Tag: baseball

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By Robert Whiting (2017) How tall are you? If Americans don’t seem to be as tall as they used to be, there is good reason for that. According to a study by the journal eLife last year, Americans haven’t actually grown very much during the past half century—only about 2 inches. The average height for…

WBC 2017 – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2017) The 4th World Baseball Classic is now upon us. The first and second rounds will be held in Tokyo at the Tokyo Dome, and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred will be attending. And despite reports that MLB is considering dropping the WBC, indications from the Commissioner’s office are that it will continue…

Commissioner Manfred – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2017) I recently had the pleasure of moderating a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club for Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, who visited Japan on the occasion of the first and second rounds of the 4th World Baseball Classic, a tournament created by MLB to spur international interest in the…

Ichiko-YCAC 120th Anniversary – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2016) Do you know your baseball history? If you do, then you will know there is an important anniversary coming up—an anniversary of a historically important event in the history of baseball in Japan, and an anniversary of a historic event in the history of Japan-America relations as well. Don’t know? Well…

Kyojin “Gentlemen” Gamblers – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2016) After an extensive in-house “investigation” last year, 3 farm team players were found to have been involved in gambling on the Yomiuri Giants and banned from the game indefinitely. We were assured that was it—there was nobody else involved. Then, just recently, however, we discovered there was a fourth player who…

Useless All-Star Games: Revised – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2014) The MLB All-Star Game used to be a great event. It was the focus of great nationwide attention in the United States and also has had special meaning for fans in Japan, dating back to 1995, when Hideo Nomo was selected to start the mid-season all-star game of that year. But…

Adjustment – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2014) Playing baseball in a foreign country is not an easy thing to do. There are a lot of adjustments that must be made. In the case of foreigners playing in Japan, the adjustment is to longer spring camps, harder training, and a wider strike zone during games. For pitchers, it is…

Tie Games – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2014) I am not a big fan of tie games. They may be necessary in games like soccer where the nature of the sport makes it nearly impossible to score a goal. But in baseball, no thank you. Like most baseball fans in North America, I prefer games played all the way…

Soccer vs Baseball – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2014) Thoughts at the conclusion of the World Cup I don’t really like soccer. Now that the World Cup Tournament has finished and the frenzy has subsided, I feel free to tell you that I think there is something fundamentally off-putting about it. Every game seems the same: 90 minutes of endless…

A Little Advice – Yukan Fuji

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