow. Portland Beavers road games against the Hawai'i Islanders prepared me for the start times of NPB day games. Midnight baseball rebroadcasts of contests that went late would usually get started right around the same time as night contests do in Japan. Insomnia is no curse. It is a blessing. Four decades later, baseball remains a puzzle to be put together one
brief glimpse at a time. It isn't always easy to see them play across the ocean in the
wee hours, but well worth the effort. The game can be beautiful.
Especially at night. Baseball is a gift from Japan to an owl on the
internet.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-80914267570386419442013-02-09T23:30:00.002-08:002013-03-12T02:26:57.859-07:00Pacific Mariners: Japan<div style="text-align: justify;">
ROOTS IN JAPAN<br />
<br />
Sixteen
players born in Japan were part of the Seattle Mariners organization
during the first thirty-five seasons. Eight of these men played for the
big league team.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=aoki--001tom" target="_blank">Tomoshi Aoki</a> (Yokohama)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bowie-001jam" target="_blank">Jim Bowie</a> (Tokyo)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hasega001shi" target="_blank">Shigetoshi Hasegawa</a> (Kobe) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=house-001cra" target="_blank">Craig House</a> (Okinawa) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ishima001tai" target="_blank">Taisuke Ishimaru</a> (Tokyo)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=iwakum001his" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a> (Tokyo) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=johjim001ken" target="_blank">Kenji Johjima</a> (Nagasaki)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kawasa001mun" target="_blank">Munenori Kawasaki</a> (Kagoshima)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kida--001mas" target="_blank">Masao Kida</a> (Tokyo) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kim---001yoo" target="_blank">Yuni Kim</a> (Uwajima)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=may---003fre" target="_blank">Freddy May</a> (Tokyo)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ohka--001tom" target="_blank">Tomo Ohka</a> (Kyoto) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sasaki001kaz" target="_blank">Kazuhiro Sasaki</a> (Tokyo)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suda--001ken" target="_blank">Kenta Suda</a> (Osaka)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001ich" target="_blank">Ichiro Suzuki</a> (Kasugai) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001mak" target="_blank">Mac Suzuki</a> (Kobe)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
CAREERS IN JAPAN<br />
<br />
Eighty-two
Nippon Professional Baseball players and one manager were part of the
Seattle Mariners Major League club over the first thirty-five seasons.
This list includes players,
managers and coaches at the big league level. Partial seasons and cups
of coffee are listed right along with regulars, a respectable number of
All-Stars, and every Rookie of the Year Award winner in M's franchise
history. The list also includes one Hall of Fame player and another who will
likely be elected on his first ballot. Mariners who later coached with
the big club are not marked as
coaches.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=allen-001kim" target="_blank">Kim Allen</a> (Tigers '82-'83)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=allen-002rod" target="_blank">Rod Allen</a> (Carp '89-'91)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=anthon001eri" target="_blank">Eric Anthony</a> (Swallows '98)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=atchis001sco" target="_blank">Scott Atchison</a> (Tigers '08-'09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=balent001wla" target="_blank">Wladimir Balentien</a> (Swallows '11-'12)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bannis001flo" target="_blank">Floyd Bannister</a> (Swallows '90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=barfie001jes" target="_blank">Jesse Barfield</a> * (Giants '93)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bernaz001ant" target="_blank">Tony Bernazard</a> (Hawks '88-'90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bocach001hir" target="_blank">Hiram Bocachica</a> (Lions '08-'09)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=blower001mic" target="_blank">Mike Blowers</a> (Tigers '99)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bradle001phi" target="_blank">Phil Bradley</a> (Giants '91)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davis-001alv" target="_blank">Mickey Brantley</a> (Giants '93)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bunch-001mel" target="_blank">Melvin Bunch</a> (Dragons '00-'02)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=cabrer001jol" target="_blank">Jolbert Cabrera</a> (Hawks '05-'06) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=carrar001gio" target="_blank">Giovanni Carrara</a> (Lions '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=coles-001dar" target="_blank">Darnell Coles</a> (Dragons '96; Tigers '97)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=comsto001kei" target="_blank">Keith Comstock</a> (Giants '85-'86)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=cotto-001hen" target="_blank">Henry Cotto</a> (Giants '94)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=creek-001pau" target="_blank">Doug Creek</a> (Tigers '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davey-001tho" target="_blank">Tom Davey</a> (Carp '03-'05; Buffaloes'06-'07)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davis-001alv" target="_blank">Alvin Davis</a> (Buffaloes '92)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=daviso001sco" target="_blank">Scott Davison</a> (Marines '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ducey-001rob" target="_blank">Rob Ducey</a> (Fighters '95-'96)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gossag001ric" target="_blank">Rich Gossage</a> (Hawks '90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hansen001dav" target="_blank">Dave Hansen</a> (Tigers '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hasega001shi" target="_blank">Shigetoshi Hasegawa</a> (Blue Wave '91-'96)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hengel001dav" target="_blank">Dave Hengel</a> (Orions '90-'91)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=henry-001dwa" target="_blank">Dwayne Henry</a> (Dragons '94)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hodges001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Hodges</a> (Swallows '01-'03; Eagles '05)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=holzem001mar" target="_blank">Mark Holzemer</a> (Bay Stars '01)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=howard002fra" target="_blank">Frank Howard</a> * (Lions '74)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hurtad002edw" target="_blank">Edwin Hurtado</a> (Blue Wave '98-'99; Buffaloes '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=iwakum001his" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a> (Buffaloes '01-'04; Eagles '05-'11) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jarvis001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Jarvis</a> (Dragons '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jeffer001reg" target="_blank">Reggie Jefferson</a> (Lions '00)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jimene004lui" target="_blank">Luis Jimenez</a> (Fighters '09) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=johjim001ken" target="_blank">Kenji Johjima</a> (Hawks '95-'05; Tigers '10-'12)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jones-001rup" target="_blank">Ruppert Jones</a> (Tigers '88)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kawasa001mun" target="_blank">Munenori Kawasaki</a> (Hawks '01-'11)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kekich001mic" target="_blank">Mike Kekich</a> (Flyers '74)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kida--001mas" target="_blank">Masao Kida</a> (Giants '89-'97; Blue Wave '98, '00-'01; Swallows '06-'09; Fighters '10-'12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lahair001bry" target="_blank">Bryan LaHair</a> (Hawks '13)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lefebv001jam" target="_blank">Jim Lefebvre</a> ** (Orions '73-'76)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lis---002jos" target="_blank">Joe Lis</a> (Buffaloes '78)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lopez-007jos" target="_blank">Jose Lopez</a> (Giants '13)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lovull001sal" target="_blank">Torey Lovullo</a> (Swallows '00)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manto-001jef" target="_blank">Jeff Manto</a> (Giants '96)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=messen001ran" target="_blank">Randy Messenger</a> (Tigers '10-'12)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=milack001rob" target="_blank">Bob Milacki</a> (Buffaloes '97)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mitche002kev" target="_blank">Kevin Mitchell</a> (Hawks '95)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=montel001ric" target="_blank">Rich Monteleone</a> (Dragons '95)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pena--002wil" target="_blank">Wily Mo Pena</a> (Hawks '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001edu" target="_blank">Eduardo Perez </a>(Tigers '01)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001rob" target="_blank">Robert Perez</a> (Blue Wave '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perloz001sam" target="_blank">Sammy Perlozzo</a> * (Swallows '80)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=petagi001rob" target="_blank">Roberto Petagine</a> (Swallows '99-'02; Giants '03-'04; Hawks '10)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pirkl-001gre" target="_blank">Greg Pirkl</a> (Hawks '97)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=powell001alo" target="_blank">Alonzo Powell</a> (Dragon '92-'97; Tigers '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=powell001den" target="_blank">Dennis Powell</a> (Buffaloes '95)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pozo--001arq" target="_blank">Arquimedez Pozo</a> (Bay Stars '99)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=putnam001pat" target="_blank">Pat Putnam</a> (Fighters '86-'87)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=raabe-001bri" target="_blank">Brian Raabe</a> (Lions '98)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sander001ant" target="_blank">Anthony Sanders</a> (Bay Stars '01)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sander001sco" target="_blank">Scott Sanders</a> (Fighters '01)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sasaki001kaz" target="_blank">Kazuhiro Sasaki</a> (Whales / Bay Stars '90-'99 & '04-'05)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sheets001and" target="_blank">Andy Sheets</a> (Carp '03-'04; Tigers '05-'07)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sheets001lar" target="_blank">Larry Sheets</a> (Whales '92)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stanto001ler" target="_blank">Leroy Stanton</a> (Tigers '79)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stroug001ste" target="_blank">Steve Stroughter</a> (Tigers '83)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001ich" target="_blank">Ichiro Suzuki</a> (Blue Wave '92-'00)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001mak" target="_blank">Mac Suzuki</a> (Blue Wave '03-'04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sweene001bri" target="_blank">Brian Sweeney</a> (Fighters '07-'09)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=thigpe001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Thigpen</a> (Hawks '94-'95)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=timmon001osb" target="_blank">Ozzie Timmons</a> (Dragons '01)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=tolan-001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Tolan</a> * (Hawks '78) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valdez001wil" target="_blank">Wilson Valdez</a> (Swallows '08)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valent001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Valentine</a> *** (Marines '95, '04-'09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=vanbur001tyl" target="_blank">Ty Van Burkleo</a> * (Lions '88-'90; Carp '91)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=watson002mar" target="_blank">Mark Watson</a> (Carp '04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=white-002mat" target="_blank">Matt White</a> (Bay Stars '07-'08) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=willia001ran" target="_blank">Randy Williams</a> (Lions '12)
