Total Baseball (1994 Edition)/Total_Baseball_1994_Edition_Creative_Multimedia_1994.iso/dp/0016/00169.txt

Text File | 1994-02-14 | 110KB | 1,844 lines

$Unique_ID{BAS00169}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Japanese Baseball}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{
Nagata, Yoichi
Holway, John B.}
$Subject{Japan Japanese Baseball yakyu beisu boru Nihon Undo Kyokai NUK JPBL}
$Log{}

Total Baseball:  Other Leagues


Japanese Baseball

Yoichi Nagata and John B. Holway

Just when baseball arrived in Japan, and who introduced it, is not clear.
Horace Wilson, a professor in Tokyo in the 1870s, is one of those credited
with being the Abner Doubleday of Japan, teaching baseball to students who ran
bases and flagged grounders in geta, or wooden clogs. They named it yakyu
(yok-yoo')--field ball--or beisu boru. In 1908, the University of Washington
team, the first American college team to visit Japan, won six games but lost
four games to Japanese colleges.
     In 1913 the Chicago White Sox and New York Giants stopped in Japan on a
round-the-world tour, playing three games with Japanese college teams. In
1922 a big league All-Star team, including Casey Stengel, also sailed into
Yokohama harbor. And in 1928 Ty Cobb himself went over to teach the Japanese
his batting secrets.
     By 1930 yakyu began to rival sumo as the Japanese national pastime. The
two games still tug in opposite directions at the nation's sports psyche, the
one traditional and native, the other newer and outward-looking, but baseball
has far outdistanced sumo as the nation's most popular sport.
     The game thrived in schools and colleges. In fact, scholastic baseball
still has a grip on the fans, like college football in America, high school
basketball in Indiana, or the Final Four of the NCAA basketball tourney.
Japan's annual national high school tournaments in Osaka every March and
August fill huge Koshien Stadium for two weeks and command dawn-to-dusk TV
coverage.
     Japan's first professional team, the Nihon Undo Kyokai (Japan Athletic
Association), was formed in 1920, which was followed by a second club,
somewhat like the U.S. Harlem Globetrotters. When the great earthquake of
1923 hit the Tokyo metropolitan area, the NUK was forced to disband. The next
year the Hankyu Railway reorganized former NUK players into a third pro club,
the Takarazuka Kyokai. However, those teams couldn't survive because of a
lack of competition.
     In the fall of 1931, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Grove, Frankie Frisch, and Lefty
O'Doul arrived for a tour. Several black teams visited Japan in the 1920s and
in 1932, with stars such as Bullet Joe Rogan and Biz Mackey, who later became
Roy Campanella's mentor.
     Japanese baseball reached a watershed in 1934 with the arrival of Babe
Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons, Charlie Gehringer, and Lefty Gomez.
Matsutaro Shoriki, owner of the Yomiuri newspapers, sponsored the tour and
would become the great genius-father figure of professional baseball there.
Ruth and the others, soon to receive plaques in Cooperstown, played sixteen
games and easily won fifteen of them. Ruth hit thirteen home runs and clowned
in right field, holding an umbrella, while Gehrig played first base in
galoshes. But they weren't clowning when a high school boy, Eiji Sawamura,
almost shut them out, whiffing Gehringer, Ruth, Gehrig, and Foxx in succession
before losing 1-0. Sawamura became, and still is, a national hero, especially
on his death, at twenty-six, in World War Two.
     Shoriki signed a professional, Osamu Mihara (later famous as the "Magic
Manager"), to his All-Japan team to oppose Ruth, although the Japanese looked
down on professional sports as "unpure." At the end of the year he formed an
all-pro team, Dai-Nippon (Greater Japan), with Sawamura, Mihara, the White
Russian Vic Starffin, and others. They toured the United States the next year
and would become the present-day Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants (Kyojin), a nickname
hung on them by O'Doul. Shoriki urged other businesses to form pro teams and
by 1936 formed the country's first professional league, the Japan Pro-Baseball
League.
     World War Two interrupted baseball. American words, such as out and
safe, became hi-ke (withdraw) and yoshi (good), etc., and Japanese soldiers
shouted, "To hell with Beibu Rusu." The league succumbed completely in 1945,
and the Giants' proud stadium became an ammo dump.
     After the war General MacArthur ordered the stadium cleared and
encouraged the rebirth of the game. O'Doul, a veteran of the 1931 and 1934
tours, brought his San Francisco Seals of the PCL in 1949 and won all seven
games. He returned with Joe DiMaggio and other big leaguers in 1951.
     The big league tours continued every other year or so, and, mirabile
dictu, in 1953 the Americans even lost one game with two ties. In 1956 the
champion Dodgers lost four games, and in 1966 they lost eight and won nine.
Of course the players considered the tours as vacations for shopping and
partying, but they were learning that unless they played their best, they
could no longer waltz to easy victories.
     In 1950 the JPBL split into two leagues, which now have six teams apiece.
The Central League, dominated by the Giants, is by far the more popular, with
the benefit of the nationwide publicity the Yomiuri empire gives its club.
The Giants have drawn 3.5 million fans in a 65-game home schedule. That's
nearly 53,000 per game, or 4.2 million for a U.S. schedule of 81 games. Even
when they finished last in 1975, they drew 2.8 million. The Pacific League,
struggling to break even, in 1973 instituted a split season (since abandoned)
and the DH (still in effect). It now averages about 24,400 attendance per
game, compared to 35,300 for the Central League. Average pay is $260,000,
compared to over $1 million in the U.S. majors. Three-time Triple Crown winner
Hiromitsu Ochiai is the highest paid, at $2.5 million.
     Of course every Japanese kid wants to grow up to play for the Giants,
leaving the other eleven clubs talent-poor. A draft system, begun in 1966,
has helped give the other teams a better chance to compete.
     Every night a Japanese sarariman (salaried man, or wage earner) who is
kichigai (crazy) about yakyu can switch on nationwide TV to watch the Giants.
Where America has one weekly sports paper, The Sporting News, and the
USA Today Baseball Weekly, Japan has seven sports dailies, which concentrate
mostly on baseball.
     Most teams are owned by large companies and operated as advertising
write-offs. For years Hiroshima was the only club owned by a city, but it is
now owned by the Mazda company. Nine of the twelve clubs play in the two
metropolitan centers, Tokyo-Yokohama and Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto.
     In the early 1950s, it was a shock for Tokyo fans when the American big
leaguers arrived, standing a head taller than the Japanese. Today it is a
shock for the same fan to visit a U.S. spring training camp and see visiting
Japanese dressing at lockers next to the Americans: There isn't that much
difference anymore. Sadaharu Oh and Hank Aaron could almost trade uniforms.
     The Japanese began talking of a real World Series. Their victory over
America in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics stirred the fantasy even more.
     In general, American observers say, Japanese outfielders and catchers
don't have the arms of Americans and Latins. But their infielders are among
the best in the world, many of their pitchers are outstanding, and their
batters are beginning to hit with big league power.
     Americans also say the draconian training methods leave the players
burned out in the second half of the season. And especially the Japanese
attitude that "the future is now" has led to sacrificing many a great young
pitcher to brutal overwork until his arm is ruined forever. In 1961 Hiroshi
Gondo won 35 games in 429 innings. The next year he won 30 in 362. The next
year he was down to 10, then 6, then 1; then he was out. This, however, is
changing, as the Japanese are beginning to adopt the American pitching
rotation.
     About half the teams play on artificial turf. In 1988 Japan got its first
dome, the Tokyo Dome (the "Big Egg"), similar to Minnesota's Metrodome, built
on the site of historic Korakuen (Ko-ra'-kwen) Stadium. In 1993 the Fukuoka
Dome opened in southern Japan, and the Daiei Hawks drew 2.4 million fans in 65
games, a Pacific League record.
     For decades baseball waged a battle against sumo (s'mo) wrestling for the
loyalty of the fans, a battle between the new Japan and the old. Having
emerged on top, baseball now faces a challenge from soccer, which is fast
replacing baseball in the schools.
     After 1993 the new players' union won free agency, giving sixty ten-year
veterans the right to obtain the highest bid for their services.
     Meanwhile Japanese baseball has produced some outstanding heroes and
memorable moments.

