1998 Season Report
------------------


Central League
--------------

   For the first time ever as the Yokohama BayStars they won the Central
League Penant and later the Japan League series ( they did win the as the 
Taiyo Whales based in Kawasaki in 1960).  They made their way to the top of 
the league with a terrific offensive attack, nicknamed a "machine gun 
attack"  by the baseball press.  Leading this assault on Central League 
pitchers was Takanori Suzuki who led the league with a .337 average.  
Bobby Rose added to that with a .325 average and 96 RBIs. The BayStars also 
featured the best closer in Japan in Kazuhiro Sasaki who saved 45 games 
(remember in Japan they just play 135 games). The Chunichi Dragons rebounded 
from last place the year before to finish second just four games back.  
Kowakami and Noguhi gave them two of the best starters in the league, and 
former Cub Leo Gomez had 26 homers for the season to go with 27 by Yamasaki.
The Giants featured the rookie of the year Yoshinobu Takahashi who hit .300 
along with 19 homers and 75 RBIs. Fellow Giant Hideki Matsui belted 34 homers 
to lead the circut.

The Gaijin
----------
    As mentioned above Gomez and Rose had another great season in Japan.
The rest of the foreign hitters did not fare as well this season.  After
another sub par season, this time with Tigers, Alonzo Powell days looked
to be through.  Former Dodger pinch hit specialist Dave Hansen had an
unspectactuler season hitting .253 wit 11 homers for the Tigers.  Timoniel
Perez hit .296 playing part time for the Carp, and the rest including 
Mariano Duncan, and Dwayne Hosey did nothing to impress.  On the mound they
did much better, Nate Minchey won 15 games for the Carp and his 236 innings
was the most in the CL.  Also Ben Rivera saved 27 games for the Tigers.
Balvino Galvez did well while he was pitching but missed the last two months 
for throwing a ball at a umpire. 

The Pacific League
-----------------

   The Seibu Lions won their 13th pennant in the last 17 years.  The Lions
were able to finished ahead in a dramatic 5 team race down the final month
of the season.  The Lions did not have any player really dominate any one
area although starter Fumiya Nishguchi's 148 strike outs led the league.
Shortstop Kazuo Matsui had another excellent year batting .310 and stole
43 bases.  Also Domingo Martinez hit .283 with 30 homers.  Finishing
second were the Fighters, who had a 9 1/2 game lead at the mid point.  
The Fighter were a powerfull hitting team.  Nigel Wilson's 33 homers led
the league, and three other Fighters hit 20 more homers.  The Figheters
pitching failed them down stretch.  The Blue Wave were led once again by
the great "Ichiro" who won his 5th straigh batting title with a .358 
average.  Troy Neel joined the team about a quater into the season giving
them 28 homers and 76 RBIs in 108 games.  Yoshimoto Fuji's 30 homers were
just three short of the league lead.  Injuries to their starting pitchers
left the staff unstable and they too faded out in the end.  Tied for third
with the Blue Wave were the Hawks, and then the Buffaloes in 5th. The
difference between first and 5th was just 5 games, and had the Marines not
lost a record 18 straight games, they would of made it a 6 team race.  
Despite the losing streak, the Marines still manged to finish just 9 back
of the Lions.   Another story of note was a tax fraud scandle which took
several players out of action, most notable Kokubo of the Hawks.

The Gaijin
----------

  As mentioned above foriegn batters did much better in the PL then they did
in the Central.  Louis Lopez though might of wished he stayed in the CL,
coming over from the Carp to the Hawks he had an off year for him.  Hitting
.294 with 17 homers.  Phil Clark had a superb year with the Buffaloes hitting
.311 with 31 homers and 71 RBIs.  Julio Franco played well for the Marines
batting .294 with 18 homers. Jerry Brooks and Tuffy Rhodes put up respectable
power numbers with 25 and 22 homers respectively.  Harvey Pulliam playing
just part time with the Blue Wave hit .285 with 18 homers.  On the mound
Brian Warren had a skimpy 0.93 ERA in 24 games with the Marines.  Eric 
Schullstorm  won seven games and saved 8 for the Fighters.  