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wilson011jam" target="_blank">Jim Wilson</a> (Hawks '90)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wolcot001rob" target="_blank">Bob Wolcott</a> (Buffaloes '00)</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
* coached MLB Mariners<br />
** managed MLB Mariners<br />
*** managed NPB Marines<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One-hundred and twenty-one Nippon Professional Baseball players and one manager were part of the Seattle
Mariners organization over the first thirty-five seasons. This list is expanded to include
players and managers at all levels of the minor league system, along
with players, managers and coaches with the big league club.<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=allen-001kim" target="_blank">Kim Allen</a> (Tigers '82-'83)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=allen-002rod" target="_blank">Rod Allen</a> (Carp '89-'91)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=anthon001eri" target="_blank">Eric Anthony</a> (Swallows '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=atchis001sco" target="_blank">Scott Atchison</a> (Tigers '08-'09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=balent001wla" target="_blank">Wladimir Balentien</a> (Swallows '11-'12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=baller001jay" target="_blank">Jay Baller</a> (Blue Wave '94)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bannis001flo" target="_blank">Floyd Bannister</a> (Swallows '90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=barfie001jes" target="_blank">Jesse Barfield</a> (Giants '93) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bernaz001ant" target="_blank">Tony Bernazard</a> (Hawks '88-'90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=betts-001tod" target="_blank">Todd Betts</a> (Swallows '03) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=blower001mic" target="_blank">Mike Blowers</a> (Tigers '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bocach001hir" target="_blank">Hiram Bocachica</a> (Lions '08-'09) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bolick001fra" target="_blank">Frank Bolick</a> (Marines '99-'02)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bonnic001jam" target="_blank">Jim Bonnici</a> (Blue Wave '97-'98)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bradle001phi" target="_blank">Phil Bradley</a> (Giants '91) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=brantl002mic" target="_blank">Mickey Brantley</a> (Giants '93)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bunch-001mel" target="_blank">Melvin Bunch</a> (Dragons '00-'02)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=cabrer001jol" target="_blank">Jolbert Cabrera</a> (Hawks '05-'06) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=carrar001gio" target="_blank">Giovanni Carrara</a> (Lions '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=coles-001dar" target="_blank">Darnell Coles</a> (Dragons '96; Tigers '97)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=comsto001kei" target="_blank">Keith Comstock</a> (Giants '85-'86)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=cotto-001hen" target="_blank">Henry Cotto</a> (Giants '94)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=creek-001pau" target="_blank">Doug Creek</a> (Tigers '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davey-001tho" target="_blank">Tom Davey</a> (Carp '03-'05; Buffaloes'06-'07)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=davis-001alv" target="_blank">Alvin Davis</a> (Buffaloes '92)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=daviso001sco" target="_blank">Scott Davison</a> (Marines '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=diaz--002edd" target="_blank">Eddy Diaz</a> (Carp '99-'02) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=diaz--003vic" target="_blank">Victor Diaz</a> (Dragons '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=distef001ben" target="_blank">Benny Distefano</a> (Dragons '90)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ducey-001rob" target="_blank">Rob Ducey</a> (Fighters '95-'96)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=falken001bri" target="_blank">Brian Falkenborg</a> (Hawks '09-'12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=flynt-001wil" target="_blank">Bill Flynt</a> (Buffaloes '01) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=givens001bri" target="_blank">Brian Givens</a> (Lions '97)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gossag001ric" target="_blank">Rich Gossage</a> (Hawks '90) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=grabow001jas" target="_blank">Jason Grabowski</a> (Buffaloes '06) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gulin-001lin" target="_blank">Lindsay Gulin</a> (Hawks '04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=guttor001ric" target="_blank">Rick Guttormson</a> (Swallows '05-'06; Hawks '07-'08) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hansen001dav" target="_blank">Dave Hansen</a> (Tigers '98)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hasega001shi" target="_blank">Shigetoshi Hasegawa</a> (Blue Wave '91-'96) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hengel001dav" target="_blank">Dave Hengel</a> (Orions '90-'91)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=henry-001dwa" target="_blank">Dwayne Henry</a> (Dragons '94) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hodges001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Hodges</a> (Swallows '01-'03; Eagles '05) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=holzem001mar" target="_blank">Mark Holzemer</a> (Bay Stars '01)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=howard002fra" target="_blank">Frank Howard</a> (Lions '74) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hurtad002edw" target="_blank">Edwin Hurtado</a> (Blue Wave '98-'99; Buffaloes '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=iwakum001his" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a> (Buffaloes '01-'04; Eagles '05-'11) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jarvis001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Jarvis</a> (Dragons '98) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jeffer001reg" target="_blank">Reggie Jefferson</a> (Lions '00) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jimene004lui" target="_blank">Luis Jimenez</a> (Fighters '09) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=johjim001ken" target="_blank">Kenji Johjima</a> (Hawks '95-'05; Tigers '10-'12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jones-001rup" target="_blank">Ruppert Jones</a> (Tigers '88)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kawasa001mun" target="_blank">Munenori Kawasaki</a> (Hawks '01-'11)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kekich001mic" target="_blank">Mike Kekich</a> (Flyers '74)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kida--001mas" target="_blank">Masao Kida</a> (Giants '89-'97; Blue Wave '98, '00-'01; Swallows '06-'09; Fighters '10-'12) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kinkad001mic" target="_blank">Mike Kinkade</a> (Tigers '04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kroon-001mar" target="_blank">Marc Kroon</a> (Bay Stars '05-'07; Giants '08-'10)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lahair001bry" target="_blank">Bryan LaHair</a> (Hawks '13)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lefebv001jam" target="_blank">Jim Lefebvre</a> (Orions '73-'76) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lis---002jos" target="_blank">Joe Lis</a> (Buffaloes '78) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lopez-007jos" target="_blank">Jose Lopez</a> (Giants '13) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lovull001sal" target="_blank">Torey Lovullo</a> (Swallows '00)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=macdon001rob" target="_blank">Bob Macdonald</a> (Tigers '97)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manto-001jef" target="_blank">Jeff Manto</a> (Giants '96) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=martin010car" target="_blank">Carmelo Martinez</a> (Blue Wave '92)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=messen001ran" target="_blank">Randy Messenger</a> (Tigers '10-'12) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mickol001kam" target="_blank">Kam Mickolio</a> (Carp '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=milack001rob" target="_blank">Bob Milacki</a> (Buffaloes '97)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=miller002jus" target="_blank">Justin Miller</a> (Marines '06)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mitche002kev" target="_blank">Kevin Mitchell</a> (Hawks '95) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=montel001ric" target="_blank">Rich Monteleone</a> (Dragons '95)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=moore-002war" target="_blank">Trey Moore</a> (Tigers '02-'03; Blue Wave '04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mullen001ken" target="_blank">Scott Mullen</a> (Bay Stars '04; Giants '05) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=nettle001jam" target="_blank">Jim Nettles</a> (Hawks '75) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=nunez-001jos" target="_blank">Jose Nunez</a> (Hawks '96-'97)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ohka--001tom" target="_blank">Tomo Ohka</a> (Bay Stars '94-'96, '98, '10-'11)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paul--001cor" target="_blank">Corey Paul</a> (Lions '99-'00)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=payano001nel" target="_blank">Nelson Payano</a> (Dragons '09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pena--002wil" target="_blank">Wily Mo Pena</a> (Hawks '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001edu" target="_blank">Eduardo Perez </a>(Tigers '01) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001rob" target="_blank">Robert Perez</a> (Blue Wave '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perloz001sam" target="_blank">Sammy Perlozzo</a> (Swallows '80)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=petagi001rob" target="_blank">Roberto Petagine</a> (Swallows '99-'02; Giants '03-'04; Hawks '10)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pierce001lav" target="_blank">Jack Pierce</a> (Hawks '77)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pirkl-001gre" target="_blank">Greg Pirkl</a> (Hawks '97) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=powell001alo" target="_blank">Alonzo Powell</a> (Dragons '92-'97; Tigers '98)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=powell001den" target="_blank">Dennis Powell</a> (Buffaloes '95)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=putnam001pat" target="_blank">Pat Putnam</a> (Fighters '86-'87)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pozo--001arq" target="_blank">Arquimedez Pozo</a> (Bay Stars '99)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=raabe-001bri" target="_blank">Brian Raabe</a> (Lions '98)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=raybor001geo" target="_blank">Kenny Rayborn</a> (Carp '05) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=reimer001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Reimer</a> (Hawks '94-'95)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sander001ant" target="_blank">Anthony Sanders</a> (Bay Stars '01)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sander001sco" target="_blank">Scott Sanders</a> (Fighters '01) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sasaki001kaz" target="_blank">Kazuhiro Sasaki</a> (Whales / Bay Stars '90-'99 & '04-'05)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=seelba001chr" target="_blank">Chris Seelbach</a> (Fighters '02-'03)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sheets001and" target="_blank">Andy Sheets</a> (Carp '03-'04; Tigers '05-'07)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sheets001lar" target="_blank">Larry Sheets</a> (Whales '92) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sledge001ter" target="_blank">Terrmel Sledge</a> (Fighters '08-'09, '12; Bay Stars '10-'11)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sosa--001jor" target="_blank">Jorge Sosa</a> (Dragons '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stanto001ler" target="_blank">Leroy Stanton</a> (Tigers '79) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=stroug001ste" target="_blank">Steve Stroughter</a> (Tigers '83)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001ich" target="_blank">Ichiro Suzuki</a> (Blue Wave '92-'00) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=suzuki001mak" target="_blank">Mac Suzuki</a> (Blue Wave '03-'04) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=sweene001bri" target="_blank">Brian Sweeney</a> (Fighters '07-'09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=thigpe001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Thigpen</a> (Hawks '94-'95) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=thomas001bra" target="_blank">Brad Thomas</a> (Fighters '05-'06)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=timmon001osb" target="_blank">Ozzie Timmons</a> (Dragons '01)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=tolan-001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Tolan</a> (Hawks '78) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=turman001jim" target="_blank">Jason Turman</a> (Bay Stars '02)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=urso--001sal" target="_blank">Sal Urso</a> (Carp '00)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valdez001wil" target="_blank">Wilson Valdez</a> (Swallows '08)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valent001rob" target="_blank">Bobby Valentine</a> (Marines '95, '04-'09)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=vanbur001tyl" target="_blank">Ty Van Burkleo</a> (Lions '88-'90; Carp '91)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=walton001dan" target="_blank">Danny Walton</a> (Whales '78)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=ward--005joh" target="_blank">Jay Ward</a> (Dragons '66)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=watson002mar" target="_blank">Mark Watson</a> (Carp '04)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=white-002mat" target="_blank">Matt White</a> (Bay Stars '07-'08) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=willia001ran" target="_blank">Randy Williams</a> (Lions '12)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wilson011jam" target="_blank">Jim Wilson</a> (Hawks '90) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wolcot001rob" target="_blank">Bob Wolcott</a> (Buffaloes '00)</li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wright003chr" target="_blank">Chris Wright</a> (Lions '05) </li>
