Japanese Baseball

1. Japanese Baseball Scenes from the Universal Pictures film Mr. Baseball staring Tom Selleck

2. Japanese BaseballAccording to the film Mr. Baseball The film Mr. Baseball by Universal films, is about a Major League player getting traded to play in Japan. The following are screen shots of specific scenes that help to illustrate the differences between Japanese and American baseball. Also the mind set of the American going to play in Japan and the feelings of the Japanese toward the foreigner or gaijin as they are called in Japan

3. In this scene Jack finds out he is being traded to Japan. His response to being told that he will be playing in Japan is “ I not playing in Japan, I’m a Major Leaguer”. This shows the feelings of some players that playing in Japan is like getting sent down to little league from the pros.

4. Jack meets his new teammates While Jack was completely put off by even the thought of playing in Japan, the Japanese players are quickly in awe of even the sight of his World Series Championship ring. Even in Japan everyone knows who he is and when he arrives he is already a star. That is more than can be said for some of the great Japanese players of the game that to this day go unrecognized due to the lack of crowd turn out at some of the smaller stadiums

5. Jack’s first at bat in Japanese baseball Jack is quickly introduced to the gaijin strike zone. In one of the earlier scenes he is told “it is about the size of a Buick”. He is even told by the Umpire “You big, you can hit”, when Jack looks at him for calling the outside pitch a strike. This is the double standard that most gaijin have to face. One on hand they are welcomed as Major League stars and expected to perform well, and the other hand, in secret they are almost made to fail to show that Japanese baseball is catching up with the American version.

6. The 15 inning rule In Major League Baseball games, the game is played until there is a winner no matter how many innings it takes or there is a make-up game scheduled to finish it because games cannot end in a tie. In Japanese baseball there is a 4 hour or 15 innings rule. The game cannot go longer that 4 hours or 15 innings, whichever comes first, and they CAN end in a tie.

7. Charging the mound After being hit by a pitch Jack charges the mound as he charges the pitcher tips his cap. In Japanese Baseball if the pitcher tips his cap after hitting the batter it is taken as unintentional. Jack reacts the only way he knows and charges the mound anyway. The entire time Max, another American is yelling that he tipped his cap. It is dishonorable and disgraceful to the team if you intentionally hit a batter, take out a fielder with a slide (i.e. Break up a double play) or take a risk that negatively effects the team.

8. Max unloads Max has been playing in the Japanese system for a couple of years and has caught on to the different aspects of the game. Here he finally unloads on Jack. “You haven’t listen to one word that I’ve said. You know what I didn’t miss playing here, hot shots like you, now I don’t even have that. Now shut up and take your base. “ This shows the difference between a player that truly wants to play for the sport of it (Max, Dennis Haysbert) and doesn’t really care where at, so he made an effort to adapt to the different nuances of the game, and one who is just ticked that he is even here in the first place and isn’t going to give his best because of it.

9. Jack is suspended indefinitely After the incident of charging the mound Jack is informed that he is suspended indefinitely for embarrassing the team and the manager is to be replaced for recommending that the team sign him. Upon learning this he goes to his manager, Uchiama, and tells him he wants to play and he will do what ever Uchiama wants so that he can.

10. Team is in shock to see Jack actually trying When told by Jack that he wants to play, Uchiama starts putting Jack through a very rigorous exercise program. The team comes out for practice in shock to see him there before them and actually working. Japanese Baseball is all about wa or team harmony.

11. Team supports Jack for the first time While doing the new routine, Jack stumbles and falls. Uchiama starts toward him. He is cut off by the team, who has stood by and watched this new transformation of Jack into a team player. They run out to him and encourage him, but don’t help him to finish the run. When Jack arrived he was all about doing things his own way. Now that he is trying to adapt and make an effort, the team is willing to support him

12. Jack gets too good at Japanese baseball After his turn around, Jack’s hitting becomes better than it ever was. He ends up tying the record for most consecutive games with a homerun at seven. The Japanese baseball executives don’t want gaijin to break their records. During the last game the opposing pitcher are told, under penalty of a fine, NOT to throw any strikes to him.

13. Japanese Records and Gaijin In the last slide, it was described that Jack was not to be pitched to under a penalty of a fine. This sounds like a made up Hollywood story. In 1986 Randy Bass, an American playing baseball in Japan was one homerun away from equaling the record for most homeruns in a season. In the book Growing the Game1, Bass is quoted “They’ll never let me do it. I’ll get to 54 and they’ll start walking me. You’ll see. They’ll never let gaijin break a record like that.” When he reached 54 homeruns with two games left in the season, the opposing team walked him six times in those two games. Later opposing pitchers came out and stated they were told not to throw strikes to him under penalty of a fine.

14. Japanese Baseball According to Mr. Baseball Even though this is a Hollywood movie, many of the nuances of Japanese baseball come through. The fact that Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league and considered two great leagues playing a similar game, they are worlds apart still.

15. Works Cited • Klein, Alan M. Growing the Game. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006. • Mr. Baseball. Dir. Fred Schepisi. Perf. Tom Selleck. Universal Pictures, 1992.