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12/03/2002 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Yomiuri Says No to MLB Broadcasts"
Hot Shots....
Hot Shots....
The Yomiuri Giants are considering commemorating Hideki Matsui's high fly ball that went through a seam in the Tokyo Dome roof and rolled into the back of the park's attic by hanging a rope with a plaque attached to it where the ball entered the roof. Sounds kinda dumb to me....NTV, Yomiuri's television arm, says that it has no interest in broadcasting MLB games, even ones featuring Hideki Matsui, since Yomiuri officials believe that the ratings return won't be worth it. For example, the biggest rating an NHK Mariners broadcast brought in last season was a tilt with the Astros that registered a 6.2% audience share. Yomiuri's morning news and gossip show, Zoom In Super, which part of the MLB games would pre-empt, lures substantially more viewers ....Yomiuri righthander Masumi Kuwata told reporters at a charity golf function at Mobara Country Club that he will be asking for a two year deal worth a total of $5.6 million, which would make him the highest paid pitcher in the Japanese game right now. He made $1.2 million this past season....Kuwata's teammate, catcher Shinnosuke Abe, dislcosed that he would play in the Athens olympics if asked. Olympics baseball manager Shigeo Nagashima also wants Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki to play for the Japanese contingent, but that is not likely to happen. Kazuo Matsui, who is likely to be playing shortstop for the Mariners in 2004, also says he wants to be part of that olympic nine...Free agent slugger Norihiro Nakamura, who was out playing golf with some other Japanese league players earlier today, revealed to reporters that talks with Hanshin might be breaking off since they may not want to wait for him to return from meeting with MLB teams later this week. Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino said he thinks that Nakamura will probably stay with Kintetsu....Yokohama number ond draft choice Ryutaro Doi was given number 27, the same digits once worn by the team's all time wins leader Masaji Hiramatsu, who was known for his "razor shuuto." Hiramatsu ended his playing days with 201 wins, 196 losses and a 3.31 ERA....Yakult Swallows moundsman Nobuyuki Ebisu, who came over in a mid-season trade with Orix, had his pay cut by $30,000 to a little over $200,000. Him and wife Miyuki will give birth to their third child in the coming days....The Chunichi Dragons staged negotiations with a couple of their players earlier today, awarding infielder Tadaharu Sakai a two year deal worth about $250,000 a season. Meanwhile, reliever Daisuke Yamai signed for about $160,000, a raise of about $50,000....Over in Tokorozawa, the Seibu Lions inked second year catcher Toru Hosokowa to the same $105,000 he made as a rookie in 2002. And fourth year outfielder Hisashi Takayama saw his pockets get a little deeper by $16,000 to a little over $90,000....In preparation for its move to Sapporo, the Nippon Ham Fighters announced that they would subsidize some of its players living expenses.... Japan's so-called "God of Hitting," former Yomiuri Giants first baseman Tetsuharu Kawakami, says that Hideki Matsui's arms are too stiff when he swings the bat. He posits that in order for Godzilla to succeed, the will have to improve at pulling his hands in and wacking the ball like Ichiro can....After saying that basically everyone on the team is going to take a pay cut for next season, the Daiei Hawks are now stating that they may introduce what is called "gyaku dekidaka," or, literally, "reverse incentives," into multi-year contracts. that is, if a player doesn't reach predetermined statistical targets, it would allow the club to slash his agreed upon salary. Hawks first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka says that the basic idea won't really be objected to, but each player is going to have different ideas as to criteria for reducing salary and that could become the source of friction with management....Orix outfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani has reupped for $240,000, a $90,000 increase despite his batting .230 last season....Hanshin hurler Kyuji Fujikawa has pressed his hanko on a new contract for next season that will pay him $100,000, a little over $45,000 over his 2002 pay....St. Louis Cardinals outfielder So Taguchi was feted by that community's Japanese Citizen's Association Sunday. He vowed that he would be on the big club roster the entire year next season.
NPB-MLB Games of Yesteryear
In case you haven't seen it, my Baseball Guru Japanese baseball senpai, John Holway, reminisces about some games between big league and Japanese league teams in the 1950's. A must read for baseball junkies:
Holway Article
He also has a rundown of the 1990 series at: Second Holway Article
A couple of side notes: "Shoichi Kaneda" is actually Masaichi Kaneda, though, due to the vagaries of how Japanese names are written, "Shoichi" is indeed another way to read the characters for Kaneda's first name (it can also be read as "Masakazu"). And to add to the fun, Kaneda is of Korean ancestry. I don't know what his Korean family name is. Koreans were forced to take Japanese names under the Japanese occupation forces before WWII. There is still discrimination against Koreans of Japanese birth in Japan even today and there are probably thousands of kids who don't know about their Korean ancestry since their parents don't want them to feel the same kind of discrimination they endured due to having a Korean name. For example, the great Japanese enka (a kind of Japanese blues) singer, Harumi Miyako, so the story has it, had no idea she was Korean until she saw her Korean name on her junior high graduation certificate.
"Masako Saito" should read, "Masaaki Saito." That one is just a typo.
Finally, Holway has some interesting data on Sadaharu Oh vs. MLB pitching at: Matlack for Batting Practice
