Baseball has been an American game since, well, anyone can remember.
However, there has been a new baseball force that has been undeniably creeping towards the U.S. in this decade.
That new baseball force is Japan.
Japan was virtually indifferent to baseball about 20 or 30 years ago, but in the last decade, it has become a more serious foe.
Japan beat the U.S. in the World Baseball Classic for the quest for the title. The U.S. didn't even make it to the finals.
On the other hand, one could argue that Japan simply cares about the money, not baseball. They have sold Godzilla, Dice-K, Ichiro and Okie-Dokie. They give away more every year and soon they will not have any talented stars left in Japan.
Others argue that Japan already is better than the U.S. when it comes to baseball. My opinion is that the World Baseball Classic means nothing.
In the Classic, Japan put together a team compiled of the best Japanese stars. How is one Japanese national team going to kick butt if they ever face the Red Sox or the Yankees?
One Japanese team is not filled with stars. If Japan continues to unload their stars to the American market, by the time the next Classic comes around, they will have no stars left playing for their national teams.
Japan is a new baseball champion.
The only question is, for how long can they hold it?
The U.S. has not given Japan any players, but Japan has given the U.S. a handful of players. Let's say there is a real World Series in the near future. It could be a battle between the U.S. and Japan.
Japan's national team would have no chance against the Red Sox. Japan needs to prioritize its baseball organization because, if Japan continues this philosphy of sell, sell, sell, there will be no more stars left.
That is the truth. Japan has promise, but only if they follow an all new philosphy.
2 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment
Johnny Shea about 1 year ago
hey dylan good article...by the way, you can edit it without writing a new one...i'm going over reuben's today come if you can
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Anonymous about 1 year ago
Dylan, you are confusing national teams and professional league teams. If Red Sox is entering World Cup on behalf of US, they wouldn't have Ortiz or Ramirez who would play for the Dominican team, along with Pujols, Miguel Tejada or Francisco Liliano. Dice-K would be playing for the Japanese team along with Ichiro or Saito.
If you are talking about professional teams, a lot of US players played in Japanese league, such as Kevin Mitchel (who was a bust) or Cecil Fielder (whose Japanese ball experience helped him break out later in US). A lot of Latino players play in Japan too, like Tony Fernandez (after MLB) or Alfonso Soriano (before MLB, who actually came up from a baseball academy of a Japnese professional team, set up in Dominica).
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