<li>
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=zinter001ala" target="_blank">Alan Zinter</a> (Lions '99) </li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Members of the Seattle Mariners big league club also had family who played baseball in Japan. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pacior001jam" target="_blank">Jim Paciorek</a> (Whales '88-'91; Tigers '92-'93) is the brother of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pacioto01.shtml" target="_blank">Tom Paciorek</a>. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wills-001ell" target="_blank">Bump Wills</a> (Braves '82-'83) is the son of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/willsma01.shtml" target="_blank">Maury Wills</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>[Note:
This draft is based on a week spent poring over every level of the
all-time organization roster and individual player pages at
Baseball-Reference. </i><i><i>Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.</i> Latest update: January 31, 2013]</i></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-19387024086325716462013-02-09T23:26:00.000-08:002013-02-12T14:39:52.548-08:00Pacific Mariners: Korea<div style="text-align: justify;">
ROOTS IN KOREA</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Five
players born in Korea were part of the Seattle Mariners organization
during the first thirty-five seasons. Two of these men played for the
big league team.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=baek--001cha" target="_blank">Che-Seung Baek</a> (Pusan)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=choi--001ji-" target="_blank">Ji-Man Choi</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=choo--001shi" target="_blank">Shin-Soo Choo</a> (Pusan)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hickey003mic" target="_blank">Mike Hickey</a> (Seoul)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kim---001seo" target="_blank">Seon-Gi Kim</a> (Cheongju-City)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
CAREERS IN KOREA</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fourteen players in the Korea Baseball Organization were part of the Seattle Mariners big league club over the
first thirty-five seasons.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=crucet001fra" target="_blank">Francisco Cruceta</a> (Lions '09-'10)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=harikk001tim" target="_blank">Tim Harikkala</a> (Lions '05-'06)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hodges001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Hodges</a> (Lions '04) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jackso001rya" target="_blank">Ryan Jackson</a> (Giants '04-'05)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=martin001alb" target="_blank">Al Martin</a> (Twins '04) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=martin005man" target="_blank">Manny Martinez</a> (Lions '01; Twins '02-'03)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mitche001kei" target="_blank">Keith Mitchell</a> (Tigers '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=newson001war" target="_blank">Warren Newson</a> (Tigers '02)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001rob" target="_blank">Robert Perez</a> (Giants '03-'04, '07)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=petagi001rob" target="_blank">Roberto Petagine</a> (Twins '08-'09)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pozo--001arq" target="_blank">Arquimedez Pozo</a> (Tigers '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rohrme001dan" target="_blank">Dan Rohrmeier</a> (Eagles '99-'00; Twins '01)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=torres001sal" target="_blank">Salomon Torres</a> (Lions '01)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valdez001wil" target="_blank">Wilson Valdez</a> (Tigers '08) </li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Thirty-six players in the Korea Baseball Organization were part of the Seattle
Mariners system over the first thirty-five seasons.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=alcant001isr" target="_blank">Israel Alcantara</a> (Twins '03; Bears '04)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bass--001jay" target="_blank">Jayson Bass</a> (Tigers '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=bautis001den" target="_blank">Denny Bautisa</a> (Eagles '11-'13)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=brito-001til" target="_blank">Tilson Brito</a> (Wyverns '00-'01 & '04; Lions '02-'03; Eagles '05)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=callaw001mic" target="_blank">Mickey Callaway</a> (Unicorns '05-'07)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=crucet001fra" target="_blank">Francisco Cruceta</a> (Lions '09-'10) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=diaz--002edd" target="_blank">Eddy Diaz</a> (Wyverns '03; Eagles '04)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=diaz--003vic" target="_blank">Victor Diaz</a> (Eagles '09) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=guttor001ric" target="_blank">Rick Guttormson</a> (Tigers '09) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=harikk001tim" target="_blank">Tim Harikkala</a> (Lions '05-'06)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=henn--001sea" target="_blank">Sean Henn</a> (Eagles '12) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=hodges001kev" target="_blank">Kevin Hodges</a> (Lions '04) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jackso001rya" target="_blank">Ryan Jackson</a> (Giants '04-'05)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lehr--001cha" target="_blank">Justin Lehr</a> (Bears '08) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lopez-001aqu" target="_blank">Aquilino Lopez</a> (Tigers '09-'10)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manon-001jul" target="_blank">Julio Manon</a> (Tigers '04) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manzan001rav" target="_blank">Ravelo Manzanillo</a> (Twins '02)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=martin001alb" target="_blank">Al Martin</a> (Twins '04)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=martin005man" target="_blank">Manny Martinez</a> (Lions '01; Twins '02-'03)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=mitche001kei" target="_blank">Keith Mitchell</a> (Tigers '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=newson001war" target="_blank">Warren Newson</a> (Tigers '02) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paul--001cor" target="_blank">Corey Paul</a> (Unicorns '02)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pellow001kit" target="_blank">Kit Pellow</a> (Giants '05)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=perez-001rob" target="_blank">Robert Perez</a> (Giants '03-'04, '07) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=petagi001rob" target="_blank">Roberto Petagine</a> (Twins '08-'09)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=philli003cha" target="_blank">J.R. Phillips</a> (Unicorns '01) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=picota002len" target="_blank">Len Picota</a> (Eagles '02-'03)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=pozo--001arq" target="_blank">Arquimedez Pozo</a> (Tigers '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=raybor001geo" target="_blank">Kenny Rayborn</a> (Wyverns '07-'08) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=rohrme001dan" target="_blank">Dan Rohrmeier</a> (Eagles '99-'00; Twins '01)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=smith-014cha" target="_blank">Bubba Smith</a> (Lions '99-'00; Twins '00)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=tavare001jes" target="_blank">Jesus Tavarez</a> (Tigers '00-'01)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=thomas001bra" target="_blank">Brad Thomas</a> (Eagles '08-'09) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=torres001mel" target="_blank">Melqui Torres</a> (Unicorns '02) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=torres001sal" target="_blank">Salomon Torres</a> (Lions '01)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=valdez001wil" target="_blank">Wilson Valdez</a> (Tigers '08)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>[Note: This draft is
based on a week spent poring over every level of the all-time
organization roster and individual player pages at Baseball-Reference. </i><i><i>Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.</i> Immense gratitude to Dan at <a href="http://mykbo.net/">MyKBO.net</a> for his help. Latest update: February 10, 2013]</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-80268833930485220162013-02-09T23:22:00.000-08:002013-02-09T23:23:13.274-08:00Pacific Mariners: TaiwanROOTS IN TAIWAN<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Seven players born in Taiwan were part of the Seattle Mariners organization during the first thirty-five seasons. </div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=chang-001yao" target="_blank">Yao Wen Chang</a> (Taichung City) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=chen--000min" target="_blank">Min-Sih Chen</a> (Taitung)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=chen--001yun" target="_blank">Yung-Chi Chen</a> (Taitung County)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=chiang001chi" target="_blank">Chih-Hsien Chiang</a> (Taitung)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=lo----001kuo" target="_blank">Kuo Hui Lo</a> (Hualien County)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=huang-001chi" target="_blank">Chia-An Huang</a> (Taitung)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=wu----001cha" target="_blank">Chao Kuan Wu</a> (Kaohsiung City) </li>
</ul>
<br />
CAREERS IN TAIWAN <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Two
players in the Chinese Professional Baseball League were part of the
Seattle Mariners big league club over the first thirty-five seasons. </div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manzan001jos" target="_blank">Josias Manzanillo</a> ('96)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paniag001jos" target="_blank">Jose Paniagua</a> (Cobras '06)</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Five players in the Chinese Professional Baseball League were part of the Seattle
Mariners system over the first thirty-five seasons.</div>
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gulin-001lin" target="_blank">Lindsay Gulin</a> (Bulls '10) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kelly-009joh" target="_blank">John Kelly</a> ('00) </li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manzan001jos" target="_blank">Josias Manzanillo</a> ('96)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=manzan001rav" target="_blank">Ravelo Manzanillo</a> ('96)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paniag001jos" target="_blank">Jose Paniagua</a> (Cobras '06)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>[Note: This draft is
based on a week spent poring over every level of the all-time
