With the world literally watching this year's version of the Fall Classic, it is probably fitting that 2007 will mark the third season in a row that a player from Japan will win a World Series ring.  In 2006, OF So Taguchi was part of the St. Louis team that took the title.  In 2005, 2B Tadahito Iguchi was part of the victorious White Sox club.  And with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima on the Red Sox roster and Kaz Matsui on the Rockies' payroll, no matter which of this year's World Series participants prevails that trend will continue.

 

Though this may not seem like a particularly noteworthy item now, you don't have to go back very far to realize that having a Japanese player on any MLB roster, let alone that player being a key part of a championship team, was more oddity than sound personnel strategy.  Hideo Nomo's MLB debut with the Dodgers in 1995 marked the first time a Japanese player had appeared in the big leagues in 30 years.  Ichiro Suzuki's arrival in the US in 2001 marked the first time a position player from Japan had appeared at the MLB level, ever.

 

  

Of course, baseball is nothing new to Japan.  It has, over the course of several decades, become as much a part of their cultural fabric as it has to ours.  Though some of the particulars differ between American and Japanese baseball - MLB's 162-game schedule versus the Japanese League's 130-game schedule, the "small-ball" philosophy practiced in Japan from the very start of games, the sometimes brutal level of effort demanded of Japanese players during practice - the game itself is still principally the same.  And the evolution of playing ability in the Japanese Leagues eventually led to Japanese players dotting MLB rosters without anyone batting an eye.

 

However, I sometimes wonder how the shape of our game might have been different had that influx occurred sooner.  As it is, I think the recent internationalization of MLB has been a positive thing.  The different styles and philosophies of players from all over the globe have added a richness to the sport that seems to transcend the game.

 

With that in mind, I again wondered about the predecessors of Ichiro and Nomo and what it would have been like to see them in the major leagues...

 

Catcher - Katsuya Nomura (1954-1980) - Nankai Hawks, Lotte Orions, Seibu Lions

 

Nomura was Japan's greatest power-hitting catcher and finished his career with 657 homers, second only to the great Sadaharu Oh on the All-time list.   In 1963, he hit a career-high 52 HR with 135 RBI.  However, it was his "Iron Man" persona that trumped even those impressive power numbers.  Nomura played for 27 seasons and caught over 2,900 games.  He was absolutely tireless behind the plate, often catching both games of a doubleheader.  He simply refused to come out of the games, and his teams were better off for it.  

1st Base - Sadaharu Oh (1959-1980) - Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants

 

The number is really quite remarkable - 868 career home runs.  Factor in the 130-game seasons, and the total is even more stunning.  Oh was unquestionably Japan's greatest player, and his distinctive batting stance made him even more memorable.  Balancing on one leg like a samurai warrior coiled to strike, he was a picture of iron-clad concentration.  Outside of his lethal ability at the plate, he was also a slick-fielding 1B who won 9 Gold Gloves.  Oh was such a force in Japanese baseball that he led his team to 11 championships, nine consecutive in one stretch, and won 9 MVP awards.  In one of his greatest seasons, 1973, he hit .355 with 51 homers, 114 RBI, and 124 walks.  For the year, his slugging average was .755 and his on-base percentage .500.  While there are those who debate the viability of home run total and what that number would have been at the MLB level, such a debate misses the greater point.  Oh was a remarkable player who would have been a star, if not a record holder, anywhere in the world.   

3rd Base - Shigeo Nagashima (1958-1974) - Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants

 

Nagashima played Gehrig to Oh's Ruth and teamed with the legendary slugger to give the Giants an unbreakable middle of the order duo in the 1960's and 70's.  While he couldn't match Oh's sheer power (no one in Japan could or has since), Nagashima was, nonetheless, a dangerous player in his own right.  A career .305 hitter over 17 seasons, the gritty 3B finished his brilliant career with 444 career homers.  In 1963, he enjoyed his finest season, swatting 37 homers with 112 RBI and a .341 average.  Though not known for his speed, he also swiped 16 bases that year, to boot.  In Ted Williams-esque style, he homered in his final game and retired with one of the greatest careers in league history.  

Outfield - Isao Harimoto (1959-1981) - Toei Flyers/Fighters, Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants, Lotte Orions

 

Harimoto is the only player in Japanese baseball history to reach 3,000 career hits.  He was also a picture of balance as a hitter - a .319 career average, 504 homers, and 319 steals.  High average, good speed, and terrific power, what's not to like?  

Outfield - Yutaka Fukumoto (1968-1988)

 

As Japan's greatest base stealer, Fukumoto finished his 21-year career with 1,065 stolen bases.  In 1972, he topped the 100-steal mark by swiping 106 bases.  And he wasn't helpless at the plate, either, finishing his career with a .291 average and 208 homers.  However, steals were his trademark.  Again, the question is not whether or not he would have achieved the same staggering total in the US, but rather whether or not his raw skills would have translated to MLB success.  His impressive speed and baserunning instincts seem to indicate that they would.  

Outfield - Wally Yonamine (1951-1962) - Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants, Chunichi Dragons

 

The Hawaiian-born Yonamine was actually a pro football player in the US before he ever drew a salary for his ability on the diamond in Japan.  In 1947, he played halfback and defensive back for the San Francisco 49ers, running for 74 yards on 19 carries and recording an interception on defense.  With MLB struggling with its own integration, Yonamine broke a little ground of his own.  He was just the third foreign-born player ever to play in Japan, and fans didn't let him forget it.  Despite the jeers, he played the game with a healthy dose of his football background front and center.  Aggressive at the plate, on the bases, and in the field, the Giants' hard-nosed leadoff man ultimately earned some respect and acceptance.  He also finished his career with a .311 average, 163 steals, three consecutive batting titles, and induction into the Japan Hall of Fame in 1994.  

Starting Pitcher - Masaichi Kaneda (1950-1969) - Kokutetsu/Yakult Swallows, Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants

 

The left-handed Kaneda was Japan's winningest pitcher, finishing his brilliant career with exactly 400 wins.  He also won three straight Sawamura Awards (the Japanese equivalent of MLB's Cy Young Award) from 1956-1958.   In the final year of that trilogy, 1958, he had eye-popping numbers - a 31-14 record, 1.30 ERA, and 311 strikeouts in just over 332 innings pitched.  In fact, Kaneda is also Japan's all-time strikeout leader as well, fanning 4,490 batters over his 20-year career.   

 

  

While it has been exciting to watch players like Ichiro and Nomo establish a solid history for Japanese players at the MLB level and that such a history now allows others to play for baseball's greatest prize, it would have been nice if that history would have extended a little further to include just a few more players, particularly a power-hitting phenomenon who could literally hit standing on one leg.

 

Sources:

http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Katsuya_Nomura_1934

http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/ohsactuals.htm

http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/careerb.htm

http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/careerp.htm

http://www.baywell.ne.jp/users/drlatham/baseball/yakult/paststr/kaneda.htm

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/STL/2006.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CHW/2005.shtml

http://www.time.com/time/asia/2006/heroes/ae_oh.html

http://www.500hrc.com/honoraries/sadaharuOh.html

http://starbulletin.com/2004/01/21/sports/story1.html

http://www.databasefootball.com/players/playerpage.htm?ilkid=YONAMWAL01

http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/sawamura.htm