MLB in Japan

[Gusoyama 95]

It bugs me that there is still the "Show the Japanese what REAL baseball is all about" attitude within America, when it comes to teams visiting Japan. Maybe the Japanese play a different style than most teams, and I'm sure there aren't as many roid-heads in Japan, but the Japanese have been playing baseball almost as long as the US,(1870s vs 1850s/60s) and I think the overall talent is very close. I hope the Japanese teams beat the American teams. Even the Red Sox.

[Kaiomitsuki 408]

I hope that one day the World Series will be played between the MLB champion versus the Japan Champion.... It's always strange to read each year that the MLB Champion win the World series... and that the NBA (NFL, NHL...) Champion is the World Champion team when the competion is played only in North American continent (I am not worthy...)

[aderechelsea 124]

Gaelic games suffer from the opposite complex. The "All-Ireland" championships include teams from London and New York ;-)

i suppose there are more Irish in London and New York than in Ireland .. so no surprise there (Holiday feeling...)

[aderechelsea 124]

ok .. then i agree ... it's silly

[Bealzbob 0]

Gaelic games suffer from the opposite complex. The "All-Ireland" championships include teams from London and New York (Showing off...)

Yeah but that in itself is very 'Irish' (Praying...)

Edited March 21, 2008 by Bealzbob

[Doitsuyama 1,173]

Gaelic games suffer from the opposite complex. The "All-Ireland" championships include teams from London and New York (Showing off...)

Yeah but that in itself is very 'Irish' (Praying...)

Well, the other phenomenon also was very 'American', so everything is in order. :-)

[Kotoku 0]

MLB is not "American" baseball -- there are players from many, many countries. All that counts is that you are the best available at your position. Doesn't matter if you come from CANADA, Japan, Korea, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Australia, Mars or the moon. Japanese ball is overall about the same as Triple-A, which I actually prefer to both MLB and the Japanese counterpart.

The Sacramento Rivercats -- Oakland's AAA team -- has a jewell-box of a stadium, terrific food and an unbeatable location. You can see kids on their way up, veterans trying to turn things around and the occasional star coming off rehab, needing some time in AAA to put things back together. In other words, it's much like Juryo. And the ticket prices are a fraction of the big leagues.

I enjoy watching Japanese ball in the summer, drinking a cold Yebisu and munching on yakitori. I could do without the organized cheering and especially the trumpet players in the crowd. Since the Pacific League broke the mold a few years back, the game has become much more exciting. And it sure beats J-League.

Edited April 13, 2008 by Kotoku

[Jonosuke 28]

MLB is not "American" baseball -- there are players from many, many countries. All that counts is that you are the best available at your position. Doesn't matter if you come from Japan, Korea, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Venezuela, Australia, Mars or the moon.

I feel very much dismayed to see the list of nationalities or planets, Canada is again left out.

And Canadian players are not really a token either. Consider Erik Bedard, Jason Bay, Jeff Francis, Eric Gagne, Rich Harden, Russel Martin, Justine Morneau and our own Matt Stairs.

Not too shabby, Eh?

[Kotoku 0]

Sorry!!! There are in fact two wonderful teams in Canada, and a number of Canadian players as well. I was only trying to make a point that there are a multitude of players from around the world, countries large and small. And we won't even get into the abomination of hockey in the southern states... :- )

Tq

[Harry 67]

Sorry!!! There are in fact two wonderful teams in Canada, and a number of Canadian players as well. I was only trying to make a point that there are a multitude of players from around the world, countries large and small. And we won't even get into the abomination of hockey in the southern states... :- )

Tq

There USED to be two teams in Canada but the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington a few years back and now play as the Nationals. Just the Jays now...

[Sasanishiki 57]

There USED to be two teams in Canada but the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington a few years back and now play as the Nationals. Just the Jays now...

The same with basketball and the Vancouver Grizzlies. It seems like Toronto is the only place that can keep a 'foreign' sport franchise going. Are there any reasons you can think of?

[Harry 67]

There USED to be two teams in Canada but the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington a few years back and now play as the Nationals. Just the Jays now...

The same with basketball and the Vancouver Grizzlies. It seems like Toronto is the only place that can keep a 'foreign' sport franchise going. Are there any reasons you can think of?

