Japanese Baseball Players in U.S. Team Term Paper

Total Length: 1381 words ( 5 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 1+

Page 1 of 5

Baseball is the favorite sport in both Japan and the United States. It proudly has the status of national sport in both American and Japan. It is an important part of the American and Japanese culture. The game of baseball has evolved with the culture of the American culture. Baseball has also been reinvented in Japan. It is part of the Japanese culture as it has had a lot of influence on the sport. Baseball has been played in Japan for more than a hundred years. They are very proud of their national sport. At the same time people in America take baseball for granted. Both Japan and America have their own professional baseball leagues. Japanese baseball is all about pride and possibility. They were one of the first foreign nations to be exposed to America's favorite pastime. It was more like a bridge between the western and eastern culture.

The first professional baseball league was the national association, which had nine teams in 1871 and grew to 13 teams by 1875. However the national association did not last for long. The national replaced it in 1875. The players who owned the team managed the national league. However the national league was run by businessmen who could establish their own standards and policies. They had the power to set their own ticket prices, schedules and player contracts. The American association was set up in 1882. It was set up as a rival to the national league. This helped to reduce ticket prices and compete with teams in larger cities. There were a lot of leagues, which were set up. Some of them folded while the others merged with each other. The American baseball league suffered from a lot of problems, as the team owners did not pay their players properly. This resulted in players fixing their matches. A commissioner was appointed and the players who participated in the conspiracies were kicked from their teams. It was different in Japan, as the sport wasn't tainted. They still had a lot of talented players who believed in the spirit of team sport.

Stuck Writing Your "Japanese Baseball Players in U.S. Team" Term Paper?



However, in Japan baseball was quickly becoming the national sport with Tokyo's Big Six universities having the most talented players playing very competitive ball. The Japanese baseball league was first set up in 1936 by matsutaro shoriki. The number of teams grew to eight by 1937. The American league and Japanese league had similarities. The Japanese league had the same shape as a major league baseball league in the U.S. It also had two divisions and played the Japan series, which is the equaling to the World Series in America.

The rules of the game are almost the same in both countries. However there are some differences in their game. The first time Japanese players made their way into the American major league was when the nankai hawks sent some of them younger players to the San Francisco Giants in 1964. They wanted their players to gain some experience. One of the players who made an impact on the scene was masanori murakami. He was a left-handed pitcher who impressed the Giants. Due to an agreement between the two teams, the giants were able to buy out his contract. This led to an international incident where Japanese baseball officials threatened to blacklist murakami from playing in Japan if he played in the American league. After a lot of legal work, the matter was settled. Masanori made his debut against the Mets. He was twenty years old at that time. He pitched one inning at that time. He also won one and saved one with a 1.80 ETA that year. That year he also struck out 15 men in 15 winnings and walked 1. Due to effective negotiations, murakami was allowed to spend one year in the states to play baseball. He won 4 games, lost 1, saved 8 and struck out 85 men in 74 innings. However he did not remain in America very long due to homesickness and went back to Japan in 1965.

Hideki Matsui was an all-star member of the yomiuri giants in Japan......

Show More ⇣


     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Japanese Baseball Players In U S Team" (2004, December 15) Retrieved May 16, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/japanese-baseball-players-us-team-60487

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Japanese Baseball Players In U S Team" 15 December 2004. Web.16 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/japanese-baseball-players-us-team-60487>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Japanese Baseball Players In U S Team", 15 December 2004, Accessed.16 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/japanese-baseball-players-us-team-60487