                              A Gallery of Stars

Tetsuharu Kawakami

"The God of Batting," he has also been called "Japan's Lou Gehrig." Wearing
glasses and swinging his famous red bat, Kawakami hit cleanup on the great
Tokyo Giant teams of 1938-1958 and hit a high of .377 in 1951. His lifetime
.313 is fifth highest in Japanese annals. Against the Dodgers in 1956, he
batted .364 with two home runs. His concentration was so intense, he said he
could visually "stop" a pitch in midflight.
     But Kawakami's hitting paled compared to his managing--11 pennants in
fourteen years. He was the man at the helm as the Giants won nine straight
Japan Series, a feat accomplished by no other professional team in any sport.
The Negro League Homestead Grays won nine straight pennants 1937-1945, but
they lost several Black World Series and one playoff.
     The Grays had Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard. Kawakami had Sadaharu Oh
and Shigeo Nagashima. And he did it without using a single foreign player,
desiring to prove the superiority of a "pure" Japanese team with fighting
spirit.

Hiroshi Oshita (O'-shta)

A three-time batting champ and three-time home run leader, Oshita was the
postwar hero who dueled with his blue bat against Kawakami's red bat and
helped lift the nation's spirit after World War Two. He was popular with the
fans and with visiting Americans, who nicknamed him "Oyster."
     With a soft and graceful swing, he lofted balls that left lofty, graceful
traces in the sky. His 20 homers in 1946 seem a modest total, but they were
10 percent of all the homers hit in the Japanese majors that year. He hit
cleanup on the Lions' "H-Bomb Row" of the 1950s.

Futoshi Nakanishi

A Japanese Hack Wilson, in Leo Durocher's phrase, Nakanishi hit the
second-longest tape-measure home run in Japanese history--530 feet--as a
sophomore in 1953. He led the league in homers five out of the six years
1953-1958 and, with Oshita and pitcher Kazuhisa Inao, helped the Nishitetsu
Lions win three successive Japan championships, all over the hated Giants.
     Nakanishi helped spark the Lions to an amazing comeback in 1958,
beginning from eleven games behind the Hawks. In one September stretch, they
won seventeen out of eighteen games, and Nakanishi's homer vanquished the
Hawks in their final meeting.
     Nakanishi's career was cut short by an injury to his left hand after 244
home runs and a .307 average.
     He managed the Lions to the flag in another heroic comeback starting from
fourteen games behind. An eight-game winning streak in October finally put
them a half game ahead, and American Tony Roig's homer clinched it on the
final day.

