Baseball season starts! It is Spring Training but it is nice to be able to listen to games on iPhone. It feels right. Ah, I missed this.
There were 18 Japanese players who played for MLB in 2009, but 5 of them went back to Japan this off-season. Masahide Konbayashi (Yopmiuri Giants), Yasuhiko Yabuta (Chiba Lotte Marines), Ken Takahashi (Hiroshima Carp), Kenji Johjima (Hanshin Tigers), and So Taguchi (Orix Buffaloes). That is the most players going back to the Japanese league in a year. Perhaps the trend is going to Japan. Another big news is Matsui’s move to the west coast. Ichiro-Matsui match up will be a big draw for Japanese people I am sure.
Couple of odds and ends stories caught my eyes this spring. Former Pacific League umpire, Takeshi Hirabayashi, who has been the first from Japan to advance as far the Triple-A level in 2009, will umpire his first big league game in Cuctus League in April 1, according to the Sankei Sports.
Japanese umpire Takeshi Hirabayashi, via sanspo
I didn’t know this, but there is a documentary on Japanese umpires who are trying to survive in the MLB system, called Samurai Umpires. Hirabayashi is one of them, but there are others featured in this film: Masaki Nonaka, Taro Hirano, Koyu Inoue, Yuta Niide, and Atsushi Yoshioka. You can see theYouTube Trailer for the documentary here.
I found a very well written article on Hirabayashi by Rainer Sabin
of The Virginian-Pilot.
Luck and merit conspired to bring Hirabayashi this far. When colleague Art Thigpen suffered an injury in late April, Hirabayashi was promoted [to AAA].
It marked the latest advancement for a man who’s worked at all levels of the minors, bouncing from the Northwest League to the Appalachian League.
“He has progressed very well,” said Justin Klemm, executive director of the Professional Baseball Umpires Corporation. “To make it to the Triple-A level from Japan is an accomplishment in it of itself.”
Hirabayashi’s career has spanned two continents and 17 years. It began in the Arizona Fall League in 1992, continued in the Japanese Pacific League for nine years and then took a new direction in 2004, when he began his ascent to Triple-A by starting at the bottom once again.
…
Under close watch, Hirabayashi has excelled. While there have been times when communication has been an issue, Hirabayashi’s experience, athleticism and cool demeanor have masked his deficiencies. He’s received rave reviews…
…
Perhaps the highest compliment is the silence of a hitter who’s just gone down on strikes. On a night last month when Hirabayashi rung up 18 batters, Tides manager Gary Allenson noticed something unusual.“Nobody questioned him,” Allenson said. “Nobody. I said, ‘You keep umpiring like that you won’t be in this league (AAA) long, either.’ ”
Speaking of umpiring, I also found this. Last year, Mariners’ OF Ichiro Suzuki was ejected from the game for the first time in his MLB career for arguing balls and strikes. He drew a line in the dirt where the ball was. And replay shows that the ball went exactly where Ichiro drew the line. I know rule is a rule, you can’t argue balls and strikes.
One more slightly related Japanese-baseball connection. Miss California and Miss America runner-up Kristy Cavinder is quarter Japanese. Her grandmother is from Fukuoka, and she has been to Japan twice. What is the baseball connection, you ask? Her brother, Ryan, works as PR guy in Los Angeles Angels organization and she came to Angels game, saw Hideki Matsui hit, and was interviewd by Fuji Evening News. With picture. That is all.
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