Japanese Baseball

[centrajapan]

If you are interested in Japanese baseball. The recent news is that Fukudome seems to have chosen US over Hanshin and Giants. Giants have bought Ramirez from Yakult and Kroon from Yokohama.

[SushiShin]

Hey thanks for sharing, i'm a bit interested in it.
Thanks again :cool:

[Kyoto Returnee]

I'm not really into baseball but I noticed, and correct me if i'm wrong, but many teams in Japan appear to have many foreigners, who once again appear to be the top hitters.

Is this true?

[centrajapan]

I forget the exact rules but I think it is 4 foreigners per team. Some foreigners do well and the ones who do well tend to be one of the best in the league but there are quite a few medicore foreigners too.

This year Yakult Swallows Ramirez who is from Venezuela did really well and should have got the MVP but instead it went to Ogasawara who did not have as high numbers as Ramirez. This was mainly due to the fact that the team which Ogasawara played for won the league. Its quite common in Japan to give MVP to the winning team though I disagree with this policy.

Ramirez will from next season play for Yomiuri Giants which is the richest and biggest team in Japan. They tend to buy all the best players from other teams in Japan. I hope they fail next year.

[Annubis]

I'd love to go see a baseball game in Tokyo, but I'm not sure how yet. I'll stay tuned to more info... Thank you for the baseball info. I really like baseball, but know little more than the rules.

[centrajapan]

Baseball in Japan is good. In Tokyo there is Tokyo Dome which is the biggest stadium and almost always packed is good but it is a dome. Then there is Jingu the home of Tokyo Yakult Swallows. Their stadium is quite low keyed compared to Tokyo Dome and it rarely is packed.

For the ultimate baseball experience I would recommend Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya between Kobe and Osaka. This is a special stadium and the Hanshin Tigers fans are known to be very passionate about their baseball.

[Annubis]

WOW!! Awesome! Thank you so much centrajapan! I will see if I can go to Koshien Stadium one day!

[Dutch Baka]

Same goes for Hiroshima I heard. They are also very passionate about their Carps.

Love Japanese baseball, and can't wait until the season starts again. ROKKO OROSHI!

[centrajapan]

Hiroshima is getting a new stadium which looks really nice.

http://gethiroshima.blogspot.com/2007/11/construction-starts-on-hiroshimas-new.html

Chiba fans are known to be very passionate too. Japan is more boring during the off season than during the baseball season. Currently not living in Japan I crave for Japanese baseball.

[senseiman]

I love Japanese baseball.

Its too bad they are building a new stadium in Hiroshima, the one they've got now is pretty nice (one of the few outdoor stadiums) and in a great location right near the peace park.

I'm kind of sad to hear about Fukudome, yet another top player jumping over to the majors.

When I lived in Japan I used to go to Koshien at least once a season to see a Tigers game. I also went to see the Blue Wave, who no longer exist but were Ichiro's team and I got to see him play.

Its just way more fun to watch a live game in Japan than major league baseball.

[Dutch Baka]

I also went to see the Blue Wave, who no longer exist but were Ichiro's team and I got to see him play.

I tought that the Blue wave merged with another team and became Orix..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orix_Buffaloes

[senseiman]

Yup, it used to be these two teams:

Orix Blue Wave playing at Green Stadium in Kobe
Kintetsu Buffaloes playing at the Osaka Dome

Now its the Orix Buffaloes playing at the Osaka Dome.