Katsuya Nomura (Kot'-su-ya)

The slugging catcher Nomura was the first home run king Oh had to catch before
he could go after Ruth and Aaron. Nomura played in Japan's smallest park,
with 280-foot foul lines, but he was a legitimate star, with a high of 52
homers in 150 games in 1963, when he almost batted the Hawks to the pennant
over the Lions. Nomura's lifetime homer total, 1954-1980, was 657. He led
the Pacific League eight straight times--nine in all.
     Nomura was the most enduring catcher of all time. His 2,921 games behind
the plate are almost 1,000 more than the U.S. record, by Carlton Fisk. Six
years Nomura played every game on the schedule. Once he caught every inning in
150 games, including 16 doubleheaders. Hard work only made him stronger. He
hit a combined .235 in the first games of the doubleheaders, .339 in the
second games.
     Overshadowed by Oh and Nagashima of the Giants, who enjoyed a tremendous
publicity advantage, Nomura called them "sunflowers" and himself "an evening
primrose."
     Slow afield and afoot (Americans called him "Moose"), Nomura admired
Campanella, who taught him how to catch without blocking the ump's view of low
pitches and how to give his pitchers more confidence. An intelligent catcher,
Nomura played each game in his head, pitch by pitch, the night before.
Batters swore he could read their minds.
     Nomura made a reliever of strikeout king Enatsu and in 1959 caught
Sugiura's magnificent 38-4 season, forming one of the finest batteries of all
time.
     In 1965 he won the Triple Crown, with a little help from the league's
pitchers, who walked American Daryl Spencer to prevent him from winning the
home run title.

Shigeo Nagashima (She-gay'-o)

The most popular player ever to play in Japan, Nagashima came to the Yomiuri
Giants in 1958 and led the league in homers and RBIs his rookie year. He went
on to win another HR crown, four more RBI titles, six batting crowns, and five
MVPs--pretty good for a man whose main rival for all these honors was Sadaharu
Oh.
     In fact, Oh joined the team the year after Nagashima, and the two of them
gave the Giants the dreaded "O-N Cannons" that propelled them to nine straight
Japan championships. With Nagashima hitting cleanup behind Oh, pitchers
couldn't pitch around Sadaharu. In the first year of Nagashima's retirement,
1975, Oh lost his HR crown after thirteen straight years as king.
     Nagashima was considered the greater clutch hitter. He was nicknamed
"Mr. Giant" and "the burning man" for the intensity of his play. His years
of greatness coincided with Japan's dramatic economic surge, a period of
national pride that he seemed to symbolize.
     In 1959 Nagashima won the most famous game ever played in Japan, before
the Emperor and Empress, with a ninth-inning homer. Seven years later, in
1966, his majesty attended his second game, against the L.A. Dodgers.
Nagashima homered off Alan Foster in the first, singled in the fourth after a
brushback pitch, and singled again in the seventh, as the Japanese won 11-3.
He was the first baseball player to receive an audience at the Imperial
Palace.
     At third base, Nagashima was compared to Ron Santo by Americans who saw
him. Dodger G.M. Fresco Thompson said Los Angeles could have won two extra
pennants with Nagashima on third.
     Fans adored him. His every move on the bases, in the field, or at bat,
delighted them. Even Oh admitted that Nagashima was the first Japanese to
realize that the game belongs to the fans. Early on, Oh realized he would
never be able to rival Nagashima in popularity and that he would have to
concentrate on setting records instead.
     Although the two Giants were not unfriendly, neither were they close
friends. Never once, Oh says, did they meet socially off the field or even
take a drink together.
     Like Gehrig and Ruth, Oh was upstaged by Nagashima. In '64 Oh blasted 55
homers, a Japanese record. But that was the year Nagashima got married--the
number one sports story of the year.
     When Oh won a then unprecedented second straight Triple Crown in 1974, he
again had to take a back seat to Nagashima, whose retirement was the biggest
story of the year. In true Ted Williams fashion, Nagashima hit his 444th, and
last, home run on his final day, then tearfully toured the field, while his
fans wept with him and implored him not to go.
     The next year Nagashima succeeded Kawakami as manager. He was officially
given the appointment before thousands in Korakuen Stadium in a ceremony which
author Robert Whiting called "a coronation."
     In his first year at the helm, the Giants came in last, a national shock.
Nagashima led the team in a formal bow of apology to the fans on the final
day. But they bounced back to first the next two years. In 1993, after a
twelve-year absence, Nagashima will manage the Yomiuri Giants.

Sadaharu Oh

The world home-run king, Oh smashed 868 to pass Ruth and Aaron by more than
100 and put the record out of sight for at least the rest of the twentieth
century and probably for several generations into the twenty-first. Clete
Boyer, who played and coached for many years in Japan, said Oh had the
strength of Aaron and the eyes of Williams. Oh's homers were the result of
his samurai dedication, his mastery of the martial arts of aikido and kendo
(swordsmanship), and thousands of hours of work with his devoted coach,
Hiroshi Arakawa.
     Sadaharu hit .161 as a Yomiuri Giant rookie pitcher (!) in 1959. Then Oh
and Arakawa began their search for The Way. Oh gave up late-night drinking
bouts on the Ginza and studied with masters of martial arts to attain
physical, mental, and spiritual mastery. From the legend of the swordsman
Miyamoto Musashi, Oh learned that superior spirit conquers superior technique.
     But a hitch in his swing still kept Oh back until Arakawa made him stand
on one leg before the pitch. If he hitched, he'd topple over. Thus the
famous dog-at-the-hydrant stance, which no one before or since has attempted.
(Mel Ott's raised foot was entirely different.) The bat angle, with the barrel
pointing toward the pitcher, was an integral part of the balance.
     Aikido taught Oh patience at the plate. Kendo taught him hip action, a
downward swing (the fastest path to the ball), and focusing ki, or energy,
from the shoulders to the "sweet" part of the bat.
     Oh put it together in 1962, and the home runs began to explode. For 14
of the next 15 years he hit 40-55 homers a year. True, Japanese fences are
shorter, 300" down the line. But so is the Japanese season--130 games. And
Oh saw a lot more junkball pitchers than American hitters do. In addition,
they walked him as many as 166 times a year--he never came to bat 500 times in
one year in his life. The result: home run totals that ranged up to 67 per
550 at-bats. The 67 came in 1974 with 49 homers in only 385 AB.
     Some lifetime comparisons:

