The World Baseball Classic Thread

[RShack]

Ichiro is a rare talent, one of the best contact hitters of the modern era. And a very good defender, and baserunner. And I think a deserving HOFer. But let's not go too overboard. He's rarely among the top 10 offensive players in baseball.

I bet you would've walked him. Anybody would have. Except for whatever Asian manager-think was going on. It was a bizarre decision.

[mrbig1]

I bet you would've walked him. Anybody would have. Except for whatever Asian manager-think was going on. It was a bizarre decision.

You're right sir. The word is bizarre. In MLB Ichiro was intentionally walked 27 times one year and 23 times the next. So I still don't understand why pitch to him. That whole story about the pitcher or catcher not seeing the sign is 100% B.S. I hope the U.S.A. can put together a team that can win one for us.

[GnatsFan]

Baseball Riddle of the Day: Why are the names on Japanese jersey's in Roman letters as opposed to Kanji or Hiragana? :scratchchinhmm:

(I'm referring to the Nippon Professional Baseball League [not International competitions like the WBC])

Ex: http://sturgeongeneral.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/daisuke_1.jpg

Ex: http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0dFUgeCbhE15h/610x.jpg

I started thinking about this during the WBC and I've been unable to come up with a satisfactory answer to the point where I'm willing to bake a cOoKiE of one's choosing and Fed-Ex it as a reward to the person capable of giving me the correct answer. (I'm assuming nobody can resist a cOoKiE)

It doesn't appear they use Romanized names anywhere else on TV broadcasts or on the scoreboard? (See: http://marinerds.com/pictures/081108/210-Wins.JPG)

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Side Note: I found the Seibu Lions Dome interesting/cool looking for a dome so I felt like posting pictures of it. Usually I despise domes, but I wouldn't mind watching a game in this one. Glass ceiling? + open air + dome combo)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Seibu_Dome_baseball_stadium_-_06.jpg

http://image16.webshots.com/17/5/33/80/183553380OxHsVm_ph.jpg

[NewOrioleWork]

They probably use "Japan" on their jerseys because most people outside of East Asia (and quite a few within it) have no idea what "日本" means.

Just like if Japanese was the primary international language of business, education, culture, etc. our team jerseys would say, "米国" instead of "USA."

[isestrex]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090326&content_id=4070566&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

As for defending the Classic title -- the capture of which three years ago Ichiro then called his greatest moment in baseball --- Ichiro said the repeat was even more meaningful.

"Because of the expectations of the people of Japan," he said. "It was inconceivable to you guys. To come through in that situation had a lot of meaning for me. The emotion with which we played, you guys can't even imagine. So winning was more fulfilling this time."

Now... Ichiro said this through an interpreter so maybe some of his meaning was lost, but it sounds like he's basically saying "Nothing I've experienced in American Baseball comes close to the intensity of Japan in the finals at the WBC... American Baseball just isn't as big as it is in Japan."

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting him... perhaps he's being misinterpreted... but I think he's right.

[DrungoHazewood]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090326&content_id=4070566&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

Now... Ichiro said this through an interpreter so maybe some of his meaning was lost, but it sounds like he's basically saying "Nothing I've experienced in American Baseball comes close to the intensity of Japan in the finals at the WBC... American Baseball just isn't as big as it is in Japan."

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting him... perhaps he's being misinterpreted... but I think he's right.

The Fukuoka-Seibu game I attended in 2005 was between two good teams, but was in late July and had little meaning beyond just another regular season game. They had bands, people leading group cheers, people with placards they held up to spell stuff in the stands, and most of the stands singing songs about individual players. It was more like a college football/basketball game or a European soccer match than a US baseball game.

The only time I've been to a game where the fans were as into the game in the US was the 1997 playoffs. And even then it was in a much less coordinated, organized way. Nobody was singing a song about Todd Zeile. In Japan they would have been, even if it was a random game in May.