organization roster and individual player pages at Baseball-Reference. </i><i><i>Please let me know if there are any errors or omissions.</i> Latest update: January 31, 2013]</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-65496516960000323312013-01-20T17:38:00.001-08:002013-01-21T11:31:39.048-08:00Welcome Change<div style="text-align: justify;">
Let's turn back the clock to June 22, 1981. The MLB season was on hold that spring. As summer began, the starving baseball press descended on a brand new ballpark in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While most AA debuts fly under the radar, everybody was excited to see the ninth overall draft pick pitch in his first professional game. Fifteen years after playing for the Toei Flyers, Texas Rangers skipper <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/z/zimmedo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Don Zimmer</a></b> was among an entourage of important people from the big club. With the dirt of Yale still fresh in his spikes, <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/darliro01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ron Darling</a></b> took the mound for the hometown Drillers. The sellout capacity was 8,000 and the stadium was overflowing with fans.<br />
<br />
Counting down the hours and daydreaming about the Cactus League? Maybe this is a better example: With the opening of camp inching ever closer for pitchers and
catchers, imagine Phoenix Municipal
Stadium filled with the faithful for a spring training game. As the ache for baseball becomes unbearable, one can almost
feel the sunbeams, smell the hot dogs, hear the roar, and taste the contents of a big frosty
cup. In the depths of winter, it's nice to think about an 8,000 seat
facility bursting at the seams with fans of the Oakland A's and their worthy opponents. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Can you picture one of those big crowds in your head?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, imagine that every single person packed into the grandstands represents a different syllable in the English language.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
By way of contrast, think about taking somebody special to a sold out performance of <i>Damn Yankees</i> in a beautiful small theater. The Pearson Auditorium at the Pendleton Center for the Arts is an intimate space in an almost century old building that once housed the Umatilla County Library. Alternately, there is the Kerrytown Concert House located in a historic section of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Or, the St. Germaine Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Each one of those venues seats an absolute maximum of 110.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
They seem like pretty nice places to take a date, right? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Now, imagine that every single person ushered to their chair represents a different syllable in the Japanese language.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a baseball player, remembering every face in a packed house of over 8,000 is impossible. Even if the bleachers are filled with the exact same people night after night over a long season. As a performance artist, your odds of remembering every face in a regular crowd of 110 might be a little bit better, but still pretty long. You are supposed to be working, not studying everyone in attendance.<br />
<br />
Let's say for the sake of argument that every face is etched in your memory after a season. Would you also know enough about each one of those people to understand exactly how they all fit together in the community? Sorting out and recalling increasingly familiar sounds is just one step toward understanding a language. Connections and relationships are also important to the formation of spoken words. A "<a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/12/18/hiroyuki-nakajima-says-he-signed-with-the-as-because-billy-beane-is-extremely-sexy-and-cool/" target="_blank">sexy and cool</a>" GM like <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/beanebi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Billy Beane</a></b> would say, "It's a process."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's an embarrassment to the sport when old fashioned executives with limited monolingual vocabularies discuss timetables for learning English. In condescending tones, these ignorant men in their dusty suits imply that adopting a second language is both easy and fast. Some press conferences called to introduce overseas players have been almost
comical in their bumbling tin-eared way. After witnessing years of such cringe-worthy attitudes, it's nice to celebrate the latest step on the march of progress.<br />
<br />
At last, a proposed rule <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8844122/interpreters-able-approach-mound-help-foreign-born-pitchers-sources-say" target="_blank">change</a> will allow an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/sports/baseball/baseball-set-to-allow-interpreters-on-pitching-mound.html" target="_blank">interpreter</a> to accompany a pitching coach or manager to the mound. Not just when a guy is injured on the field. Not just when a guy is on the bench. Not just when a guy is in a post-game press conference. For foreign talents, one of the last communication barriers in the game could be banished by 2014. Another petty-minded way of doing things in Major League Baseball
will finally ride off into the sunset.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-92072771845905084522013-01-11T18:33:00.000-08:002013-01-13T16:50:04.360-08:00The Bigs<div style="text-align: justify;">
On this date a year ago, the Seattle Mariners <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2017215630_mari12.html" target="_blank">inked</a> a minor league contract with <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kawasmu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Munenori Kawasaki</a></b>. Coming off a glorious 2011 Japan Series championship with the SoftBank Hawks, there was every reason to believe that the magic could translate to the big leagues. He bid a fond farewell to the Fukuoka faithful who had supported him since he was a rookie, and followed his dream to the United States. At last, the moment had arrived, the papers were drawn up, and arguably the only person in MLB history to insist on playing for the M's, or not at all, was a member of the organization. Mune had earned a spring training invite and a chance to be Ichiro's teammate.<br />
<br />
"Being able to add a player with the resume that Kawasaki possesses is very good news for the Mariners," said GM Jack Zduriencik in a press release. "We are looking forward to having him compete for a major-league position in spring training. He is a high-energy player with a record of success in Japan."<br />
<br />
Fast forward to his first regular season game in a big league uniform. Kawasaki takes the field in Oakland against the A's. In his debut trip to the dish, Mune faces the soon to be 39-year-old <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/colonba01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Bartolo Colon</a></b>.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Full stop.<br />
<br />
For anyone who supported Kawasaki and played the "what if" game in their head since late October; for the faithful fans in Japan who cheered for Mune on television at odd hours; for all the folks who were really hoping to see him succeed with the club as a middle infield option backing up defensive wizard <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanbr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Brendan Ryan</a></b>; for the M's crowds who simply found Mune endearing and enjoyed watching him at the ballpark; for the skeptics who might have been swayed toward recognizing his value if the production had been average; the story begins with those first at bats.<br />
<br />
We will probably never know if Bartolo Colon started the <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8292935/rhp-bartolo-colon-oakland-athletics-suspended-50-games-violating-mlb-drug-policy" target="_blank">monkey business</a> to prepare for the trip to Japan. Or, to recover from the journey. Or, if he only took that stuff later in the season. There isn't a way to know, nor is there a way to quantify the advantage he may have had over opposing batters. Colon was knocked out of the ballgame after 4 1/3 innings, but maybe he only made it that far with a little help. Perhaps Mune would have had more than a groundout, a single, an RBI, and a run scored. It was respectable enough for the first two trips to the plate in a debut, but everyone on that field was still feeling the effects of travel. Except Colon. Maybe. Maybe not. We simply don't know. We never will.<br />
<br />
<div class="sr_share_wrap">
<table class="sr_share" id="" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 0.83em; height: 189px; width: 442px;">
<colgroup><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col><col></col></colgroup>
<thead>
<tr class="" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<th align="left" class="tooltip sort_default_asc show_partial_when_sorting" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;">Bartolo Colon vs.</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="<strong>Plate Appearances</strong><br>When available, we use actual plate appearances from play-by-play game accounts<br>Otherwise estimated using AB + BB + HBP + SF + SH,<br>which excludes catcher interferences.<br>When <span class=tooltip>this color</span> click for a summary of each PA.">PA</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="At Bats">AB</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Hits/Hits Allowed">H</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Doubles Hit/Allowed">2B</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Triples Hit/Allowed">3B</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Home Runs Hit/Allowed">HR</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Runs Batted In">RBI</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Bases on Balls/Walks">BB</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="Strikeouts">SO</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip hide_non_quals" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="<strong>Hits/At Bats</strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played<br>Bold indicates highest BA using current stats<br><span class=glimmer>Gold</span> means awarded title at end of year.">BA</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip hide_non_quals" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="<strong>(H + BB + HBP)/(At Bats + BB + HBP + SF)</strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played">OBP</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip hide_non_quals" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="<strong>Total Bases/At Bats or <br>(1B + 2*2B + 3*3B + 4*HR)/AB</strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played">SLG</th>
<th align="center" class="tooltip hide_non_quals" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #dd; border: 1px solid #aaa; padding: 2px;" tip="<strong>On-Base + Slugging Percentages </strong><br>For recent years, leaders need 3.1 PA<br>per team game played">OPS</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="" data-row="0" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Ackley,Dustin" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=ackledu01&pitcher=colonba01">Dustin Ackley</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">13</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">13</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">4</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.308</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.308</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.308</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.615</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="1" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Smoak,Justin" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=smoakju01&pitcher=colonba01">Justin Smoak</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">13</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">12</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">3</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">3</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.250</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.308</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.583</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.891</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="2" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Saunders,Michael" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=saundmi01&pitcher=colonba01">Michael Saunders</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">12</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">11</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">5</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.091</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.091</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.258</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="3" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Seager,Kyle" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=seageky01&pitcher=colonba01">Kyle Seager</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">12</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">12</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.333</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="4" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Morales,Kendrys" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=moralke01&pitcher=colonba01">Kendrys Morales</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">9</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">9</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.111</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.111</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.111</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.222</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="5" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Ibanez,Raul" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=ibanera01&pitcher=colonba01">Raul Ibanez</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">6</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">6</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.167</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.333</td>