                AB          HR        HR/550AB
----------------------------------------------
Aaron         12,364       755           34
Ruth           8,399       714           45
Oh             9,250       868           49
----------------------------------------------

Some other stats on Oh:

   - 15 HR titles (13 in a row)--Ruth had 12, Aaron four
   - 13 RBI crowns
   - 13 straight times leading in runs
   - nine MVPs--Ruth and Aaron had one each
   - five bat championships--Ruth won one, Aaron two
   - two back-to-back Triple Crowns--no American has done it
   - nine Gold Gloves (they call them Golden Gloves in Japan).

     Early on, Arakawa instilled in Oh the goal of catching Ruth, then Aaron,
then going for 800. Aaron and Oh met face to face in 1974 in a home run
contest before 50,000 fans in Tokyo. Aaron was still shaking off jet lag when
his tenth homer broke a 9-9 tie. Oh was sorry to see Aaron retire--the
competition had given him a goal.
     Besides becoming a great hitter, Oh also became an excellent pianist. He
drinks a secret blend of ginseng tea, the traditional Korean brew for energy.
His bats, like Pete Rose's bats and like the sword blades used by samurai
warriors, were hand made for him. Oh insisted that his bats be fashioned from
a rare tree found only in northern Japan--and only from the branches of female
trees.

Isao Harimoto (E'-sow)

The only member of Japan's 3,000-hit club, Harimoto set the then Japanese
batting record with .383 in 1970, and many thought he could go on to become
the country's first .400 hitter. He didn't, partly because he refused to
bunt, but he did win two more titles, for a total of seven, slugged 504 home
runs, and batted .319, fourth-highest lifetime average in Japan.
     A Korean born in Hiroshima, he was being carried by his mother outside
the city when the atom bomb went off. She shielded him, but a sister was
killed. At the age of four, two fingers on his right hand were severely
burned, making it difficult for him to swing a bat.
     Harimoto used a "level-up" swing--the bat was level until it met the
ball, then went sharply up on the follow-through. Like Willie Keeler, he hit
to all fields, wherever "they ain't."
     Harimoto was active in establishing pro ball in Korea.

Shinichi Eto (Shin-i'-chi Et-o)

A husky first baseman, Eto hit 367 homers but had the misfortune to come up
with the Chunichi Dragons the same year Oh joined the Giants, 1959, and in the
same league. It cost Eto several home run crowns.
     But he had the pleasure of costing Oh two Triple Crowns, beating him out
of the batting titles in 1964 and 1965.

Koichi Tabuchi

Big (six-three, 210 pounds), handsome Tabuchi is the man who ended Oh's home
run reign in 1975 after thirteen straight titles. Tabuchi slugged 43 that
year, in spite of playing in the country's largest park. He had done even
better the year before with 45 to Oh's 49. The Japanese call him their Johnny
Bench.
     Japanese connoisseurs consider Tabuchi's homers even more beautiful than
Oh's--long and high, with a lot of "hang time." He accumulated 474 in a
career that stretched from 1969 to 1984.

Yutaka Fukumoto

This fleet little (five-seven) Braves outfielder was the world's stolen base
champ (1,065) until Rickey Henderson broke his record.
     Did he run against weak-armed Japanese catchers? In 1878 he stole second
twice in one game against a battery of Tom Seaver and Johnny Bench.
     With a tip from Daryl Spencer on how to read the pitchers, Fukumoto
led the league thirteen yeas in a row, 1970-1982.
His high, 106 in 122 games in 1972, broke Maury Wills' then record of 104 in
148 games. Lou Brock eventually broke Fukumoto's mark, with 118 in 1974,
but he had many more opportunities:

Player             Year       1B        BB        OB*        SB      SB/OB
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wills              1962       150        59       209       104       .498
Brock              1974       159        61       220       118       .536
Cobb               1915       161       118       279        96       .344
Fukumoto           1972        97        65       163       106       .650
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
  *  Times reached first base

Fukumoto stole 95 more in 1973 and 94 in 1974.
     In that thirteen-year span, the Braves won six pennants. No wonder they
took out a half-million-dollar insurance policy on his legs.
     Was he stealing on the weak arms of Japanese receivers? American Don
Blasingame, who played for years in Japan, said Fukumoto could have stolen on
Bench.
     Fukumoto led the league in runs ten times, triples eight times, walks (+
HBP) six times, hits four times, and doubles three times, and won the MVP for
his great performance in 1972.