A Overview of Pro Japanese Baseball
               ------------------------------------

I History
---------

Baseball made it's way to Japan in the last quater of the 19th century.
It arrived with American missionaries.  As the railroad was being built
workers spread baseball through out the country.  Baseball soon gained
acceptance and play among prep schools and universities was established.
Even today amateur baseball is very popular in Japan.  For two weeks in
August a national high school baseball championship is held at Koshein in
Osaka.  This probably is the biggest sporting event in Japan, it has been
described as the World Series and Super Bowl put together.

Pro baseball would take a little longer to develop.  Although not the first
but the most successful, was the team put together by the Yomiuri Shinbum 
in 1934.  They were originally named Dai Nippon but were renamed the Giants
following a barn storming tour in the US.  

On this team was Japan's first pro star, Eiji Sawamura.  Sawamura first 
got attention in exhibition games against a team of Major League stars.  In 
one game he struck out -- in order -- Gehringer, Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx.  

The first pro league was established in 1936.  The new league struggled to 
gain acceptance from the fans in the early days and often played to small 
crowds, although the amateur game still thrived.  Pro baseball continued 
into the forties, although no games were played in 1945 because of the war.  
During occupation, MacArthur, a baseball fan himself, allowed the return of 
pro baseball in Japan because he felt it would be good for morale.

In 1950 with rebuilding of the nation in full gear, pro baseball
established a strong foothold in Japan.  It was this year that baseball was
expanded into two leagues, the Central and Pacific.  The 1950's were good
times for pro baseball in Japan.  With the new media of television, 
popularity continued to grow.  

The expansion of the league also help lift pro baseball in Japan out of it's 
deadball era as the game headed into the 1960's.  By the 1960's, like the 
rest of post war Japan, baseball was booming.  During this decade the "Tokyo" 
Giants started their incredible run of nine straight Japan Series 
championships.  On this team were two of greatest hitting stars ever to play 
in Japan, Shigeo Nagashima and Sadaharu Oh.  

Nagashima is the most popular player in Japanese baseball history and is 
known as "Mr. Giant".  For 17 years Nagashima held down third base for the 
Giants and retired with a .305 average and 444 homers.  He was especially 
known for his clutch hitting.  Like Ted Williams, Nagashima hit a homer on 
his last atbat.  

Oh, although maybe not the most popular player to play in Japan, was the 
best.  Oh played 22 seasons for the Giants and during that time batted 
.301 with 868 homeruns, the most of any pro anywhere.  Oh hit a homer once 
every 10.65 times to the plate.  In 1964 Oh set the Japanese single season 
home run record with 55 (during 140-game season).


II Pro Baseball in Japan Today
------------------------------

Pro baseball in Japan is made up of two six team leagues, the Central and 
the Pacific.  The rules are mostly the same as in Americe, but there are a 
few differences between the Japanese game and the American game, and 
(borrowing a tradition from the majors), there are also differences in the 
rules used by the two leagues.  

They both play a 130-game schedule (135 for 1997).  Both allow tie games, as 
no game can go past the 12th inning in the Pacific or the 15th inning in the 
Central.  However, since 1990, tie games in the Central league are replayed.  

The Pacific League since 1975 has allowed the use of DH, in Central League 
pitchers must bat.  

No interleague games are played, however games are sometimes played at 
"neutral" sites.  These games are sometimes held in cities that do not have 
a big-league team, and sometimes in the stadium of a team from another 
league.  

The two league champions meet each fall for a best-of-seven game series 
known as the Japan Series.  There are no playoff series today, although for 
a time the Pacific League played a split season.  

Each Japanese team may carry 3 gaijin or foreign players.  This rule has 
varied over the years from 2 gaijin per team, to 2 position players and one 
pitcher, and now is open to three of any position.  

Teams are owned by major corporations and many carry the company name as 
opposed to the city they play in.  For example, the Yakult Swallows are 
owned by the Yakult company who produces soft drinks.  The Yomiuri Giants 
are owned by the Yomiuri Shimbun, and the Seibu Lions are owned by the 
Seibu rail lines.  This system makes more sense for Japan, which is a very 
small country, where five teams play in or near Tokyo.


III The Approach to the Game
----------------------------

Pro baseball in Japan plays under most of the same rules as baseball in 
North America.  Three out per inning, three strike per atbat, and so on.  
The differences are mainly off the field and with their approach to 
playing the game.