</tr>
<tr class="" data-row="6" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" csk="Jaso,John" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool&batter=jasojo01&pitcher=colonba01">John Jaso</a></td>
<td align="right" class=" highlight_text bold_text" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">4</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">4</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.000</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.000</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.000</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.000</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
<tfoot>
<tr class="" data-row="7" id="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="">
<td align="left" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">Totals</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">69</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">67</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">12</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">0</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">1</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">4</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">2</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">16</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.179</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.203</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.239</td>
<td align="right" onclick="" onmouseout="" onmouseover="" style="background-color: #cc; border: 1px solid #ccc; font-size: 0.9em; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 3px 2px 2px; white-space: nowrap;">.442</td>
</tr>
</tfoot>
</table>
<div class="sr_share" id="">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Provided by <a href="http://www.sports-reference.com/sharing.shtml?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool">Baseball-Reference.com</a>: <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/play-index/batter_vs_pitcher.cgi?utm_source=direct&utm_medium=Share&utm_campaign=ShareTool">View Play Index Tool Used</a> Generated 1/11/2013.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
This handy chart from Baseball-Reference tells us that most of the left handed bats on the current Mariners roster were bad against
Bartolo Colon last year. It doesn't tell us why. Was it the shoes? Maybe Colon is really that good. Maybe the M's are really that bad. It's hard to look at anything Colon did in 2012 without being skeptical. After all, the best 37-year-old in baseball <a href="http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8633034/ra-dickey-new-york-mets-wins-national-league-cy-young-becoming-first-knuckleballer-win-award" target="_blank">last season</a> was a knuckleballer who rebuilt himself from scratch. The dominance of Dickey is believable. The resurrection of Colon? Well, not so much.<br />
<br />
After beginning his career against Bartolo Colon, Munenori Kawasaki would have 102 more at bats in 2012. He would also appear in two games on the same diamond with <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cabreme01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Melky Cabrera</a></b>. At that point of the season, there were excited rumblings that San Francisco might have the next NL batting champion. Weeks later, Cabrera was the MVP of the All-Star Game. Like Colon, Cabrera would bring <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/sports/baseball/melky-cabrera-suspended-50-games-for-doping.html" target="_blank">disgrace</a> to baseball. We have no way of knowing who else was using among the players Mune faced last year. We can't really speculate. A lot of little things added up to a season of disappointment. It would be a shame if any of those things involved cheating by opponents.<br />
<br />
This is the infuriating part about abuse in the game. Not
just the silly cartoon numbers put up by gifted guys who were breaking
what should have been the <a href="http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=28:baseballs-drug-policy-and-prevention-program&catid=7:selection-of-docs&Itemid=25" target="_blank">rules</a>
over the last twenty something years, but the questions left lingering
for fringe players and their fans. Ethical hard working men who played
their hearts out, yet were doomed by poor numbers over small sample
sizes. The marginal ones who might have had some or all of their only chances
spoiled by a competitive imbalance. They are the real victims of
performance enhancers. Not the cozy multimillionaires hiding behind
weepy
confessions and indignant humblebrag. Definitely not the ones caught red-handed
who color their reaction with plaintive cliches about statistical
advantages granted by a higher power rather than a syringe or
cream. They've got their money already. The rest is just theater.<br />
<br />
Soon to be forty-year-old Bartolo Colon still has five games left to serve on his <a href="http://mlb.si.com/2012/08/22/suspensions-of-colon-and-cabrera-show-system-does-work/" target="_blank">suspension</a> for synthetic testosterone, but was tendered a shiny new <a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8589211/suspended-bartolo-colon-agrees-one-year-deal-oakland-athletics" target="_blank">contract</a> by the Oakland A's in early November. Melky Cabrera sat out 50 games for the same infraction, watched from his comfy chair as the Giants took the crown, and was <a href="http://deadspin.com/5961272/melky-cabrera-is-a-toronto-blue-jay-and-no-one-knows-what-will-happen-next" target="_blank">rewarded</a> for his mistakes with a two year deal from the Toronto Blue Jays. The career of Munenori Kawasaki is still in limbo. <br />
<br />
Perhaps it isn't a big deal to people who live and breathe wins and losses. The ones who are only in it for the cold beer, vicarious trophy hoisting, and high fives. I get it. Adults invest time and money into the sport. It's gone beyond an emotional connection for the serious fan. A part-time light hitting shortstop with good defense doesn't spark their interest like another player might. That makes sense.<br />
<br />
At the same time, the sport sustains itself by cultivating interest in new generations through personal interaction. The game needs genuine ambassadors to the kids along the fence. Youngsters of all shapes, sizes, colors and backgrounds should feel like there is a place for them in the big leagues. Perhaps a kid would rather emulate a high priced talent in his practice and playing style, but it's seldom the superstars in MLB who come over with a friendly smile to sign his or her baseball, or play catch for a little while, or give them a big hug for a picture. Given a chance to share the joy of the game, Munenori Kawasaki never hesitated.<br />
<br />
Mune has been a member of eight NPB All-Star teams. He's been a part of Pacific League, Japan Series and WBC Championship runs. He's also been a bench player for a not so good MLB club. He is well acquainted with the cycles of pain and disappointment, of elation and triumph, and of waiting and wondering. No matter where you look on the arc of his years in professional baseball, you'll see an effervescent, yet humble man who takes his responsibility to young people very seriously. He also works extremely hard at his craft. Mune is a fellow grateful for the chance to play the game he loves. He embodies the positive spirit of baseball, and has touched the lives of youthful <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMPDk1OfrDQ" target="_blank">Hawks</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2q4ID9buu4" target="_blank">Mariners</a> fans alike.<br />
<br />
Like Munenori Kawasaki, 2008 Hall of Fame inductee <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gossari01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Rich Gossage</a></b> connected with youngsters as a member of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks and the Seattle Mariners. Reacting to the news of a shutout in Cooperstown, Goose <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/09/sports/la-sp-hall-of-fame-rich-gossage-applauds-20130109" target="_blank">told</a> the Los Angeles Times, "I don’t know how we can reward these guys for cheating. What does that say to kids?”<br />
<br />
Yesterday, in the wake of a thoroughly embarrassing and controversial Hall of Fame election that featured an incoming class of known and suspected PED users, Major League Baseball announced overdue <a href="http://mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130110&content_id=40916174&vkey=pr_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=aw-7489644486379795461-996" target="_blank">additions</a> to the drug testing program. Soon after the official announcement of stricter rules on drug use, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/teixema01.shtml" target="_blank">Mark Teixeira</a> of the New York Yankees sent out an enthusiastic <a href="https://twitter.com/teixeiramark25/status/289484406526185472" target="_blank">tweet</a> that said in part, "Lets make our game a great example for kids!"<br />
<br />
While I applaud their sincere efforts at this late date, it seems like the real message to youngsters was sent over the course of a few weeks last fall. The days that saw Munenori Kawasaki released, Bartolo Colon given at least a seven figure raise, and Melky Cabrera working out a two year $18 million dollar contract. Whether or not Munenori Kawasaki ever earns the opportunity to wear a big league uniform again is an unanswered question, but we know without a doubt that Mune made our game a great example for kids.<br />
<br />
At the risk of sounding cynical, it seems like the lesson for the moment is pretty clear: If you're thought of as a not so good ballplayer, but proven to be a decent human being, the chances for staying in the game are slim to none. If you're proven to be a not so good human being, but thought of as a decent ballplayer, the chances for staying in the game are still pretty good if your lack of scruples puts wins on the board. Welcome to the bigs, kids.<br />
<br />
The Mariners spring training invitations came <a href="http://marinersblog.mlblogs.com/2013/01/11/mariners-announce-list-of-18-player-invited-to-spring-training" target="_blank">out</a> this afternoon. Munenori Kawasaki is not among the eighteen non-roster invitees. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-43835666383996864332013-01-08T06:16:00.000-08:002013-01-08T15:18:15.598-08:00I Love Nomi<div style="text-align: justify;">