Sachio Kinugasa (Sah'-chio Ke-nu-ga'-sa)

Kinugasa passed Lou Gehrig's consecutive-game record in 1987 (2,215 games
to Gehrig's 2,130) and topped him in lifetime homers as well, 504-493.
     Breaking in with the doormat Hiroshima Carp in 1965, he teamed with
college star Koji Yamamoto to lift the Carp to their first pennant in 1975.
They won again in 1979 and 1980, the so-called "Red Helmet" era, like
Cincinnati's "Big Red Machine"--both teams wore red helmets.
     A "GI baby" (his father was black), Kinugasa played in Yamamoto's shadow,
often taking practice swings in his hotel room until two A.M. It paid off in
1984, his twentieth season, when he hit .300 for the only time in his life,
led in RBI, and won the MVP.
     Kinugasa once confided that he would like to find his father someday.
"Keep playing like that," a teammate answered, "and your father will find
you."

Hiromitsu Ochiai (Hiro-meet'-suh O'-che-aye)

Ochiai has stepped into the shoes of Oh and Nomura as Japan's top slugger,
as well as the highest paid: his $2.5 million salary is double that of
any other Japanese player. Before the 1991 season Ochiai went to arbitration,
the first such case in Japanese history. He said he did it "for the coming
generation" to make baseball careers popular in the face of the new popularity
of soccer.
     With his bat, his big mouth, and his hot-dog character, he is dubbed "the
Japanese gaijin."
     From 1981 through 1993, Ochiai won three triple crowns (1982, 1985,
1986), five batting titles, and five RBI crowns for the Lotte Orions and the
Chunichi Dragons. He led the Dragons to the Central League flag in 1988,
his only pennant.
     Ochiai batted .286 against the U.S. All Stars in 1990.


Koji Akiyama (Ah'-ke-yama) Considered the best all-around athlete in
Japanese pro ball today, center fielder Akiyama is the man
the Americans always point to as the best and a sure major
leaguer. He can run, field, throw, hit, and hit with power. At
the age of thirty he has hit 328 homers in nine full years, 1985-93, and is
Japan's first 30-50 man (35 homers and 51 stolen bases in 1990).
     One of the "young Lions" who received his training in the U.S. minors in
1982-83, Akiyama jump-started the Seibu Lions' winning streak in his first
full season, when he hit 41 homers. In 1986 he was joined by Kazuhiro
Kiyohara and in 1989 by Orestes Destrade to power the team's dynasty.
     Akiyama would be even better if he did not suffer from hay fever
every April. He comes to life when the pollen is gone and thus is
nicknamed "Mr. May."

Kazuhiro Kiyohara (Kazu-he'ro Ke-o-ha'ra) In his first eight seasons,
through 1993, the righthanded first baseman Kiyohara has slugged
247 home runs. At the same age, twenty-five, Sadaharu Oh had amassed 162 and
Henry Aaron 181. Strangely, however, Kiyohara has never won the
home run title.
     Kiyohara considers Ochiai his sensei, or teacher. He and teammate
Akiyama wear the same uniform numbers (#3 and #1) as Nagashima and
Oh wore. Also like Oh and Nagashima, the two lions are not close
friends off the field.

     The lifetime home run list:
     Oh          868
     Nomura      657
     Kadota      567
     Yamamoto    536
     Harimoto    504
     Kinugasa    504
     Osugi       486
     Tabuchi     474
     Doi         465
     Ochiai      452
     Nagashima   444


                                   Pitchers

Eiji Sawamura

A true folk hero, in 1934 the eighteen-year-old Sawamura whiffed four of
America's greatest Hall of Famers in a row--Gehringer (.356, 11 home runs),
Ruth (.288, 22), Gehrig (.363, 49), and Foxx (.334, 44).
     The Americans had been averaging four homers and eight runs per game
until they met the schoolboy with the excellent fastball and drop. The kid
considered the visitors "gods" but gulped and took the mound against Earl
Whitehill (14-11 for the seventh-place Senators).
     With the score 0-0 going into the seventh, Ruth grounded out. (The sun
got in his eyes, he said.) Next up was Gehrig, who led both majors in both
batting and homers that year. Sawamura threw a strike past him. The next
pitch was a high curve, which Lou slammed over the right field wall to win the
game 1-0.
     In the last of the seventh, the Japanese put a man on second with one
out, and Shigeru Mizuhara pulled a low line drive down the right field foul
line. A diving catch by Bing Miller saved one run and maybe more.
     In all, the kid gave five hits, struck out nine, and walked one. Connie
Mack was so impressed, he offered the boy a contract.
     The next year Sawamura toured the States with Shoriki's Dai Nippon nine
(later tagged the Tokyo Giants by Lefty O'Doul), playing PCL and semipro
clubs. American fans crowded around for autographs, and one asked him to sign
in English, not Japanese. Sawamura obliged, only to discover later that he
had signed a contract! It took some fast talking, and perhaps some yen, to
get Sawamura out of the scout's clutches.
     Sawamura went on to lead the new pro league in 1936 with a 13-3 record.
In the postseason playoff against the Osaka Tigers, he pitched all three
games, holding them to a .116 batting average and an 0.19 ERA, as the Giants
won, two games to one.
     The next year he was 33-10.
     In his brief five-year career, he pitched three no-hitters.
     Sawamura was called away to military service in 1938-1939, and again in
1942 and 1944. In December 1944 his troop ship was torpedoed by a submarine
off Formosa, and he went down with the ship.