Before baseball came to Japan, the concept of sport for entertainment was 
as foreign as the game itself.  In Japan, spring training begins in January,
and their workouts are closer to what you would see at Marine Boot Camp than
any Major League spring training.  They spend all day on the field, run 10 
miles and then head back to the team dormitory or hotel for team meetings in
the evening.  

And, yes, I did say dormitories.  Most teams require their younger players 
to live in the team dormitory.  When the season begins, the rigors of their
training schedule aren't left behind.  Pregame workouts are often 4 hours 
long.  The reason is simple -- they strive for perfection.  The fear of 
making a mistake in Japanese baseball is very great.  So you must train hard 
and be as ready as you can to lessen the chance.  Statistically speaking,
Japanese players make many fewer errors than Major Leaguers.  

The hard training also has a secondary purpose -- to develop a strong sense 
of team. In Japan, teamwork, or "Wa", is extremely important.

Another reason for this approach is that, for the most part, Japan does not 
have a minor league system, or at least not like the system in North
America.  Each team has a farm team, but it is really more like the
junior-varsity/varsity system used in high schools and colleges.  It is not 
unusual for a struggling player to play a game for the second team and then
the big league team in the same day.  There is no multi-level system to work
your way through -- young Japanese players often go from their high school 
or college team to the big leagues.  They learn to play on the big league 
level as they go.

Japanese baseball strategy is much more conservative then pro baseball in 
North America.  Once again, the fear of making a mistake and upsetting the
team's Wa plays a part.  Runners are less likely to try for an extra base in
fear of making an out on the base path.  Fielders are less likely to dive
for balls.  Managers try to take advantage of every base runner and bunt
early and often.  

Scoring the first run is very important to Japanese strategy.  The belief 
is that by taking the early lead your opponent has to play under more 
pressure.  If this means giving up a chance for a big inning to get that 
first run, so be it.  The 1985 Hanshin Tigers set the record for most home 
runs by a team and also led the league in sac bunts that year.  

Although it may sound strange, this approach has its advantages.  Japanese 
players give their fans 100 percent all the time.  They are not likely to 
put themselves before the team as some Major Leaguers have done.  In Japan, 
there has never been a strike or lockout.

Japanese pitcher usage is also somewhat different than the Major Leagues.  
Most teams will go with a six-man rotation.  And since they play a 130-game 
schedule in the same time period in which the Majors play 162, there are
many more off days.  Pitchers often get 6 days of rest between starts.
With this extra rest, starters are more likely to throw a complete game, or
at least pitch deep into the game.  Closers are used, but generally only 
get about 20-25 saves a season (though the shorter schedule accounts for 
these lower totals to some degree).  Japanese managers are more likely to 
use a couple of guys over the course the year as his closers, preferring 
whoever is hot at the moment.

The approach to the game in Japan is changing, albeit slowly.  The players 
of the 1990s are much more free spirits then those of the '60s and '70s.  
Compared to the today's Major Leaguers, though, it may not be as easy to 
notice.  The level of play is also improving.  It is not yet at the Major 
League level, but it is as close as it has ever been.  In the 1990s, 
Japanese all-star teams have been able to play very close games with the 
Major League teams, and Japanese players like Hideo Nomo and Hideki Irabu 
are making their mark in the Majors.   


Additional Sources of Information
---------------------------------

If you are interested in learning more about Japanese baseball, here are 
some suggestions for additional reading and viewing:

YOU GOTTA HAVE WA by Robert Whitting.  This book goes into great detail of
the history of baseball in Japan and their mental approach to the game.
Although perhaps getting a little dated it is a excellent book.

SLUGGING IT OUT IN JAPAN by Warren Comartie and Robert Whiting.  This book
chronicles the career of Warren Cromartie and his perspective as a gaijin
player for the Yomiuri Giants.

JIM ALLEN'S GUIDE TO JAPANESE BASEBALL by Jim Allen.  This book is put out
each year, includes interesting essays and analysis of Japanese baseball.

MR. BASEBALL (VIDEO) staring Tom Selleck.  This movie is very entertaining
as well as a very accurate portrayal of Japanese baseball.  Also pro players
were used so the baseball scenes are very well done.

  I also want to give thanks to Masataka Kagesawa, who has been a great help
with all the Japanese League seasons I have made.
