CHRONICLES: Japanese Baseball Needs To Learn Fair Play
Wednesday, October 3, 2001
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Shortly after Yomiuri Giants manager Shigeo Nagashima, "Old No. 3," announced his retirement and Ichiro broke Major League Baseball's 90-year old rookie hits record, the Japanese Professional Baseball commissioner issued a somewhat surprising statement that it was "unfair" that the Daiei Hawks pitched around Kintetsu Buffalo slugger Tuffy Rhodes to prevent him from breaking the single-season home run record.
The only player other than Rhodes to hit 55 home runs in a season is Sadaharu Oh, who just happens to be the manager of the Daiei club. If, as has been reported, the free passes given to Rhodes were based on instructions from Daiei pitching coaches "out of respect for their manager," it could be seen as respect for their superiors.
Even so, it is a far cry from a fighting spirit based on fair play. Could it be that this type of baseball, the main objective of which is to keep records from being broken, is a symbol of Japanese professional baseball, which is under pressure as its biggest stars jump to the major leagues?
Of course, intentional walks, bunts and base stealing are all spelled out in the rule book. But even Ichiro and Tsuyoshi Shinjo have at times been befuddled during their breakout seasons this year by the unwritten rules of Major League Baseball.
For instance, it is considered taboo for a base runner to steal a base when his team is winning by a large margin, or for a batter to pump his fists and taunt the pitcher after hitting a home run. Such unwritten rules reflect the spirit of America's pioneer era.
Once upon a time, Japan also had an unwritten code of ethics governing battles and competitions known as "bushido," or the way of the warrior. In his book "Bushido," Inazo Nitobe explains that, "If battles had been conducted only under the rules of engagement and had not been supported by a higher code of ethics, the samurai ideal would have collapsed into something far short of 'bushido.'"
Ironically, this spirit of fair play, which Nitobe introduced to the world 100 years ago, is now being taught to the Japanese by American baseball.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Wednesday morning edition) |