Masaichi Kaneda (Masa-ichi Ka-nay'-da)

Only Cy Young and Walter Johnson have surpassed Kaneda's 400 victories. Akin
to Johnson's experience, he won most of his with one of the weakest teams in
Japan, the Kokutetsu Swallows, who finished in the first division only once in
his fifteen years with them 1950-1964.
     In 1958 the Swallows were last in homers and near last in batting. But
Kaneda was 31-14 with a 1.30 ERA. The Swallows were 27-54 without him.
     In all, he won 43 percent of the Swallows' victories. He won and lost
more 1-0 games than anyone--21 victories, 23 defeats.
     The lefthanded Kaneda was the first man to break Walter Johnson's
lifetime strikeout record, as well as the first to break his scoreless innings
streak. Nolan Ryan broke Kaneda's strikeout mark, 4,490, but no one has
touched his mark of 64 1/3 straight shutout innings.
     Kaneda whiffed the great Nagashima four straight times in Nagashima's big
league debut, the only pitcher ever to do that to the great batting star.
     Kaneda finally joined the Giants for five years at the end of the line.
His 16-5 in 1967 at the age of thirty-four got them off to the third of their
nine straight championships.
     Kaneda was also the Wes Ferrell of Japan. His 36 home runs are the
Japanese record for pitchers.
     A Japanese-born Korean (kane is the Japanese equivalent of the Korean
name Kim), when he retired with bone chips in his elbow, his glove was donated
to the U.S. Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Takumi Otomo (Ta-ku'-me O'-to-mo)

The little submarine-baller beat the New York Giants and Hoyt Wilhelm 2-1 in
1953 in one of the ten greatest games in Japan's history. With Lefty O'Doul
urging him to keep the ball high, Otomo stayed ahead in the count, then fed
them bad balls until they popped up or rolled out.
     He won the MVP that year with a 27-6 record, plus two wins in the Japan
Series. His ERA, 1.85, was the highest he posted in a four-year period. The
lowest: 1.63 in 1956. In 1955 he was 30-6.

Kazuhisa Inao (Ka-zu-hee'-sa E-now')

Until his arm finally weakened from overwork, Inao was one of the world's most
amazing pitchers.
     His record of pitching six Japan Series games in 1958 and winning the
last four of them will probably never be done again by any pitcher in any
country. He won 42 games in 1961, 35 in 1957, and 33 in 1958. He was voted
best pitcher in the league five times.
     A poor fisherman's son, he reported as an unknown rookie to the
Nishitetsu Lions' camp, with muscles bulging from rowing his father's boat in
rough seas. He threw up to 300 pitches a day, posted a 21-6 record with a
1.06 ERA, and lifted the Lions to the pennant. In 262 innings, he gave up two
home runs. He won three more games in the Japan Series.
     Nicknamed "Tetsu Wan"--Iron Arm--in 1957 Inao won a record 20 straight at
the end of the year to lift the Lions from third to another pennant.
     In 1961 he tied Vic Starffin's record of 42 wins and lost his bid for his
forty-third, 1-0, in the first game of two on the final day. He considered
coming back in Game Two and going for the record but at last decided to rest
on his laurels.
     Inao came back as a relief pitcher in 1966 and led the league in ERA once
more, with 1.79.
     His final totals: 276-137, 1.98, with 2,574 strikeouts.

Tadashi Sugiura (Su-ghee-u'-ra)

One year after Inao won four straight games in the Japan Series, the
bespectacled Sugiura won four straight too. But he pitched all four games and
won all four!
     Nagashima's teammate in college, Sugiura had spurned the Yomiuri Giants
after Nankai Hawk manager Tsuruoka bowed to him and said, "We need you to beat
the Giants."
     As a rookie Sugiura was 27-12, 2.05 with the second-place Hawks, though
Inao (33-10) and the Lions won their third straight flag.
     Then in 1959 it was Sugiura's turn. He pitched 371 innings, held enemy
hitters to a 1.40 ERA, and posted a 38-4 record. He pitched 29 games in the
last eight weeks, or virtually every other day. He was 17-1 after August 1
and won his last 13 in a row. The stretch included 54 straight shutout
innings, an ERA of 0.10, 95 strikeouts, and only 4 walks! His final victory
clinched the flag.
     Then came the Japan Series against the Giants, who had just won their
fifth straight flag. The Hawks had never beaten them.
     In spite of a painful elbow, Sugiura went eight innings in Game One, gave
up nine hits, but won 10-7. The next day Sugiura pitched five innings of
relief, gave three hits and one run, and got the victory 6-3.
     After travel days Sugiura started Game Three in Tokyo. Midway through, a
corn came off his pitching hand, and catcher Nomura suddenly found himself
catching a bloody ball. In the samurai spirit, however, Sugiura refused to
come out. He lost a 2-1 lead on a homer in the ninth, and the Giants put two
more men on second and third with one out. "My God, I'm done for," he says he
thought, desperately looking into the dugout for relief. Tsuruoka kept his
eyes averted, however, sending a coach out with a good luck amulet instead.
Sugiura buckled down and got the last two outs and won in the tenth 3-2. He
gave up only one walk.
     Rain gave Sugiura a day of rest. Would the Hawks give him another in
Game Four? The finger still pained him. "Can you go?" Tsuruoka asked. "I
can go," Sugiura answered. He went nine more innings and shut the Giants out
on five hits.
     Ecstatic Hawk fans rewarded their hero with a new car, license number
38-4.
     In his first three years, he had won 96 games:

Year    Rank     G      IP     BB      SO     W-L     ERA    Series   Awards
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1958      2      53    299     85     215    27-12   2.05
1959      1      69    371     46     336    38-4    1.40*    4-0       MVP
1960      2      57    333     49     317    31-11   2.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

     But then the overwork finally told. After an operation on his arm, he
fell to 20-9 in 1961. He dropped to 14-15, then 14-16, made a brief comeback
in 1964 with 20-15, and then was sent to the bullpen. He was all pitched out.

