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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
FRED VARCOE
Japan Pro Baseball
After a chaotic 2004, it’s a whole new ball game
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| Courtesy of the Seibu
Lions |
Whoa! What’s this? Baseball gets exciting??!
It certainly has, but only by accident. Last year was the
most tumultuous year in the history of Japanese baseball,
but nearly all the action was off the field of play.
Things got off to an ominous start when the god of Japanese
baseball, Shigeo Nagashima, suffered a stroke. Then it was
announced that the Orix BlueWave were planning to merge with
the Kintetsu Buffaloes, reducing the number of professional
teams to 11. Rumors started that Daiei and Lotte (or was it
Seibu?) were also planning to merge. Meanwhile, upstart internet
entrepreneur Takafumi Horie declared he was forming a pro
team in Sendai and demanded entry into the league. The decrepit
bunch of owners who rule Japanese baseball refused to have
anything to do with Horie and said they were planning to resort
to a 10-team, single league.
Soon things got really dirty. Hiroshi Mikitani of online-retailer
Rakuten said he was going to form a pro team in Sendai. Rumors
flew that he was being aided by Tsuneo Watanabe, the curmudgeonly
ex-Giants boss. Watanabe had virtually ruled the game in Japan
through his Yomiuri team but had curiously stepped down from
his post in August after it was revealed that the Giants had
made an under-the-table offer for a young player (hardly a
new offense). Tigers Chairman Shunjiro Kuma and President
Katsuyoshi Nozaki, as well as Yokohama BayStars Chairman Yukio
Sunahara, also stepped down soon after.
As if being beaten by Australia in the Olympics wasn’t
bad enough, baseball ground to a halt on September 18 and
19 as players union leader Atsuya Furuta of the Yakult Swallows
called a strike, saying that the owners were trying to run/ruin
the game at their expense and that the players should have
a say in what goes on. It was a sensational move, and the
owners blinked first. Baseball came back, agreed not to reduce
the number of teams, and awarded—surprise, surprise—a
franchise in Sendai to Rakuten.
The Eagles had landed, and they appointed a gaijin general
manager—none other than The Japan Times sports columnist
Marty Kuenhert. (In his defense, Marty knows more about baseball
than The Japan Times knows about publishing newspapers.)
The Seibu Lions’ clash with the Chunichi Dragons in the
Japan Series was almost forgotten among the banner headlines.
But it shouldn’t be. It was a classic, with the resurgent
Lions running out 4-3 winners over Hiromitsu Ochiai’s
Dragons by winning the last two games in Nagoya.
But the Japan Series was just a blip before more scandal hit
the headlines. This time, it was over Hisashi Iwakuma, the
Kintetsu Buffaloes’ ace pitcher. Iwakuma said he had
no intention of playing for the newly formed Orix Buffaloes
and was off to the Eagles in Sendai. After a brief but acrimonious
tug-of-war, the owners blinked again and Iwakuma headed for
Sendai. Finally (I use that word with caution), with the season
less than a month away, Seibu Lions supremo Yoshiaki Tsutsumi
was arrested on suspicion of fraud.
The sad thing is that all this scandal has overshadowed the
game, which really is at a turning point. Both players and
owners realize it can’t rest on its laurels. Japanese
baseball needs to modernize, it needs to sort out an equitable
draft/free-agent system, and it needs to realize that the
game itself might have to become more fan-friendly. It’s
now a trans-Pacific sport, and it has to adapt to this reality.
New franchises, new owners and new players will make a difference
but new attitudes will make a more fundamental change.
It’s not a new sport, but perhaps 2005 will see a whole
new ball game in Japan.
The Pacific League kicks off on March
26, while Central League action starts on April 1.
Would you like to comment on this article? Send a letter
to the editor at letters@metropolis.co.jp.
Discuss sports
with METROPOLIS readers at http://forum.japantoday.com
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