Major League Baseball is still swimming in the success of the opening of the 2008 season in Japan. Sold out crowds packed the Tokyo Dome to watch the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox split the two game series with the Oakland Athletics. This is the third time that MLB has opened the season in the Land of the Rising Sun, beginning in 2000 with games between the Mets and the Cubs and again in 2004 with the Yankees and Devil Rays.
What may surprise most baseball fans is that these opening series are just a small representation of MLB’s presence in Japan. In fact, MLB players have been playing games there since 1986. The Major League Baseball Japan All Star Series, or in Japanese, 日米野球 (Nichibei yakyuu), pits a roster of MLB players against some of the best of the Japanese Professional Baseball League every two years. Five exhibition games are played in late November against the Japanese All Stars at various stadiums, as well as one or two games against Japanese professional teams, usually the Yomiuri Giants or Hanshin Tigers.
While studying abroad in Tokyo in 2006, I had a chance to catch one of the games at the Tokyo Dome. Like many other Americans, I had never heard of this series. I only managed to find out about it after reading a poster on a subway car. Much to my surprise, the MLB team consisted of several big name players, including Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, Jose Reyes of the New York Mets and John Lackey of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. They were managed by San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy. While no current Red Sox were on the team, the starting pitcher for the night was former Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo, dressed in his Cincinnati Reds uniform. The night also marked the return of Japanese players Kenji Johjima of Seattle and Tadahito Iguchi, then of the White Sox, to their home country, although this time, they were playing against their countrymen.
The games also give great insight into the immense talent of the players in the Japanese Professional League who may one day step into a major league uniform. Current Yankees pitcher Kei Igawa was a member of the squad, as well as young phenoms Yu Darvish, the ace of the 2006 Japan Series champion Nippon Ham Fighters, and Hideaki Wakui, the young star who has become the ace of the Seibu Lions since Daisuke Matsuzaka’s departure. Norichika Aoki, a member of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, was a starting outfielder and has been compared in skill to Ichiro Suzuki.
The Japanese crowd, which was sold out, looked genuinely excited to see players from the MLB and cheered more for an exciting game than for either side to win. Ryan Howard hit two home runs in the game, came close to a third, and was walked in his final at-bat, to a chorus of boos from the crowd who wanted their pitcher to give Howard a chance to belt another one. The jumbotrons display various team videos for both Japan and the MLB, including a humorous video in which Kenji Johjima asks fans how to spell his name. The same music that players come out to in America blares across the speakers for each at-bat. There are even mascots from MLB teams present.
With tickets ranging from around $30-$120, the venue is inexpensive for the amount of talent that will be seen on the field. Games are competitive, fast-paced and fun. So this November, if you happen to find yourself in Japan, keep an eye out for the most unknown but entertaining baseball series around: the Major League Baseball Japan All Star Series.
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