     His final totals: 187-106.

Tetsuya Yoneda (Tet'-su-ya Yo-nay-da)

Like Kaneda or Phil Niekro, Yoneda slaved for a doormat team, the Braves. Yet
he posted the second-highest winning total in Japan--350-285, second only to
Kaneda's 400 wins.
     In 1966 Yoneda led the league with 25-17, while his team finished next to
last. His biggest year was 1968, when he went 29-13 as the Braves won the
pennant. He was voted the MVP of the league.
     Yoneda is second to Kaneda in hitting too, with 33 homers to Kaneda's 36.
Yoneda might have passed his rival, but the coming of the DH rule stopped his
bid.
     He did pass Kaneda, and everyone, including Cy Young, in one department,
total games--949.

Keishi Suzuki

For six straight years, 1967-1972--eight years in all--the lefty Suzuki led
the Pacific League in strikeouts. As a sophomore lefty in 1967, he was 21-13
for the last-place Kintetsu Buffaloes.
     Like Robin Roberts, another fastballing control pitcher, Suzuki gave up a
lot of homers--560.
     He was a natural righthander, but his father had tied his right hand to
force him to pitch as a lefty.
     His final figures: 317-238, and 3,061 strikeouts.

Minoru Murayama

In 1959 rookie fastballer Murayama faced Japan's best player, Nagashima, in
the greatest game ever played in Japan, a contest before 50,000 fans,
including the Emperor himself.
     Murayama, as famous for his forkball as his fastball, pitched for the
Yomiuri Giants' biggest rivals, the Hanshin Tigers. An Osaka native and
boyhood Tiger fan, he spurned a Giant bonus in order to stay home and pitch
for the Tigers for half the amount the Giants offered.
     The night before the big game, Murayama had come in in the ninth inning
against the Giants and struck out the side, Nagashima included.
     The next night, before their majesties, Koyama started for the Tigers and
they took an early lead. Nagashima ripped a home run to tie the score. The
Tigers went back into the lead, and in the seventh Nagashima struck out, but a
rookie named Sadaharu Oh pumped a two-run home run to tie it again.
     That brought in Murayama, who got the Giants out to end the seventh, then
shut them out in the eighth, as the scoreboard clock inched toward
nine-thirty, the time when the imperial couple would have to leave. They
stayed in their seats, however, to see Nagashima and Murayama duel each other
in the last of the ninth.
     This was a classic Japanese showdown, or shobu. Under the unwritten
rule, there could be no nibbling the corners or dirty tricks; it had to be a
head-on challenge, strength against strength.
     Murayama's first pitch was a forkball, for a ball. Next another
forkball, for a strike. Then a fastball, which Nagashima fouled back.
     Another fastball was outside, making the count 2-2. Then he uncorked
still another fastball on the inside. Nagashima swung and parked it ten rows
into the left field stands. To this day Murayama insists it was foul. But
Nagashima circled the bases before the royal box, to be mobbed by his
teammates waiting at the plate.
     Nagashima went on to win the batting championship. Murayama went on to
strike out 294 men in 295 innings; he won 18 and lost 10, with a 1.19 ERA, and
won the Sawamura Award.
     But nothing could erase the memory of that one fateful home run.
Nagashima was invited to the palace for an audience. There was no imperial
audience for Murayama, however. Ever after, he waited for his revenge.
     When he neared the 1,500th strikeout of his career, he announced that he
would get it against Nagashima; he did. Then he announced he was saving
number 2,000 for Nagashima as well, and he delivered on that promise too.
     In 1961 Murayama was 24-13; in 1962, 25-14 with a 1.20 ERA to lift the
Tigers to the pennant. It was a partial revenge at least.
     That fall Murayama took part of his anger out on the visiting Detroit
Tigers. Murayama had been hit hard by the Americans earlier in the tour. But
this day his fastball and forkball were snapping.
     He struck out the first two hitters, Chico Fernandez (.249) and Bill
Bruton (.278). Norm Cash (.243) walked, but Al Kaline (.304) was the third
out.
     For the next six innings not another Detroiter got on base. "I was
keeping every ball down," Murayama said later. "My slider and forkball were
working well. I was thinking no-hitter."
     Former American League pitcher Tom Ferrick watched the game and repeated
what he had said before: Murayama was the best pitcher in Japan; his
fastballs were jamming the hitters, and he delivered both the fastball and the
forkball with the same deceptive motion. "No major leaguer could have hit
Murayama today," Ferrick said.
     For seven innings, no major leaguer did. In the eighth Dick McAuliffe
(.263) led off with a walk, the first Detroit base runner since the first
inning. Murayama retired Bubba Morton (.262) and Steve Boros (.228). Then
Mike Roarke (.213) lined one into left field to break up the no-hitter.
Lefthanded Bobo Osborne (.230) pinch-hit and popped to second.
     Murayama got Fernandez out to open the ninth. Then Bruton dropped a bunt
and beat it out for the second--and last--hit. Cash walked again. But Kaline
lifted a foul to shortstop, McAuliffe hit a high fly to left, and the Tigers
were finished. It was the first shutout a U.S. big league team had ever
suffered in Japan.
     The Detroiters probably didn't know what hit them, or why. As Murayama
said, "I have become what I am because of Nagashima."
     His final stats: 222-147, 2.09.