Just a little while ago, a <a href="https://twitter.com/npbtracker/status/288518463457214466" target="_blank">tweet</a> from Patrick Newman of <a href="http://www.npbtracker.com/" target="_blank">NPB Tracker</a> pointed out a <a href="http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/news/20130108/mlb13010813030003-n1.html" target="_blank">report</a> published in Japan that analyzed a recent <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/07/yu-darvish-is-getting-his-own-museum/" target="_blank">blurb</a> in the <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/" target="_blank">Hardball Talk</a> section of the NBC Sports website. While his contribution was under 40 of them, Craig Calcaterra had written "Harsh Words for the Darvish Museum" - at least according to Sanspo. In defense of Calcaterra, he does his homework. I like reading his stuff. He certainly doesn't strike me as a latent racist of the old school with years of gin-fueled transgressions hidden behind a paywall. Yes, he was being sarcastic with the name drops of <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rhodeka01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tuffy Rhodes</a></b> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cromawa01.shtml" target="_blank">Warren Cromartie</a>, but I didn't sense it was an attack on the legitimacy of <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/darviyu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Yu Darvish</a></b>, or the impact of his brilliant career in NPB. It was just an easy way to get a rise from fans with a little bit of knowledge, and a starting place for others to learn about notable gaijin players from their friendly neighborhood search engine. In a <a href="http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/01/08/snark-does-not-translate-well-into-japanese/" target="_blank">follow-up</a>, he clearly states that no offense was intended.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Calcaterra mentioned the <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suzukic01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ichiro Suzuki</a></b> museum, but didn't note that Ichiro was essentially the same age as Yu Darvish when a growing <a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/At-his-hometown-museum-Ichiro-is-exhibit-No-1-1170459.php" target="_blank">collection</a> of mementos and milestones was first made public by his proud parents. As he developed into a popular star, the <a href="http://www.hideki.co.jp/english.html" target="_blank">museum</a> dedicated to <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuhi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Hideki Matsui</a></b> was founded by his family because baseball fans kept <a href="http://espn.go.com/page2/s/questions/matsui.html" target="_blank">pestering</a> them at home. Calcaterra also didn't mention that <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johjike01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Kenji Johjima</a></b> was a year younger than Darvish when a <a href="http://www.joh-kinenkan.co.jp/" target="_blank">museum</a> opened in his hometown of Sasebo. The article could have pointed out museums dedicated to many Japanese players that were founded during the golden years of their careers. Current talents also have museums. It's a baseball tradition. To be fair, it would have been difficult to cram all that information into a quick blurb and maintain the sardonic mood. Especially a blurb that was a reaction to an article with a quoted snippet. After all, this lengthy paragraph is part of a response to a tweet referring to a report about a blurb that was a reaction to an article with a quoted snippet. Obviously, the joke didn't work across the Pacific. The snark wasn't funny on this coast either. Cue the horns of failure.</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Sarcasm is not easy to translate. The uproar over "I Hate Nomi" last season was a textbook example. <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murtoma01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Matt Murton</a></b> reportedly said those three little words on June 9, 2012. He was not having a great spring with the Hanshin Tigers. In a 6-1 loss to the Orix Buffaloes, he made a bad throw to the plate during the fourth inning that stood out from the rest of his frustrated moments. A brief fit of pique in a post-game interview was enough to turn the tide of the media against him. All the press did was take his flip remark at face value and reduce it to three words without context. No doubt, there was hope that this <a href="https://twitter.com/mmurton9/status/211464075916484608" target="_blank">tweet</a> would have put it to rest. The humor was even more obvious when closer <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=fujika001kyu&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Kyuji Fujikawa</a></b> jokingly <a href="http://yakyubaka.com/2012/06/10/hanshin-tigers-matt-murtons-frustrations-bubble-out/" target="_blank">said</a> that he hated Nomi too. Within 48 hours, a frustrated <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=nohmi-001ats&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Atsushi Nomi</a></b> was quoted in Sanspo as saying, "The newspapers are being evil."<br />
<br />
Veteran sportswriter <a href="http://japanesebaseball.com/writers/author.gsp?author=jim-allen" target="_blank">Jim Allen</a> sat down for an exclusive Japan Baseball Weekly <a href="http://www.japanesebaseball.com/blogs/thread.jsp?blogid=1197&thread=67156" target="_blank">interview</a> with Matt Murton at the Q on June 17th. The star outfielder was candid and explained his side of the story in detail. It was a pretty ugly scene for Murton, a fellow who was treated like a fan favorite for most if not all of his NPB career. After all, the "Family Murton Katsu rice ball and the Family Murton Katsu lunch box" were <a href="http://yakyubaka.com/2010/09/17/matt-murton-gets-his-own-family-mart-rice-ball-lunch-box/" target="_blank">named</a> after him and available in the local konbini. To have all this hit the fan for weeks wasn't fair and it wasn't fun. It made a pretty miserable season even worse. It will be great to have a fresh start in 2013. I wish Matt the very best.<br />
<br />
With all that said, I sincerely hope that my occasional bent toward sarcasm does not leave anyone offended or upset. Please let me know if there is a misunderstanding, or an error on my part. I am truly honored to have readers like you from all over the world, but translation technology is not always up to the task. As a Tigers fan it ought to be obvious, but just so it's on the record for the future:<br />
<br />
I love Nomi.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-46835746184748736502013-01-04T20:43:00.000-08:002013-01-06T22:56:03.995-08:00Two Outs<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>There is something about <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=shimoy001tsu&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi</a></b> that seems really familiar.
He looks like a fellow who could be our neighbor. A little bit scruffy, but in a regular guy way. I don't really know all that much about his interests; though it's easy enough to imagine him as a craft brewer, or an arborist, or a historian. He seems like the sort to have a vintage motorcycle repair shop, or a rare and unusual bookstore. One could believe that he telecommutes and writes comedy bits. If the hearty odor of ribs drifts over the fence, he and his beloved have a
standing invite to our backyard. If the sweet smell of yakitori drifts over the
fence, we have an open invitation to their patio. His nickname sounds just like the Johnny Cash song and he thinks it's funny. Our cat is scared of his dog, but there is no real malice between them.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>I can imagine an early morning with the sun just filling the sky. He pops out of the house and
is talking quietly to his pooch while fumbling with the keys. He
looks distracted, but remembers to grab the travel mug and Frisbee off
the
roof before climbing inside the Subaru. The hound is excited beyond
words to be going bye-bye in the car. The adoration makes it challenging
to maneuver the coffee
between those eager paws to the cup holder. After the dog settles into his
spot, the car starts and they pull away. It's pretty early, so our neighbor smiles
and waves without giving the horn the usual quick toot. The bike was already locked on top of the car.
Maybe they are going for a short ride and run along the Springwater Trail
before the temperature climbs. I smile and wave back before finishing up watering the roses and
rhododendrons. Of course, if the Shimoyanagi family really lived next door, their yard would look better than our yard. It's not summer though, and he isn't one of our nice neighbors. He plays baseball across the ocean.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Tsuyoshi Shimoyanagi stepped to the rubber and delivered another warmup toss. <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=shima-001mot&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Motohiro Shima</a></b> popped up from behind the dish, double clutched, threw it back, and blew on his fingers out of habit. It was frigid at the Kleenex Box. In the opening series at home, the Rakuten Golden Eagles had endured gusts strong enough to change the path of pitches, torrential downpours, driving sleet, and gently falling snow that looked like cherry blossoms. The air was calm and relatively warm inside Kyocera Dome. Tsuyoshi stared into the outfield and rubbed up the baseball.
His teammates took a brief opportunity for a bit of
catch. Beyond the islands of dirt on the infield, there was a wide expanse of green turf that stretched out toward the wall like a plastic prairie with a buzzcut. In a row of advertising above the bleachers, a giant Ichiro stared down at the action with a frosty cold beer. Ichiro deserves a frosty cold beer. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Orix ouendan was restless. Tsuyoshi turned toward the plate and delivered another warmup toss. It had been a pretty good game so far. He'd only thrown <a href="http://www.npbtracker.com/data/velocity.php?team_id=7&pitcher_id=261&date=2012040806&action=Get+Chart" target="_blank">42 pitches</a>, but the Buffaloes had touched him up <a href="http://yakyubaka.com/2012/04/08/tohoku-rakuten-golden-eagles-vs-orix-buffaloes-april-8-2012/" target="_blank">for a run</a> in each of the last two frames. The pitching coach hovered like a hummingbird for a few more moments, said something encouraging, and left for his place by the whiteboard in the dugout. The umpire gently dropped a fresh baseball into the catcher's mitt. Shima looked out at his veteran starter with calm trust and tossed the new pill to the mound. Alone with his thoughts, Tsuyoshi turned again to the big expanse of carpet and nodded to each of his fielders. He said a few words to himself. Everyone was ready. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=okada-001tak&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Takahiro Okada</a> took a last swing and stepped into the box. It was time for the fourth inning.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The umpire hollered to start the action. Okada set his spikes, stared out at the mound and tightened his grip on the bat. Shima put down the sign for a
shuuto. Shimoyanagi nodded, toed the rubber, paused for a second, then went into his delivery. The ball exited his hand, and began to break hard left in a big hurry. As Okada spun around to avoid getting hit, a dead ball caught him right between the double nickels on his back. The baseball dropped to the dirt and lay still. Shimoyanagi tipped his cap with a sincerely apologetic look. Okada nodded back and straightened his fives. The umpire awarded him first base and he headed down the line toward the pillow. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=baldir001aar&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Aarom Baldiris</a> was initially worried for his teammate, but only needed to offer encouragement. Manager <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Senichi_Hoshino" target="_blank">Senichi Hoshino</a> expressed his dismay from the Rakuten dugout. The inning was not going well so far. </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>In the history of the sport, Senichi Hoshino should rank among the most interesting characters to skipper a club. He can holler and flap his arms with the best in the game, and sometimes his face writes paragraphs without a sound from his mouth. Other times he slaps a chair in the dugout with such force that somebody checks to see that it isn't broken. Once in a while, he quietly senses when the other manager has made a big mistake and slowly licks and smacks his lips just once like a silent cat about to pounce on a meal. He isn't known for being touchy-feely at all, but still gave an iconic bear hug to <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kanemo001tom&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tomoaki Kanemoto</a> after the sayonara home run that ended the fourth game of the 2003 Japan Series. Like Stengel and Weaver, he is both traditional and unconventional. He says things that are odd, interesting and old school. Unlike those men, he isn't known for colorful profanity to the press. Furthermore, Hoshino-kantoku was a winning pitcher at the highest level of his profession before ever taking the helm. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe he does his post-game interviews fully clothed too.