In the 1930’s American all-star teams would come over to Japan to play a host of good will games. These games started in October of 1931. The U.S. all-star team played against Japanese university A11-star teams, as well as others. The Americans won all 17 games. Because of there defeat the government of Japan decide to establish their own professional teams in 1934. In 1936 the first professional game was played.

The game as it is today in Japan started in 1950. Railway companies, newspaper organizations, and other corporations own major league teams. There are two leagues with six teams each. The Central League is made up of the Chunichi Drago

Even with the best agents, however, it can still be difficult to find a job in Japan. Many players who can't get into Japan sign with Taiwanese teams, hoping to be noticed by Japanese scouts. If a foreign player doesn't work out with a Japanese team, they will send a scout to Taiwan to look for a replacement. Probably the least successful way to get a tryout with a Japanese team is to contact them yourself. In the past, some players have sent videotapes to teams, but only a small number have been successful with this approach. This approach is frowned upon by many of the Japanese teams.

In my opinion the strangest rule in Japanese baseball is the foreign player rule.

During the draft the first round is basically meaning less. Each team will chose a player and if each team selects a different player than every thing is ok. If two or more teams choose the same player than a lottery is done to see were that player goes. After the first round all selections in the draft are chosen like the way it is done in the major leagues. The team with the worst record chooses first and so on. There is no set number of rounds on draft day, which is usually in November. The draft goes on until know one want any more players. Last year it only went twelve rounds. In Japanese baseball it is against the rules to draft a player with the intent to trade him to another team. This rule was made because of a player named Suguru Egawa.

Japanese baseball has a different atmosphere than it dose in the states. Just about every game is sold out. When you ask any Japanese male what he likes to do for leisure time his answer is usually watch baseball. These statements were all true about 3 years ago. In the last few years the Japanese have lost interest in the once great game. Many of japans best players are leaving to play in the U.S. They leave because they seek more money and a greater challenge. Attendance at Japanese parks is down this year along with television ratings. To make thing worse the Japanese economy is in shambles. To make thing worse more of there best players a rumored to be heading to the U.S. Many teams are having free autograph days and other extras to get fans to come to the ballparks. (http://www.bigempire.com/sake/jbaseball.html)

Japanese teams want foreign players who will fill holes in their roster. Japanese players generally are strong on defense and good at contact hitting. But, because they don't lift weights like players in America, not many of them lack power and only hit 10 to 15 homeruns. Because of this, teams look for foreign players who can hit home runs if a player is a fast base runner or is good with a glove, that's an added benefit, but usually not the selling point. Teams also want players who can adjust to Japanese pitchers. In America the most widely used pitch is the fastball, this is not so in Japan. Japanese pitchers will usually run up a full count on breaking balls and rarely throw fastballs down the middle of the plate. Because of this a player who is a contact hitter has much more success in Japan.

Some topics in this essay:
York It's, Japan United, Braves Lions, Dave Nilsson, Lighter Lions, Giants Nagashima, English Tokyo, Major League, Major Leagues, Ichrio Suzuki, foreign players, japanese teams, major league, japanese baseball, major leagues, yomiuri giants, blue wave, japanese players, baseball japan, hiroshima carp, chiba lotte marines, own professional teams, orix blue wave, players japanese teams, foreign player rule,