Canada's population density is very low, second largest country in the world by area (very distant second to Russia, pretty close grouping with America and China) but for population density is extremely low, 3.2 people/km^2 compared to 31 people/km^2 in USA (and over 330 people/km^2 for Japan and India which are far from the highest in the world). There are really only a few large population centres, just 6 with over a million people including Toronto (5.1 million), Montreal (3.7 million), Vancouver (2.1 million), Ottawa (1.1 million), and Calgary and Edmonton both with around 1 million. There just isn't much outside of anywhere but Toronto and perhaps Montreal to draw upon. 2.1 million people in BC sounds like a lot but that's half the population of British Columbia (4.9 people/km^2) which is quite a rugged and far flung place with mountains and rivers to make travel difficult. There's just no way Vancouver can compete with even a 'small' market in the states. Ontario at 13.9 people/km^2 and the Greater Toronto Area being much higher is just the only internationally viable location in Canada. So, in sum it is simply the only place in Canada with sufficient population density and business density to make sense for an international sports franchise. We even struggle with hockey around the country these days.

The Buffalo Bills are slowly moving to Canada, playing a bunch of already oversold games in the Skydome (regardless of what you think of the tailgating problems) over the next several years with an almost certain sale to Rogers Communications when Ralph passes on. It'll be a good market for the NFL as Canadians love that game even though we don't have any teams in it (we have had a small number of relatively high profile players though). The Canadian Football League is unfortunately a bit of a joke as the college and even high school programmes in the states make the CFL look rinky dink.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Harry

[Jonosuke 28]

The Buffalo Bills are slowly moving to Canada, playing a bunch of already oversold games in the Skydome (regardless of what you think of the tailgating problems) over the next several years with an almost certain sale to Rogers Communications when Ralph passes on. It'll be a good market for the NFL as Canadians love that game even though we don't have any teams in it (we have had a small number of relatively high profile players though). The Canadian Football League is unfortunately a bit of a joke as the college and even high school programmes in the states make the CFL look rinky dink.

Sorry for a bit of shop talk but the Skydome is actually Rogers Centre (Rogers owns the building and Blue Jays now).

CFL is a Canadian institution no dyed in wool Canadians will easily dismiss so no one can really talk about NFL franchise in Toronto but it's true that Bills are playing their Exhibition games in Toronto this year and Bills are followed by TO fans as much as Argos.

The current Blue Jays chairman Paul Godfrey has long courted a NFL franchise as well as a MLB franchise. And he now works for Rogers. Rogers VP Phil Lind has been a passionate Cleveland Browns fan. There are other deep pockets in Toronto, one easily stands out is the current owner of Leafs and Raptors, so when Ralph finally decides to let go off of Bills, there are sound buyers in Toronto other NFL owners can approve of. I believe Ralph is over 90 years old so that time is not that far away.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Jonosuke

[Zentoryu 154]

There USED to be two teams in Canada but the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington a few years back and now play as the Nationals. Just the Jays now...

The same with basketball and the Vancouver Grizzlies. It seems like Toronto is the only place that can keep a 'foreign' sport franchise going. Are there any reasons you can think of?

While the "small market" thing played a part, the Grizzlies and the Expos were also two of the worst run sports franchises in recent memory.

The former Expos owner used to receive millions of dollars in revenue sharing from MLB, but instead of investing it back into the team, or using it to help build a new stadium, he pocketed the money. Fans aren't stupid, if they see that you aren't making an effort to put a competitive product on the field, they will stay away.

Edited April 14, 2008 by Zentoryu

[Jonosuke 28]

The former Expos owner used to receive millions of dollars in revenue sharing from MLB, but instead of investing it back into the team, or using it to help build a new stadium, he pocketed the money. Fans aren't stupid, if they see that you aren't making an effort to put a competitive product on the field, they will stay away.

I hope someone is listening to you in D.C. now. It looks like it's turning out to be a desperate situation there. I can see a fallout between Bawden and Acta pretty soon.

[Harry 67]

The Buffalo Bills are slowly moving to Canada, playing a bunch of already oversold games in the Skydome (regardless of what you think of the tailgating problems) over the next several years with an almost certain sale to Rogers Communications when Ralph passes on. It'll be a good market for the NFL as Canadians love that game even though we don't have any teams in it (we have had a small number of relatively high profile players though). The Canadian Football League is unfortunately a bit of a joke as the college and even high school programmes in the states make the CFL look rinky dink.

Sorry for a bit of shop talk but the Skydome is actually Rogers Centre (Rogers owns the building and Blue Jays now).

CFL is a Canadian institution no dyed in wool Canadians will easily dismiss so no one can really talk about NFL franchise in Toronto but it's true that Bills are playing their Exhibition games in Toronto this year and Bills are followed by TO fans as much as Argos.

