Baseball in Japan

by Jonathan Leshanski
June 3, 2006

Even if they hadn’t just won the first World Baseball Classic, there is no sport that so embodies Japan like baseball. True, Sumo wrestling is big (literally), soccer seems to have a strong base, and other sports hover around in the background, but the Japanese have a love and appreciation for baseball that not only rivals the US but may actually surpass it.

Baseball is ingrained into the Japanese psyche and woven into the culture much like it is in the US. Of course the game is a little different here and fans root differently but they also follow the American Major leagues too, and not only to see how Hideki Matsui, Tahido Igucchi, and Ichiro are doing (although MLB baseball news is very centered on the Japanese players in the bigs), but they are closely following the Barry Bonds home run chase, as well as games played by other major league teams. Of course their hearts are with their hometown teams be they the Hanshin Tigers, Fukoka Hawks, Hiroshima Carp or the Giants.

Many of these teams have managers, coaches and players from the States (I believe the rule is two non Japanese players per team), but the game here is very different and in some ways it’s more fun to watch. Players don’t make boneheaded errors in base running, they don’t fail to run out ground balls, or commit sins of laziness. All of the players are students of the game, they live it, breathe it, and play it the way that old timers did. It’s a throwback to the classic days of baseball in that way (even though they use the DH rule).

Home runs are not uncommon but the game is often played for just a single run or two. Even the stars of a team are expected to sacrifice, bunt, and to work as hard as any other player, across the board. Of course there are big innings too, I watched a seven run fourth inning last night made up of singles, walks, and finally a double to drive in the last two runners. That may be one of the biggest offensive differences – how many seven run innings in MLB are made up of singles and walks? And how many include the three-run home run?

Of course last night’s victim of the shelling was a familiar face Kaz Ishii who is clearly pitching as well back in Japan as he did his last few seasons in the States. No matter who’s pitching the game from the pitching side has a different flavor. There is no shortage of pitching in Japan but there is a shortage of good pitchers. There are plenty here that can hit the low to mid 90s on a speed gun (miles per hour not kilometers), and there are control artists, but a depth of quality pitching is very hard to find.

Part of the problem with the pro leagues here is the draft system. When a player doesn’t like the team that drafts him he can just take off a year and re-enter the next years draft. That doesn’t mean that he won’t play, he’ll probably go and join a corporate team in a corporate league – and there are plenty of those willing to take and play a professional quality player. It’s one of the unfair aspects of the game that keeps the weaker teams weak and the stronger teams strong, not unlike the financial imbalances that distort the free agent market in the US.

That doesn’t deter fans from rushing out to root for those teams – every game seems to be packed. Seats generally go on sale two weeks before a game and are sold out or almost sold out by game day (you can sometimes get tickets at the box office several hours before game time). Once they are gone good luck getting them – I haven’t seen a Japanese scalper yet. Fans come dressed in team colors to root for their team and to take the prompts from the cheerleaders, scoreboard and cheer masters. It’s almost like an elaborate show.

Of course at night they go home and are bombarded with baseball ads, from Hanshin Tiger cookies (I think they were cookies) at the market, to television ads with Derek Jeter hawking some form of hitting aid. Baseball is everywhere, Yankees jerseys, Mariners hats, Mets tee shirts (not to mention a grapefruit soda called Mets written in the exact same script but in a green and yellow color scheme) as well as the local team merchandise.

There is no question, Japan loves baseball.