NakamuraBaseball's International Rock Paper Scissors
Rock. Paper. Scissors. Says. Shoot! Oh damn it! Paper beats rock, you beat me. Though I never understood why paper beats rock... I can hit you over the head with a rock but what will you do? Paper-cut me?
Anyways, there's a rock-paper-scissors in baseball as well. But it occurs nationally. USA, Latin America and Japan. USA is Rock, Latin America is Paper and Japan is Scissors. I'll explain how this all works in a minute. (NOTE: When I say "USA", I do not mean Major League Baseball. I mean players who are from the United States of America, such as the members of the World Baseball Classic team)
When Ichiro Suzuki arrived in the United States, skeptics were everywhere. "Japanese baseball is like AAA baseball". "He can't and won't be able to hit the advanced pitching in the MLB". The comments were endless. But he proved them wrong. But after Ichiro, there haven't been many superstars. Hideki Matsui was an all star, but nowhere near the player that he once was in Japan. And Daisuke Matsuzaka was supposed to be the best of the East. Sure, you could mention the fact that he did have a season where he went 18-3 with a sub-3 ERA, but he has been a disappointment for Boston so far. So what does this mean? Is Japanese baseball really like AAA baseball?
Anybody who's seen one game of Japanese baseball knows how different it is from the MLB. The way it's played is just unique. More running, more bunting, less home runs. If you looked at the sports section of a Japanese newspaper, you'd see an article about how the pitcher was really feeling his changeup that day. Or about how a hitter got the game winning RBI because he drove the ball opposite field instead of trying to pull a slider. That's what the game is. It's played with far more class. It's played for the love of the game, not to sell tickets. Go ahead and look at the sports section of an American paper. You won't see it everyday, but it's likely you'll see a picture of an athlete getting arrested. Or a story about drugs. Or family abuse. It's the same sport, but two completely different games.
In Japan, the pitchers have large windups. Why? Because Japanese people tend to be smaller than American people. Ichiro has never weighed 200 pounds before. So the pitchers need to generate all the velocity they can get. As a result of the long windup, the batters take longer to shift their weight. After all, the pitcher is offering them the time to load, why not generate as much power into your swing as possible?
But once you go to America, that disappears. The pitchers waste no time, and there's definitely no pause in the middle of a delivery. Consequently,
Japanese hitters have to scramble in order to make up for the time lost. They need more time for their swings in Japan to work. That's why American hitters can hit in Japan but it doesn't work as well vice versa. It's not because of the level of play. But rather because the adaptability is difficult. It's easier to wait back on a pitch then to try to catch up.
Japan has had enormous amounts of success against Latin American countries such as Cuba in the Olympics (when they were still around). But many Latin Americans have gone on to have great success in America. Why? Because Paper beats Rock. The Americans have quick deliveries, but the Hispanic people were better athletes to begin with. Put it like a card game with statistics for abilities. This is what it would look like:
USA: Mechanics = 5/10
Strength = 5/10
Japan: Mechanics = 10/10
Strength = 0/10
Latin America: Mechanics = 0/10
Strength = 10/10
Now, of course, this isn't completely accurate. In fact, they're meaningless numbers. But I used it to give you an idea of how different the game is. Latin America try to overpower the opponent. People like Aroldis Chapman, Vladimir Guererro and Jose Reyes weren't brought into the MLB system
because of their mechanics. They got contract because they can throw 103 mph, hit 500 ft bombs, and run to first before you could blink. The Hispanics that were brought over to America to play baseball all had freakish athletic abilities. No one was every brought over for mechanical reasons. On the other hand, the Japanese are all mechanical. You can't get 200 hits for 10 seasons consecutively any other way. And America is right in the middle. Since America is such a large country, they have a large pool of players to choose from. They have some players with great strength and some with great mechanics. It's a blend.
So go ahead and choose Rock Paper or Scissors. It's your choice, but the odds of winning are always equal. Don't think about who's "better than". Think about the uniqueness of the game. So many team sports are played at an international level. But it stays the same. Hockey is hockey. Basketball is basketball. None of them have cultural changes depending on where the game is being played. Accept that baseball has become so deep that it has developed it's own culture. Appreciate it. It's truly beautiful how a game can be played in so many styles, so sit back and enjoy something so special while you can. Cause with the rate players are transferring from one league to another, it may not last forever.
Anyways, there's a rock-paper-scissors in baseball as well. But it occurs nationally. USA, Latin America and Japan. USA is Rock, Latin America is Paper and Japan is Scissors. I'll explain how this all works in a minute. (NOTE: When I say "USA", I do not mean Major League Baseball. I mean players who are from the United States of America, such as the members of the World Baseball Classic team)
When Ichiro Suzuki arrived in the United States, skeptics were everywhere. "Japanese baseball is like AAA baseball". "He can't and won't be able to hit the advanced pitching in the MLB". The comments were endless. But he proved them wrong. But after Ichiro, there haven't been many superstars. Hideki Matsui was an all star, but nowhere near the player that he once was in Japan. And Daisuke Matsuzaka was supposed to be the best of the East. Sure, you could mention the fact that he did have a season where he went 18-3 with a sub-3 ERA, but he has been a disappointment for Boston so far. So what does this mean? Is Japanese baseball really like AAA baseball?
Ichiro Suzuki
Anybody who's seen one game of Japanese baseball knows how different it is from the MLB. The way it's played is just unique. More running, more bunting, less home runs. If you looked at the sports section of a Japanese newspaper, you'd see an article about how the pitcher was really feeling his changeup that day. Or about how a hitter got the game winning RBI because he drove the ball opposite field instead of trying to pull a slider. That's what the game is. It's played with far more class. It's played for the love of the game, not to sell tickets. Go ahead and look at the sports section of an American paper. You won't see it everyday, but it's likely you'll see a picture of an athlete getting arrested. Or a story about drugs. Or family abuse. It's the same sport, but two completely different games.
In Japan, the pitchers have large windups. Why? Because Japanese people tend to be smaller than American people. Ichiro has never weighed 200 pounds before. So the pitchers need to generate all the velocity they can get. As a result of the long windup, the batters take longer to shift their weight. After all, the pitcher is offering them the time to load, why not generate as much power into your swing as possible?
But once you go to America, that disappears. The pitchers waste no time, and there's definitely no pause in the middle of a delivery. Consequently,
Japan has had enormous amounts of success against Latin American countries such as Cuba in the Olympics (when they were still around). But many Latin Americans have gone on to have great success in America. Why? Because Paper beats Rock. The Americans have quick deliveries, but the Hispanic people were better athletes to begin with. Put it like a card game with statistics for abilities. This is what it would look like:
USA: Mechanics = 5/10
Strength = 5/10
Japan: Mechanics = 10/10
Strength = 0/10
Latin America: Mechanics = 0/10
Strength = 10/10
Now, of course, this isn't completely accurate. In fact, they're meaningless numbers. But I used it to give you an idea of how different the game is. Latin America try to overpower the opponent. People like Aroldis Chapman, Vladimir Guererro and Jose Reyes weren't brought into the MLB system
Aroldis Chapman
So go ahead and choose Rock Paper or Scissors. It's your choice, but the odds of winning are always equal. Don't think about who's "better than". Think about the uniqueness of the game. So many team sports are played at an international level. But it stays the same. Hockey is hockey. Basketball is basketball. None of them have cultural changes depending on where the game is being played. Accept that baseball has become so deep that it has developed it's own culture. Appreciate it. It's truly beautiful how a game can be played in so many styles, so sit back and enjoy something so special while you can. Cause with the rate players are transferring from one league to another, it may not last forever.
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