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Shimoyanagi was going to have to do something right in short order to keep this game from getting to the bullpen early. His manager was not a man of infinite patience. He became familiar with that withering look from the skipper when he came over to the Hanshin Tigers in 2003. To a starter, that face meant the leash was probably about one pitch long. Shima came out with a new baseball and said a few kind words to his battery mate. Shimoyanagi thanked him, turned toward first and tipped his cap to Okada again. The first base coach was busy double checking for injuries and discussing the next play with his base runner, so the nearby umpire acknowledged the hat tip. Taking a short walk up the back of the mound, Shimoyanagi rubbed up the baseball. Shima returned to the plate. The umpire finished his sweeping and retook his position behind the catcher. Aarom Baldiris made his way back to the batter's box. The umpire hollered once more and Shima dropped the sign for a shuuto. Shimoyanagi took a deep breath. It was time to give it another try.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>It was in this moment that the baseball gods looked down and smiled upon the veteran southpaw. Sure, it wasn't something big like helping him sustain a streak of at-bats without a strikeout to push him past Ichiro's record of 216 straight appearances, nor was it a run to the postseason, but it would be a small miracle for a worthy fellow who needed one on April 8, 2012. Shimoyanagi toed the slab once more and went into his delivery. Baldiris offered and punched a grounder toward shortstop <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=abe---000tos&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Toshihito Abe</a> who crossed the bag at second and fired a seed to <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=fernajo01,fernan008jos,fernan015jos,fernan009jos,fernan014jos&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Jose Fernandez</a> at first. The camera paused briefly on Shimoyanagi. His face flickered the tiniest grin mixed with more obvious signs of relief. Okada and Baldiris jogged back toward the Orix bench. In the visitor's dugout, Hoshino-kantoku was a bit less reserved and glad to see the mess cleaned up. In those brief 90 seconds of the fourth inning, a whole range of emotions had filled the benches and bleachers. Now, it was two pitches into the frame. Shimoyanagi had two outs on the board. Baseball isn't always sublimely pretty, but it can be pretty sublime.</b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-31502302498342459242012-12-28T20:43:00.000-08:002013-01-12T12:37:11.275-08:00Go Go Godzilla<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Out of the blue, a sad and surprising season can abruptly signal the end
of an era. Like any other spring, the campaign starts with promise and possibility. Teams break camp with healthy rosters and plans for the future. All goes well for a while, but it's a short ride on a soap bubble. Soon enough, a couple of longtime stars are lost in the wilderness chasing deteriorating tools. Before long, age and injuries catch up with a few more once dominant players. Setbacks mount as the weeks go by. The press taunts fans with sentimental shreds of hope and terse medical updates. As reality sets in and the schedule winds down, memories and tributes pour into the mail rooms and over the airwaves. After a handful of chilly autumn nights, the final out is in the books, speeches are made, and
the scoreboard flashes decades of brilliance in a handful of minutes. Celebrated careers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEnUDp07vd0" target="_blank">end</a> with the sound of applause, tear-stained cheeks, and overflowing armloads of flowers. The last light in the stadium winks out for the winter. The face of the game changes forever. 2012 was one of those
years. </b></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>Imagine a snapshot from a short decade ago. A happy quartet of youthful veterans are balanced on the cusp of an epic 2003 season. Surrounded by throngs of excited fans, they smile and ham it up for the camera. It's been a November and December to remember. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kanemo001tom&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tomoaki Kanemoto</a> has just bid farewell to the Hiroshima Carp and is joining the retooled Hanshin Tigers. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/johjike01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Kenji Johjima</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=kokubo001hir&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Hiroki Kokubo</a> are getting ready to lead a dangerous Daiei Hawks. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuhi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Hideki Matsui</a> is saying goodbye to the Yomiuri Giants for a new chapter of greatness with the New York Yankees. Fans in the Big Apple, Kansai, Kyushu, and all around the world are counting down the minutes to opening day. It was a watershed time for baseball. Looking at that mental picture, it doesn't seem so long ago. When this past season began, not one of those stars was expecting to retire. Yesterday, the last of that foursome hung up his spikes.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>As a Mariners fan still digesting the historic <a href="http://www.baseball-almanac.com/boxscore/05022002.shtml" target="_blank">moments</a> and bitter <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/2002.shtml" target="_blank">disappointment</a> of 2002, it was natural to let preconceptions and early impressions grow into negative feelings for Hideki Matsui. He was utterly dominant with the Tokyo Giants. Even a neophyte observer of the Japanese game knew the closest parallel to the Giants was the Yankees. So, when Matsui went to New York, it was easy to believe he was nothing more than a globe-hopping mercenary for evil empires. It didn't help that a widely circulating rumor claimed that <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suzukic01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ichiro Suzuki</a> and Hideki Matsui were not friendly toward one another. The M's faithful were growing accustomed to seeing number 51 on the front page. In no time at all, it seemed like more folks were paying attention to number 55. This Godzilla character was spoiling a good thing.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Hideki Matsui got along splendidly with the press in New York. He was a consistently friendly face in a tense and aloof clubhouse. He had a familiar swing and results that made sense to Americans. After a decade and a half of witnessing superhuman performances from big stars, the average baseball fan was conditioned to "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKAJIvQRSzE" target="_blank">dig the long ball</a>" and not give much thought to anything else. Ichiro carefully crafted record setting collections of hits that were squandered by his club with increasing regularity, but was quite valuable as a player in a host of other quantifiable ways that remained difficult to explain to the average fan. Matsui murdered the cowhide with less frequency, but it was an easily marketable brand of violence that fit a simple winning narrative. Once Matsui abused M's pitching, his fate was sealed, and more than a few of us decided to dislike him forever. Or, at least for a good long while.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>It all changed for me on May 11, 2006. We'd just sat down on the couch to witness the Red Sox and Bombers in old Yankee Stadium. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/youklke01.shtml" target="_blank">Youk</a> led off and worked a 3-2 count before hitting one to the <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jeterde01.shtml" target="_blank">Captain</a> that he couldn't handle. When that "1" appeared under the big "E" on the scoreboard, it felt like the proverbial bad luck monkey was running loose in the ballpark. <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/chacosh01.shtml" target="_blank">Chacon</a> got a strike, then delivered an 0-1 pitch to <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/loretma01.shtml" target="_blank">Loretta</a> that he lifted into left field. Hideki charged in at top speed and the ball reached the pocket of his glove as the leather fingertips hit the grass. It looked like a sure out, but the mitt seemed caught in a bear trap. His hand whipped backward, the glove came off, and the ball popped loose. He tracked it quickly, threw to the infield, and grabbed his wrist. In a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/12/sports/baseball/12yanks.html" target="_blank">split second</a>, I felt like a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad person for ever disliking Hideki Matsui.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>At that awful moment, this was the combined top five list for consecutive games played in MLB and NPB:</b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>2,632 - <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ripkeca01.shtml" target="_blank">Cal Ripken, Jr.</a></b> </li>
<li><b>2,215 - <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Sachio_Kinugasa" target="_blank">Sachio Kinugasa</a></b></li>
<li><b>2,130 - <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=gehrig001hen" target="_blank">Lou Gehrig</a></b></li>
<li><b>1,768 - <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuhi01.shtml" target="_blank">Hideki Matsui</a></b></li>
<li><b>1,307 - <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/scottev01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Everett Scott</a></b></li>
</ol>
<b>On the 8th of April, Tomoaki Kanemoto had <a href="http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-144257558/kanemoto-ties-ripken-903rd.html" target="_blank">tied</a> Ripken's mark of 903 consecutive games without missing an inning. A short month later, Kanemoto was chasing history alone. He would eventually join the all-time top five and extend his record streak to 1,492 contests without missing a frame.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>When the totals were finally added up, Hideki Matsui had been part of an incredible run of 8,381 games put together by the iron men of baseball. In consecutive contests played between October 19, 1970 and April 15, 2011 at least one of these five names was written on a lineup card and handed to the umpire at the dish:</b><br />
<ol>
<li><b>2,632 - Cal Ripken, Jr. (<span style="white-space: nowrap;">May 30, 1982</span>
to <span style="white-space: nowrap;">September 19, 1998)</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="white-space: nowrap;">2,215 - Sachio Kinugasa (October 19, 1970 to October 22, 1987)</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="white-space: nowrap;">2,130 - Lou Gehrig (</span><span style="white-space: nowrap;">June 1, 1925</span> to
<span style="white-space: nowrap;">April 30, 1939)</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="white-space: nowrap;">1,768 - Hideki Matsui (May 1, 1993 to May 11, 2006)</span></b></li>
<li><b><span style="white-space: nowrap;">1,766 - Tomoaki Kanemoto (</span>July 21, 1999 to April 15, 2011)</b></li>
</ol>
<b>In the coming weeks and months of the 2006 season, I found myself routinely looking for news on Matsui's injury. It was a relief to hear that he would definitely be returning in the coming year. One of my favorite Mariners, Kenji Johjima, summed it up for every fan in a <a href="http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/14780" target="_blank">chat</a> with ESPN on February 26, 2007:</b><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>"I just wish to say [on behalf of] all the Japanese players, we don't have to be your favorites, but please support us."</b></blockquote>
