Everything else you said is very true though!

1. Scale. NPB, while big and popular, is simply not as big as at least three of the four major US sports (for the NHL, it depends on where you are – Toronto is a lot different from Fort Lauderdale, for example.) Most players would be recognized only by rather regular baseball-watchers.

2. Demographics. Security is just not as big a concern – violent crime is exceedingly rare and threatening stalking of male professional athletes, while it probably occurs, is rare enough that it doesn’t seem players or teams are all that worried.

3. Culture. In most cases, Japanese fans seem too shy (for lack of a better word) to do much more than say hello and offer a bit of encouragement if they do approach.

4. Opportunity. Because of the three prior factors, players at many stadia will walk between clubhouse and stadium, etc. with minimal security, thus giving fans an opportunity to approach players. Likewise, big as Tokyo is, with so many teams here, near here, or traveling through here, there are perhaps more chances to run into a player by chance, esp. a single guy (more likely to be out in the evening.)

5. Attitude. It seems to be more drilled into players here that their job is to entertain the fans. Perhaps some sort of mixture of that and culture leads to players being less likely to see fans as a nuisance or leads players to see themselves less as celebrities.

6. The players one sees. As with the US, the bigger the star, the less likely he is to be out and accessible. You’re less likely to run into Aoki than Kajimoto, for example.

Anyhow..I have a lot of respect for fans who are not afraid to state their opinions instead of fans who are told by “ouendan” or the team how to have an opinion. To me you guys are the real fans. Keep up the good fight.

Takada is a knuckle head. Growing up in Japan and having lived here for many years, I can say from my own personal experience. There are many knuckle heads in this country!

This D’Antona drama seems complicated. Takada probably has no sense of humour who has been indoctrinated in the Showa era when Japan was a highly rigid place with no room for opinions and then comes D’Antona who is a free spirited young player. And then..bang! A clash of ideas and mind set. It is too bad when this happens. However more often than not, it is the player who lose. If there really is a severe conflict, D’Antona is fighting a losing battle. I hope D’Antona can stay strong and keep his cool as I want to see him playing for the Swallows for many years to come. He got my support!

Nice. Really nice.

At least Takada didn’t deactivate Jamie, BUT, it is sounding more and more like a de facto deactivation. I love NPB, but, man, some of these managers are just bone-headed doofuses who would rather LOSE than to lose face. If you really want to know what I think is going on is this:

Giants/Tigers/Dragons all will get their usual sell-outs.

Swallows/Carp/Baystars MIGHT see a little bump in attendance based upon a winning record. For example, even with the Swallows competing for a playoff spot, attendance has been its usual, spotty self. The owners say ‘see, if weren’t not the Giants/Tigers/Dragons or playing the Giants/Tigers/Dragons…attendance is virtually identical. Better not rock the clubhouse boat, let the manager have full ride….but to make sure we don’t piss off the really loyal fans, we’ll play a little Kabuki-theatre by firing/kicking the former manager upstairs.’

The only teams that show wild swings in attendance based upon winning % are Nippon Ham and MAYBE Chiba (surprisingly attendance has been extremely good for them) and/or Rakuten.

Orix – doesn’t matter what they do, attendance sux.
Seibu – see Orix (although this year after improving the Seibu dump, attendance seems to have risen….last year even as Japan Series Champs they saw pretty weak regular season attendance);
Softbank – always draws well, no matter what.
Rakuten – has seen a slight bump in attendance this year, but even so, not that big a bump considering that this is their first year as a playoff team in Sendai.

So, not surprising that Nomura did virtually the exact same thing to one of his suketto’s. Really, really lame.

Is this Little League or Professional Baseball????

Doesn’t this seem contrary to the team motto of “Just Play To Win”??????

You asked WTF is D’Antona? I for one certainly hope the answer will be – In the starting lineup for the Swallows in the CS and in 2010 and in the years to come

Or, you guys could just be lucky, which is more likely the case.

I was walking back to gaienmae station after the first victory against tigers and me and my friend were walking along side jamie as he stormed down the road to get a taxi. This was about 20 mins after the game had finished and he was gone. After a brief chat with my mate. It was very clear that takada does not want jamie around. Jamie wants to stay but it won’t be up to him, was the jist of the convo.

So there you go…

Let’s hope he can perform tonight and tomorrow (if he gets a chance) so that he Takada has no choice but to put keep him in the lineup for next weekend.

I can cut Takada a little slack because he has had his hands full with injuries and whatnot, but I agree – a lot of his moves have been perplexing, and his favoritism for players he brought with him from the Fighters has been embarrassing.

More perplexing has been the extent of the injuries to younger pitchers in the ni-gun, guys who were supposed to make an impact this year. Tateyama has stepped up as a star, but I don’t think anyone was expecting that at the start of the year. Are there training issues? Strength and conditioning issues? Overuse in the ni-gun? I don’t understand, but to have this many young guys injured this often suggests something is wrong.

1,000 points to y’all for not bugging Jamie during his private time, and 1,000 points to him for being nice. I hope he’s in the TYS line-up this year and I hope he’s back next year, but more than that, I hope wherever he is he’s getting treated properly.