The meaning of Ichiro : the new wave from Japan and the transformation of our national pastime
"In his classic bestseller You Gotta Have Wa, Robert Whiting wrote extensively about the startling cultural clash that occurred when aging American major leaguers, in search of one last payday at the end of their careers, found their way to Japan's professional baseball leagues. By most accounts, the Japanese talent level was considered to be a step down in competition from Major League Baseball." "But times have changed, and so has the migration of talent. These days it's the American major league teams that are scouring the Japanese leagues in search of top-level ballplayers. And in this new book, Whiting writes about this extraordinary cultural role reversal, and how our national pastime has been influenced and changed forever." "Ichiro ... Nomo ... Sasaki ... Hasegawa ... Hideki Matsui ... one by one they have come to America and made their mark - not as novelty items but as incredibly gifted ballplayers whose skills and styles have defied critics and earned the admiration of millions of fans. Led by the charismatic, whippet-like right fielder for the Seattle Mariners, Ichiro Suzuki, whom many refer to as baseball's best all-around player, this new wave of athlete is the tip of a fascinating iceberg: a deep and very different tradition of baseball the Japanese way. From the cultural concept of wa ("group harmony") to the training regimens practiced by the Japanese players, Robert Whiting shows why more and more players from Japan will be coming to America - and how they are changing the way our game is played." "Besides Ichiro himself, this book chronicles the personal trials and triumphs of such stars as Hideki Matsui, Hideo Nomo, Kazuhiro Sasaki, and many others, including Japanese all-star shortstop Kaz Matsui, who was recently signed by the New York Mets. It examines the misconceptions many Americans have had about Japanese players and looks at current young players destined for stardom. It also offers a lively account of Bobby Valentine's amazingly vexing experiences in trying to apply traditional American baseball strategies while managing the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan's Pacific League."--Jacket
Biography
xvii, 318 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
9780446531924, 0446531928
53919021
The education of Ichiro
The meaning of Ichiro
Some history and some philosophy
Accidental pioneer
The defector
Darth Vader, the fat toad, and Alfonso Soriano
Gaijin
Gaijin kantoku
The others
Matsui
"April 2004."