With eye on Asia, MLB looks to future
New York Yankees starting pitcher Wang Chien-Ming throws a pitch to the Baltimore Orioles in their American League game in New York's Yankee Stadium on September 27, 2006. Reuters |
There is, however, a far less publicised development in the story of the growing Asian influence on Major League Baseball (MLB) which may have a great impact on the sport's future.
The China National Team are testing themselves against minor leaguers in Arizona spring training as part of their preparation for the 2008 Olympics and MLB officials see China as an important partner in the global growth of their game.
"The really good opportunity for us in Asia is going to be in China," Jim Small, MLB's vice president of international market development said in a telephone interview while doing business in India.
Small predicts that a treasure trove of talent is waiting to be discovered within China's 1.3 billion population.
"They look at baseball as an Asian sport. They want our help because they want to beat the Japanese, the Taiwanese, the Koreans. Rivalry is great. That's going to help grow baseball," added Small, who is based in Japan.
"In Japan, baseball is still the number one sport and it is growing by leaps and bounds in Asia, particularly in places like Taiwan and Korea."
The 26-year-old Matsuzaka, revered at home since his heroics as a high school player and the MVP for World Baseball Classic winners Japan, is Boston's latest weapon in the East Division fight against the Yankees.
Feeding the competitive fires with him in the American League this season are Yankees lefty starter Kei Igawa and Tampa Bay power-hitting infielder Akinori Iwamura.
Japanese imports
The trio are the latest big Japanese imports to hit the majors since hurler Hideo Nomo burst on to the scene with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, 30 years after Masanori Murakami became the first Japanese-born major leaguer as a reliever for the San Francisco Giants.
Nomo was an instant sensation, leading the National League with 236 strikeouts in 191.3 innings while yielding just 124 hits. He was an All Star and Rookie of the Year and went on to toss two no-hitters in the majors.
In Nomo's wake came other celebrated Japanese, notably Ichiro Suzuki, who in 2004 broke the major league single season record with 262 hits for the Seattle Mariners, and slugger Hideki Matsui with the New York Yankees.
South Koreans Park Chan-ho and Kim Byung-hyun also made their mark and the Yanks found a key starter in Wang Chien-ming of Taiwan, who tied the major league lead with 19 wins last season.
"With Wang pitching so well for the Yankees we're seeing a huge resurgence in Taiwan," said Small. "The great thing about Major League Baseball is that it's all comers. We don't put in any limits. Our fans and our teams want the best players.
"That's why in New York our teams don't care if (Hideki) Matsui is from Japan or Wang is from Taiwan or (Jorge) Posada is from Puerto Rico or (Robinson) Cano is from the Dominican Republic. You don't care. Mariano (Rivera) is from Panama. It doesn't matter. He's a Yankee.
"Clubs will continue to look and there will definitely be more players from Asia."
There are expected to be some 20 Asian-born players on big-league rosters this season, up from 12 in 2005 and five in 1999. In the minors in 2006 there were 13 Taiwanese, nine Japanese and eight South Koreans.
Players born outside the United States represented 27.4 percent of those on 2006 Opening Day rosters from 15 countries and territories. The Dominican Republic, with 85 players, produced the most, while Venezuela was next with 43.
Chinese team
A new stream of players could come one day from the Chinese mainland.
Under the direction of former major leaguers Jim Lefebvre, as manager, and pitching coach Bruce Hurst, the Chinese team have been preparing for the Beijing Games.
After the minor league clubs break camp, most of the 35 Team China players will join nine MLB organisations for two more weeks of training.
"Collectively, we're not ready to compete with these teams on a day-to-day basis," Lefebvre told MLB.com. "If our players go play with better players and see how they train, it will broaden their view."
After the extended training the Chinese will gather in Arizona to discuss their experiences.
"Our kids are getting better, they really are," said Lefebvre. "They just need to play with and be around better players. They also need to play more games every year. We'd like to play 200 games between now and the Olympics."
Since being hired four years ago to build China's baseball program, Lefebvre has seen progress.
He mentioned Qi Ze, a 22-year-old first baseman with power. "He can hit a ball nine miles," Lefebvre said.
The Yankees and San Diego Padres have already travelled to China to set up working arrangements there.
"We're going to be spending a lot of time over the next couple of years trying to develop talent," Small said. "I think the future is China. That is the sleeping giant of baseball."
Agencies
(China Daily 03/29/2007 page23)