<b>It took a good long while, but I came to the realization that my biggest problem with Hideki Matsui wasn't Hideki Matsui at all. It was wistfulness. It was sour grapes. It was the disheartening feeling that somebody in the upper echelons of Mariners management didn't have enough faith in Japanese talent to take huge calculated gambles. The Matsui signing didn't represent everything that was wrong with the Yankees nearly as much as it exposed a certain timidness in the M's. Ichiro, <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/camermi01.shtml" target="_blank">Cammy</a> and Godzilla roaming the outfield in 2003 was a very happy daydream. It brought warm fuzzy feelings imagining a triumphant <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martied01.shtml" target="_blank">Edgar Martinez</a> bidding farewell at the end of 2004 while a dominating DH waited in the wings. <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/iguchta01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tad Iguchi</a></b> arriving in 2005 to replace <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/boonebr01.shtml" target="_blank">Bret Boone</a>, being joined by his former teammate Kenji Johjima in 2006 to replace <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsoda01.shtml" target="_blank">Dan Wilson</a>, and a healthy rotation featuring <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/matsuda01.shtml" target="_blank">Dice-K</a> and Felix starting in 2007 made for a very pleasant fantasy. Somewhere in there were World Series championships with huge champagne celebrations that awed veteran reporters and rendered them practically speechless. Japanese talent arrived in a big way over the course of those years, but one couldn't help wondering about what might have been in Seattle. A lot of money was spent on shiny things.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>After enduring the misery of those seasons, the arrival of GM <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=zdurie001joh" target="_blank">Jack Zduriencik</a> brought a glimmer of hope. Hideki Matsui seemed like a nice fit for a team trying to follow up the feelgood story of 2009. In the soft glow of Christmas lights, dazed fans wandered around the cold streets with eyes turned heavenward muttering, "Oh my Lord, did we really just get <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leecl02.shtml" target="_blank">Cliff Lee</a> in a trade?" Acquiring both World Series heroes had the potential to make 2010 a whole lot more fun to watch. Ever the optimist, I initially imagined a conversation after the Fall Classic that went something like, "It sure was terrific that <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/griffke02.shtml" target="_blank">Ken Griffey</a> had a nice sendoff from his teammates. Now, if the Yankees are going to show that kind of ingratitude to their MVP, we ought to pick him up. He's durable enough, there certainly is a need, and he won't be any more than a year at 8 or 9 million with incentives. Let's make a run at him."</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Unfortunately, the conversation seemed to be more like, "Golly, they sure do like that Ken Griffey. Maybe Junior can ride the guys' shoulders around the stadium like that for a few more years. Hitting? Well, he plays golf a lot. It has to help, right?" It was sad for longtime fans to watch Junior play when he was obviously hurting, but nobody was going to make the decision for him. When Kenji Johjima left money on the table to <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/mariners/2011149425_johjima22.html" target="_blank">sign</a> with the Hanshin Tigers, the writing was on the wall. Instead of Ichiro and Hideki uniting for a season and giving an instant popularity boost to a rebuilding team, they left the future up to Junior. Instead of bringing some harmony and happiness into the clubhouse, the coming campaign would be divisive and spill over into open confrontations. At a time in his career when he wanted a steady veteran teammate to help set an example, Ichiro had a disgruntled part time tickler who disappeared one day like a lost sock. The Mariners went to hell. Godzilla went to the Angels.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b>
<b>In fairness to Jack Zduriencik, he has been constrained by a pretty tight budget during much of his tenure while the team has paid dearly for old messes. Out of all the incumbent players, it could be argued that only Ichiro and Felix earned their contracts after his arrival. The farm system had to be rebuilt from scratch too. Spending money for any free agent talent has been scarce. Given a second chance to add the M's to the resume of one of the
all-time greats, the franchise once again passed on Hideki Matsui, and
signed <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/custja01.shtml" target="_blank">Jack Cust</a> for the 2011 season. He was a total disaster and gone
by the first week of August. To make the pill more bitter, Matsui had a
good campaign with Oakland. Two straight years of steady production
against the Mariners wasn't hurting his <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110403&content_id=17338892&notebook_id=17338896&vkey=notebook_oak&c_id=oak" target="_blank">numbers</a>.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>It was a bit of a surprise to learn Hideki Matsui was spending time in the minor leagues this year, but it was shocking to watch him batting against the Mariners in St. Petersburg. Seeing a player that once dominated the game with nothing left except unyielding will and determination filled me with a familiar sadness. The longtime fan sometimes knows when the end is coming. The day hangs in the air like an unanswered question. It seemed totally plausible at the beginning of the year, but it soon became clear that he wasn't going to Japan for a final season with the Tigers, nor would there be a farewell tour as a DH in the Pacific League. All he had to give was left on the field at the Trop. When the announcement came on Thursday, my heart sank as it had three other times over the last part of the season. I wondered if he really knew how much he had meant to baseball. The sleet made a steady din on the bleachers and memories flooded across a muddy diamond. It's the first winter before the first spring without four of our favorite players. The stadium lights have been out for months. The face of the game has changed forever. 2012 was one of those years.</b></div>
<b><br /></b>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4398564377865431018.post-36811184244685948872012-12-21T20:43:00.000-08:002013-01-06T22:06:58.429-08:00Fifinori, Kuma & 42<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>In the long-forgotten days before <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hernafe02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Felix Hernandez</a> threw his first
perfect game, there was a traditional event scheduled for August 21,
2012. Trusting that the iconic Ichiro would be a face of the franchise
all season long, the Mariners <a href="http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/sea/ticketing/special_events.jsp" target="_blank">set </a> the date and made preparations. The club with the strongest ties to our Pacific neighbors
was proud to be hosting another Japan Night. As the day grew near, the team sent out a <a href="http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120814&content_id=36665614&vkey=pr_sea&c_id=sea" target="_blank">press release</a> and local organizations <a href="http://www.pnwjetaa.org/2012/08/japan-night-at-the-mariners-2/" target="_blank">got</a> on <a href="http://www.hyogobcc.org/?p=1552" target="_blank">board</a>.
With contagious enthusiasm, Rick Rizzs and Dave Sims promoted "Japanese Baseball Appreciation Night" during their
broadcasts.</b><br />
<br />
<b>Sadly, right field would no longer belong to <b><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suzukic01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ichiro</a></b>. Fans in attendance would not be chanting and beating <a href="http://www.bizofbaseball.com/images/JapanProduct_VMegaphone.jpg" target="_blank">megaphones</a> in unison. Nor would there be a fired up <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcdr3aiLGpU" target="_blank">ouendan</a> with drums and trumpets. Mune wouldn't be digging into the box while the crowd belted out his personal <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jotLoJl7E0" target="_blank">fight song</a> or a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhSPd3_l19M" target="_blank">chance theme</a> to fit a given situation. Home run sluggers would not be <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZNf42J3Oa0" target="_blank">tossing</a> a little stuffed mascot to a kid in the seats. The crowd would be encouraged to cheer, but there would be no happy <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N64RE0SWBeE" target="_blank">umbrella</a><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N64RE0SWBeE" target="_blank"> </a>dances, no celebratory <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjoBgW1DIs" target="_blank">pogoing</a>, and no colorful <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENBzxj1Txkc" target="_blank">jetto fuusen</a> to scream <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95K_q1HmkXA" target="_blank">skyward</a> for Lucky 7. The bleachers wouldn't be singing a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9CcpTA6L1E" target="_blank">regional anthem </a>to celebrate a win. It was going to be a special game, but <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljxSJ-DT7mU" target="_blank">these guys</a> were gonna feel right at home in <a href="http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/sea/ballpark/the_pen.jsp" target="_blank">The 'Pen</a>.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>It still seemed like a prime opportunity for <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/iwakuhi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Hisashi Iwakuma</a> and <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kawasmu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Munenori Kawasaki</a> to be part of an M's victory. Maybe one or both of them would do something worthy of a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jjmJJpYeJ0" target="_blank">hero interview</a>.
It might have seemed like Japanese baseball for a few seconds before
<a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jasojo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">John Jaso</a> could sneak up with a whipped cream pie. Of course, it didn't
happen that way. With a bit of help from the baseball gods, August 21,
2012 was all about Felix Hernandez. Nobody in the world is complaining about how things worked out. <a href="http://www.lookoutlanding.com/2012/8/21/3259635/supreme-court-experience-thread" target="_blank">It was absolutely perfect</a>.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Hopefully, fans will long remember that Hisashi Iwakuma picked up
where Felix left off and extended the streak of consecutive hitless at
bats to 42. Their combined efforts set an all-time franchise record.
The Mariners are not sure how many other times it happened in MLB
history, but <a href="http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2012_08_17_minmlb_seamlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=sea" target="_blank">confirmed</a>
that it hadn't occurred in the lifetime of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/millwke01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Kevin Millwood</a>. The Millwood
metric clearly illustrates that Major League Baseball moves at a
glacial pace.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>On the day Millwood was born,<i> The Sporting News </i>named Lou
Brock "Sportsman of the Year" for 1974. In the winter of 1974, there
were 22 names on the all-time list of players from Venezuela who had
appeared in at least one MLB game. Thirty-five years had passed since
the debut of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/carraal01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Alejandro Carrasquel</a>.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>After a taste of success during the 2004 season, Felix Hernandez
celebrated his very first big league Christmas. In the winter of 2004,
there were 22 names on the all-time list of players from Japan who had
appeared in at least one MLB game. Forty years had passed since the
debut of <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/murakma01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Masanori Murakami</a>.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Maybe somebody will crunch all the relevant historical data and
discover that 42 straight batters were retired in the days of the
velocipede, parasols and penny arcades. Perhaps the narrative will
include a lengthy rhubarb broken up by an umpire with a pistol. If this
stellar pitching streak happened before, it's safe to assume that the
feat was accomplished when right-handers from Venezuela and Japan
weren't considered for MLB rosters.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>When Hisashi Iwakuma takes the mound in September of 2013, the franchise can
mark twenty straight years of welcoming Japanese players into the
extended Mariners family. That represents nearly 56% of a relatively
short organizational history. The Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles
have welcomed African-Americans into their system for 52% of a much
longer period of time. In the context of breaking barriers and cultivating a culture of inclusion, both numbers represent remarkable legacies of progress.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120412&content_id=28516476&vkey=news_sea&c_id=sea" target="_blank">42</a> consecutive ought to be easy for fans to remember. Records are pretty cool. Change is even cooler. Some sort of "Japanese Baseball Appreciation Night" this year is still a grand idea. Better late than never, right? </b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01547945030749690532noreply@blogger.com0