NPB Tracker

このサイトのソフトバンクに行って欲しかったダラス・マクファーソンは、SFジャイアンツとマイナー契約結んだ。３Aスタートで、最初に３Aでもベンチ入りみたいだ。

Open question to readers: is there a paradigm shift coming in baseball? In sports in general?

Context: in the last ten years, we’ve seen the emergence of the web lead to paradigm shifts in a number of different businesses. Retail was among the first affected, with the rise of e-commerce and websites like amazon.com and eBay. Then we saw the music industry try and ultimately fail to shut down online music sharing, and the rise of iTunes, the return of the single and the demise of CD sales. Now the news media industry is going through an identity crisis, with publications going under and the industry at large trying to figure out how to transition from paper to digital mediums while remaining profitable.

In the three examples I listed above, the web changed the basic way customers purchase and consume the products. That doesn’t seem entirely possible in sports — you’ll still have live events and TV and radio. Also, in each of the three examples there was an external, disruptive force involved. The sports business is somewhat isolated from that because of the monopolistic nature of the top leagues.

So where is the paradigm shift in sports? I suppose the fan experience is a little different. This blog, and others like it, provides information would otherwise be unavailable in English. Without the web, it wouldn’t exist as  I couldn’t afford to bootstrap a print publication. But do independant blogs and other online resources change the way teams on either side of Pacific operate? Do they change the way fans consume the baseball product?

I’m working on a way to gather pitching information for NPB games. It’s not quite Pitch F/X but it should yield some interesting information. I’m not done yet, but the early results are good. I was able to chart the velocity on each pitch thrown by Hisashi Iwakuma and Hideaki Wakui in their April 10 matchup, which Wakui won 6-0.

(Click to enlarge the charts)

Iwakuma was lifted after six innings and 92 pitches, allowing three runs. 

Wakui used seven different pitches, though he only threw his changeup a couple of times. He threw 138 pitches, and note that his fastball’s velocity drops toward the end.

An obvious shortcut to marketability in Japan is making a name for yourself in the National High School Tournament held at Koshien Stadium every spring and summer. That’s the road many players took to gain national attention, including Daisuke Matsuzaka, with his stellar performance in the 1998 tournament, and Hideki Matsui, who was intentionally walked in five straight at bats in the 1992 tournament. Let’s take a look at some other Koshien heroes who were on this year’s WBC roster, and how they feature on Japan’s promotional landscape.

• Masahiro Tanaka (Two-time champion, 2004, 2005 tournaments) has become one of the most newsworthy pitchers in Japan. Known affectionately as Maa-Kun, he has been seen nationally in commercials for organizations such as the Red Cross and House Food Product, which have nothing to do with baseball, but the decided to use him as a symbol. Also the parent company of the Golden Eagles is using Tanaka in thier own business as Rakuten Shouken has assigned him as the image character for their new program, Money TV.
•  Yu Darvish (No-Hitter, 2004 tournament) is another popular figure appearing in many commercials, but the most interesting use of his character is seen by the Japan Water Forum. The organization partnered with Yu Darvish and founded the Yu Darvish Water Fund, which is not only a charity program that he participates in, but a way to raise awareness of the water problems seen throughout the world.
• Toshiya Sugiuchi (No-Hitter, 1998 tournament) lacks in national attention compared to the other two, but is still one of the faces of the Softbank Hawks franchise. The Hawks organized a player recognition day for the fans to receive a original photo album by purchasing game tickets in a certain section. The project will kick off with Sugiuchi being the first player to be recognized.

These players are some that comes to mind that are currently playing in the NPB, had on the WBC team roster and performed well in the Koshien Tournament. Not all stars from the tournament are able to transfer their stardom into a professional career, but receiving the coverage from national media throughout the tournament definitely helps players to be more marketable at the start of their professional careers.

If you’re reading this blog, you’ve no doubt heard the news about Nick Adenhart. My condolences go out to his family and the Angels organization.

Koji Uehara makes his first MLB start tonight, against the toughest lineup he’ll ever have faced. To catch up on him, check out the profile I did of him last year.

This is getting obvious — SoftBank has now come out and said publicly that they’re looking to add a foreign bat, and targetting third baseman who have recently been dropped from MLB 40-man rosters. Starting third baseman Nobuhiro Matsuda suffered an injury on opening day, increasing the urgency to add a bat. You all know who my choice would be. The other guy I could see getting a shot is Mike Hessman.

ソフトバンクは、けがしてる松田選手の代役として新外国人を探しているのは明らかなった。メジャー40人枠から漏れちゃったサード守る長距離打者を目指さしてるから、ダラス・マクファーソンかマイク・ヘスマンしか獲れないだろう。マクファーソン選手は去年マーリンズ下傘３Aで42本ホームラン打ったけど、春季キャンプの最後に解雇された。今自由契約なので簡単に契約結べると思う。まだ27歳ながら日本でブレークできるはずだ。

ヘスマンは長年３A暮らしで、今年はタイガーズキャンプで最後まで残っていたけど、最後に40人枠から外れた。マイナーで安定な30本ホームランを打ちながら、守るのもいい評判されてる。ヘスマンは今タイガーズと契約結んでる。

Kevin Mench’s NPB career isn’t off to a great start — through three games he’s 0-11 with three strikeouts and eight flyouts. This comes after a bad spring as well. The typically hyperbolic and alarmist press corps that follows Hanshin is already questioning his future with the Tigers. One article even dragged out the name Mike Greenwell the veteran MLB slugger who played seven games for the Tigers before God told him to retire. I don’t think that’s quite fair; I’d be stunned if Mench pulled that kind of stunt. And George Arias got off to a poor start with the Tigers and wound up being a good player for them. Then again, Arias had already established himself in Japan.

Despite the media, Mench will get a little more time to prove himself in Japan. The Tigers have flown in US-based scout and former Tiger Tom O’Malley to work with Mench, and will keep him around for a month. Hanshin’s owner seems to be behind him too, saying “if he hits just one big blast he’ll be hard to pitch to. He’s hit 89 home runs in the majors so I want him to start hitting soon”.

Still, this gives you an idea of the expectations and pressure on an MLB import joining a popular franchise in Japan. Foreign players tend to be on short leashes, particularly high-salaried ones.

Here’s more on some of the minor leaguers that I was following in the offseason:

• Kazuhiro Takeoka -> training in Arizona, hoping to catch on with a team as the season progresses. 
• Takateru Iyono -> didn’t catch on with an MLB organization; signed with the Brother Elephants of Taiwan.
• Tatsuya Ozeki -> flunked his audition with the Rockies, back in Japan blogging.
• Michinao Yamamura -> looks like he was in camp with the independent Calgary Vipers; not sure if he made the team.
• Koichi Misawa -> Unknown; all I could find was that he won’t be back with Northern League’s RailCats in 2009.
• Yosuke Kawaguchi -> this guy wasn’t on my radar at all, but two seperate readers pointed out that he’s signed with the Yuma Scorpions of the independent Golden League (thanks to readers Dave and Patrick P for the tip).

All these guys, with the exception of Misawa, played in NPB last season.