Understanding Japan through Baseball

[the_tyrant]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/94...-espn-magazine

Very interesting view on japan, even if you aren't a baseball fan, it is an extremely interesting article on the difference between Japanese and American sportsman.

I don't know if 700+ pitches in what is the Japanese version of an NCAA championship is a smart move or not, but look at their training and their work ethic.

[Aktungbby]

Really no different than an undefeated wrestling team in our high school and then college wrestling with a little epée fencing on the side. The body movement from the Samurai is perfect everytime ("Teach your body strategy")or you do it over and over...and...Those players have all read A Book of Five Rings(Go Rin No Sho) by MiyamotoMushashi-1645 and when they go forth to play Bushi...er Bezboro, that isn't just a bat they're 'a swingin', it's the wooden training katana also known as the Bokken, an equally deadly weapon in the hands of national hero Mushashi, 'Kensei' or 'sword saint' to all of Nippon." Every Japanese businessman reads this this small tome, and its Zen aspects pervade the culture which we culturally(tried) "De-Bushido'd" after WWII during the occupation.(it is still illegal to own a real Katana?). To a Nipponese player, the bat is the long sword; the mit is the short sword! An excerpt:"" In large scale strategy(the game) when the enemy embarks on an attack(at bat),if you make show of strongly suppressing his technique(your Cy Young winner), he will change his mind. (Alter his batting lineup quick-like) Then altering your spirit, defeat him with a VOID spirit(no hitter)...In single combat(pitcher vs batter)hold down the enemy's strong intention(outta' the park BBY) with a suitable timing(sliders, curves and heat) and defeat him by forstalling him with this timing(nine innings). You must study this well".(Know each batter)"" Fergit von Clauscewitz! We gotta get a copy of this to der Fuhrer before Barbarossa! In short, they ain't jes' a' playin' 'ball at all ..and that's jes' 'not CRICKET'! Tom Hanks says this is a simple game?... another Saki, Kranz!

[Bilge_Rat]

it's almost poetry, if you are a baseball fan...

Entering the ninth inning, Saibi is losing 5-3. The Kyoto-Gaidai West players are shouting joyously in their dugout, and Anraku looks far from the tallest boy on the field.

Then his manager, Joko, makes some vague, almost invisible gesture, and Anraku releases his customary acceptance of command -- a chest-thumping shout that starts deep in his gut -- bowing to his manager before he sprints to the mound.

And while this might sound like mythmaking, like some hinterland baseball legend that's told by scouts to their children to explain why they are never home, this is a true account of what happens next:

The entire field goes silent. Not quiet. Quiet is not a strong enough word to describe this instant temple. It goes dead silent. What had been a consistent, heavy chatter just stops. Anraku's teammates, the opposing players in their dugout, the umpires, the mothers and fathers and tea-brewing booster club up on the hill -- nobody says a word. Nobody claps or chants or boos. An opposing player noiselessly pulls out a radar gun, but nobody else moves. Even the two girls, gripped tight against the rightfield fence, stop their lovesick parade.

Suddenly, there is a monster in their midst. He nods at his catcher, a tiny, brave boy built like a whippet. Anraku's huge hands lift slowly over his head, and he starts his big, leggy delivery, classically Japanese, a full-body unwinding that culminates in a fastball thrown right down the throats of every last person here.

The radar gun is in metric: 148 kilometers an hour. 92.

Anraku throws another pitch, and then another, and then another. He throws nine pitches in total, fastballs, sliders and curves. He hits 94. There is one foul ball. Otherwise there are only untouched strikes, called and swinging.

Nine pitches. Nine strikes. Three up, three down.

And then there is so much noise, a symphony rising up around Tomohiro Anraku once again

[Rhodes]

I am guessing that you guys never saw
Miracle Giants Dome-kun
Dome Shinjo!

[CaptainMattJ.]

Well its honestly just not good strategy anyways. There is merit in the ability to push yourself and overcome fatigue and drain but the fact remains that regardless of mental strength the physical is still there, and its still a very real limitation.

If you want to lose a star pitcher, make him pitch like this kid. Its like asking an NFL player to play twice or three times a week for way more than 16 games a regular season. You might be able to pull it off, but you're gonna end alot of careers, alot of livelihoods and ambitions, and worst of all you're going to physically injure a person for a freaking game.

Ive always admired the determination, skill, dedication, and strength of the japanese. But the problem is they dont always understand when to stop. They dont always understand what situations that bushido can be applied and still be morally correct and realistic.