Tag: robert

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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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By Robert Whiting (2014) Americans have been giving advice to Japanese pitchers about how to treat their arms for decades. When I first arrived in the 1960s, a Kintetsu Buffaloes pitcher named Glen Mickens, a former major leaguer from Los Angeles, made news when he wrote a letter published in both English and Japanese language…

Reporter’s Notebook – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2011) On a recent visit to the Oakland Coliseum, to see the Athletics host the Seattle Mariners, I had a long conversation with a security guard there who has worked at the ballpark for many years and has watched many MLB games. He offered me these insights about Ichiro and Seattle: “I…

The Last Stand of Kei Igawa – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2011) There should be a picture of Kei Igawa in the dictionary under “persistence.” Since signing a five-year, $20 million contract in 2007 with the New York Yankees (who paid another $26 million to the Hanshin Tigers of the Central League for the right to negotiate with the team’s left-handed ace), Igawa…

Whither Hideki Matsui? – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2009) The more one thinks about the accomplishments of Hideki Matsui in the World Series, the more remarkable they become. Not only did he win the MVP with a performance of power that put him in the pantheon of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and Reggie Jackson, he also accomplished something that a…

Upside Down – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2009) It used to be, many, many years ago, that aging MLB stars would come to Japan for one last big, fat paycheck. Those of you older readers might recall the days of Gary Thomasson, the multi-million dollar “Giants Human Fan,” who signed a big money deal for Kyojin and delivered mediocre…

Super Rookie Yusei Kikuchi – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2009) One of the big differences between baseball in Japan and baseball in the U.S. is that in the former, 19-year-old high school pitching stars are the subject of intense, nationwide scrutiny, while in the US, they are virtually ignored. The only amateur baseball star to get mass media scrutiny that remotely…

Strike Three – Yukan Fuji

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By Robert Whiting (2009) As many of you vividly recall, Ichiro Suzuki was thrown out of a game late in the season for arguing a called third strike, the first ejection in his entire baseball playing career. According to present MLB custom, it is absolutely forbidden to argue judgement calls—which include called balls and strikes—so…

Hard Luck Ichiro – Yukan Fuji

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