Japanese baseball
This year when the Mets and Cubs opened their seasons in Japan they made Major League Baseball history. Never before had a league game been played outside of North America. With thousands of fans screaming the names of Mets and Cubs superstars Mike Piazza and Sammy Sosa you could see the increasing influence of MLB on Japan. America's favorite pastime is now becoming an international pastime, one shared by many different, diverse cultures who have come together on common ground, the baseball diamond. The Japanese had taken an American game and incorporated it into their society. For the most part the aspects of the game are the same, especially the love the fans and players show towards their pastime. Baseball was first introduced to Japan as Yakkyu, "field ball", during the Meiji era in the end of the ninetieth century. During a time in which Japan was undergoing a major change in which they were westernizing Horace Wilson brought forth the game to the Japanese. The Japanese found the one-on-one battle between the pitcher and batter similar in psychology to their native sumo and martial arts (1 Japanese Baseball History). Baseball became an in
Some of the greatest players ever in Japan put up record numbers that would have broken equivalent records in the MLB. Considered by most the greatest Japanese player ever, Shigeo Nagashima, nicknamed Mr. Giant, put up incredible numbers in the course of his career. He had a lifetime average of .305, with 444 homeruns and 1,522 RBI. Amazingly enough, those power numbers were not at the top of the list, this honor belong to the other player considered one of the best ever, Sadahara Oh. In twenty-two seasons, Oh batted .301 with an astounding 868 homeruns and 1,967 RBI. Also in his career he set the single season record for homeruns, fifty-five, and won nine MVPs. These two players were along with Masaichi Kaneda and Eiji Sawamura the best players ever in Japan. Kaneda set the modern day record for wins, 400, strikeouts, 4,490 and complete games, 365. Also in his career he pitched three no-hitters. Sawamura was on his way to a great career but his life was cut short when he die! Along with the possibility of returning to the big leagues, which was the plot of a popular American movie Mr. Baseball, players can make a good amount of money. A Japanese club will play usually $120,000-600,000 to an American player if they make the club. In order for a player to get attention from a Japanese club they need an agent who has good connections with one of the clubs. It is extremely difficult for a player to get a job in Japan unless they have an agent. A good thing about the contract is that even if you do poorly and are released or you get injured the money is guaranteed. Japanese clubs look for certain things in a player coming over from America. The major thing is power. If you are a foreign player without power, chances of success in Japan are slight. The clubs want crowd pleasers, people who in one swing can change the mood of a crowd. Japanese players are much more contact hitters and play a much more strategic game than in America. Foreign catchers do n! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In the 1960's another dominant team came to power, the Tokyo Giants. With the pleasure of being the wealthiest team in the league the Giants won nine straight championships from 1965-1973. Yomiuri, the owner of the team, controlled most of the media throughout Japan. He helped give the Giants the most publicity in a team in which the television was being introduced in Japan and the world. Also, the most popular newspaper in Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun, virtually promoted the Giants on every page. With the most money, the Giants were able to secure the best players in Japan and because of this the draft was introduced into Japan. This was an attempt by the league to help bring equality to the league in which everybody was given a fair chance. In 1978 the Giants unsuccessfully tried to bend the rules of the league by signing pitcher Suguru Egawa to a contract even though the Hanshin Tigers had drafted him. The Giants were threatened by the league commissioner and were forced to ! The major difference between baseball in America and baseball in Japan lies with the players. The players in America rely much m
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2126
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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