The current Blue Jays chairman Paul Godfrey has long courted a NFL franchise as well as a MLB franchise. And he now works for Rogers. Rogers VP Phil Lind has been a passionate Cleveland Browns fan. There are other deep pockets in Toronto, one easily stands out is the current owner of Leafs and Raptors, so when Ralph finally decides to let go off of Bills, there are sound buyers in Toronto other NFL owners can approve of. I believe Ralph is over 90 years old so that time is not that far away.

You're right that Rogers Centre is not really the Skydome any more but the original name still sticks in my head...

I used to love the CFL as I grew up near Hamilton and went to lots of Ticats and Argos games but the league has really fallen on hard times lately. Not many teams are left and the game isn't as entertaining to me as it once was. There was a time I'd argue that the 3-down Canadian game which emphasized kicking was more exciting but since the ill-fated venture into US teams and then the worse agreement to an agreement about players with the NFL that saw our best go south and their MaryJane running back come up here its been downhill IMO.

[Harry 67]

There USED to be two teams in Canada but the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington a few years back and now play as the Nationals. Just the Jays now...

The same with basketball and the Vancouver Grizzlies. It seems like Toronto is the only place that can keep a 'foreign' sport franchise going. Are there any reasons you can think of?

While the "small market" thing played a part, the Grizzlies and the Expos were also two of the worst run sports franchises in recent memory.

The former Expos owner used to receive millions of dollars in revenue sharing from MLB, but instead of investing it back into the team, or using it to help build a new stadium, he pocketed the money. Fans aren't stupid, if they see that you aren't making an effort to put a competitive product on the field, they will stay away.

I felt very bad when the strike came in during a season when the Expos were leading the majors. I wonder what could have been? Then the year after the strike the Jays were talking about a "three-peat"... ug, they haven't done very well since those days.

While it is stupid to pocket the money it is very expensive to field a good team these days. Speaking of Japanese baseball again, some of my friends are quite annoyed that teams can go to Japan and buy good players for a lot of money. Only the big market teams can afford it and while New York has proved that you can't buy a World Series ring every year, money sure can help.

[Kotoku 0]

I have been in Japan for the most part over the last 20 years, so I completely missed the move to Washington D.C.

[Asashosakari 18,783]

The former Expos owner used to receive millions of dollars in revenue sharing from MLB, but instead of investing it back into the team, or using it to help build a new stadium, he pocketed the money. Fans aren't stupid, if they see that you aren't making an effort to put a competitive product on the field, they will stay away.

It doesn't help that baseball seems to be a pretty tough sell in Canada (outside of Toronto Edit: and Winnipeg) altogether. Even the Triple-A teams are all gone as of this season with Ottawa having relocated to Allentown after PCL teams in Edmonton and Calgary already died a few years ago. All those locations have been filled in by indy-ball teams with much lower definitions of what constitutes financial success, but even so they're still struggling aplenty.

It also doesn't help that (from what I've read) it became much more difficult to run a minor league baseball team in Canada as part of a US-based league after September 11, due to work visa and various associated issues. The major league clubs reportedly don't care to go through that hassle with their affiliates any longer when there are plenty of United States locations in which to place the 30 Triple-A teams.

I hope someone is listening to you in D.C. now. It looks like it's turning out to be a desperate situation there. I can see a fallout between Bawden and Acta pretty soon.

How so? I think everyone involved is pretty aware that the team still needs several more years of rebuilding, and AFAIK the new ownership is committed to that. Now, whether baseball can really "work" in D.C. is a different question; they haven't lost multiple teams for nothing.

Edited April 15, 2008 by Asashosakari

[Jonosuke 28]

I hope someone is listening to you in D.C. now. It looks like it's turning out to be a desperate situation there. I can see a fallout between Bawden and Acta pretty soon.

How so? I think everyone involved is pretty aware that the team still needs several more years of rebuilding, and AFAIK the new ownership is committed to that. Now, whether baseball can really "work" in D.C. is a different question; they haven't lost multiple teams for nothing.

I've seen of the two games of their recent 9 game skid and they were not pretty.

They have some talent in the team - Zimmerman, Nick Johnson, Lo Duca and Milledge. Mat Chico should prove to be a genuine star but they sure need Wagner soon.

You can always tell people about rebuilding as long as there is a ray of hope. But if they don't turn it around soon enough, they will run out of time and patience, especially considering other D.C. area's previous sports franchise's fate.