Yutaka Enatsu

One of the most amazing athletes in Japanese baseball, in 1968 Enatsu struck
out 401 men in 329 innings--that's eleven every nine innings. He was only
twenty years old and just two years out of high school.
     The lefty was one of the few pitchers who could get Nagashima and Oh out
consistently. As a result his pennant-hungry managers worked him like a slave
in every series against the Giants. Enatsu pitched the first and third games
of a three-game series, and sometimes relieved in the middle game as well.
     In 1970 he shut the Giants out twice in three days, then pitched the
final game of the season with no rest and lost it 2-1 in ten innings. The
Giants won by two games.
     In 1971 Enatsu had elbow trouble and won only 15 games--but six of them
were against the Giants, including 34 straight scoreless innings. And in the
All-Star Game that summer he pitched three innings and struck out all nine men
he faced. (In 1984 Suguru Egawa of the Giants almost matched him. He whiffed
the first eight men on thirty-seven pitches, or about 4.5 per man, then got
two fastball strikes on batter number nine. He shook off a sign for another
fastball and instead threw a curve, which the batter hit on the ground for the
final out.)
     Enatsu was a free spirit who rebelled against the strict samurai-style
workouts, saying he wanted to save himself for the season--the way they worked
him, he was probably right. To dramatize his revolt one spring, he lay down
in the outfield and went to sleep while the other pitchers ran. The Tigers
finished last that year. They fired the manager and kept Enatsu.
     Another time he was suspended for accepting a watch from a gambler.
     In 1973 the Tigers were making a hard run at ending the Giants' pennant
streak. On August 30, with one day of rest, Enatsu tossed an eleven-inning
no-hitter, winning it himself 1-0 with a home run. In September he pitched a
fourteen-inning one-hitter, retiring thirty-three straight batters in a
row--the equal of eleven perfect innings--then lost 1-0.
     When the Giants arrived for the climactic series, Enatsu faced them with
two days rest and lost. As usual manager Murayama put him in to pitch the
third game. The exhausted pitcher was leading 3-1 in the seventh, when he
loaded the bases on a walk, a single, and a bunt, with Oh at bat. Enatsu got
two strikes on Oh, then walked him on four straight pitches. Nagashima
followed with a single to win the game and, eventually, the pennant. Enatsu
ended with 24-13. It was his last great year as a starter.
     He became Japan's greatest relief ace and bounced to the Hawks, Carp, and
Lions, fighting with most of his managers. Finally, at the age of
thirty-eight, he came to America to try out with the Brewers. It was too
late; his arm was gone. Fifteen years earlier, and who knows how he might
have done? Red Schoendienst called him one of the greatest lefties he'd ever
seen.
     Enatsu's final record: 206-158, plus 193 saves. And 2,987 strikeouts.
     After retiring, Enatsu's last strikeout victim was himself. His
personal life was in turmoil, and in 1993 Enatsu was arrested on a drug
possession charge and sentenced to two years in prison, which he has appealed.

     Hideo Nomo (He-day'o) Japan's "Doctor K," Nomo is the modern strikeout
king. His fans raise "K" cards for every strikeout he records--and they've
raised 1,078 cards in 937 innings over his first four seasons, 1990-93.
     Mixing a fastball and forkball, the former Olympian righthander whiffed
17 men in his first pro game to tie the Japanese record. He went on to strike
out 287 men in 235 innings and lead the Pacific League in just about every
category.
     It took Nomo only three years to break the record for double-digit
strikeout games, 43, set by Suzuki over a twenty-year span.
     Like oldtime U.S. pitcher Freddie Fitzsimmons or Luis Tiant, Nomo turns
his back on the hitter, as if coiling a spring, then turns and unwinds, with
his whole body behind the pitch. His nickname is "the Tornado," or twister.
Nomo's father taught the four-year-old Hideo to emulate Muyayama, who also put
his whole body into the pitch. His mother fed him lots of eel to make him
loose on the mound.


                              Gaijin--Foreigners

     "East is East, and west is West, and never the twain shall
meet."--Rudyard Kipling

     Next to trade policy, no area of U.S.-Japanese relations contains the
seeds of more controversy than baseball. The two games may appear the same
from the left field stands, but the two nations actually play two quite
different games. The differences can sometimes lead to bitter
misunderstanding.
     According to U.S. observers, among the differences are:

Japanese managers . . .
   - Conduct spring training like marine boot camp.
   - Overwork their pitchers.
   - Bench players in midgame for one error or one strikeout.
   - Overemphasize home runs.
   - Resent advice.
   - Are too conservative.
   - Won't let Americans excel.
Japanese players . . .
   - Take half an hour batting practice every day.
   - Don't miss signs.
   - Don't dive for fly balls.
   - Won't break up double plays.
   - Don't block the plate.
   - Don't backhand grounders.
   - Don't chew tobacco.
Japanese pitchers . . .
   - Throw sidearm and underhand more than in the States.
   - Have good curves but mediocre fastballs.
   - Throw brushback pitches to American hard hitters.
   - Throw 300-500 pitches a day--just to stay in shape.
   - Burn out early.
Japanese fans . . .
   - Eat sushi instead of hotdogs at the game.
   - Throw foul balls back.
   - Never stop cheering with drums and trumpets throughout the game
(big noise).

     According to the Japanese, among the differences are:

American players . . .
   - Are overpaid, stuck up, and out of shape.
   - Won't work hard.
   - Don't follow orders.
   - Play dirty baseball.
   - Bait the umpires.
   - Are quick to punch opponents.
   - Look down on the Japanese.
   - Won't learn the language.
   - Don't like Japanese food.

     Still, like lovers having a quarrel, the two nations can't stay away from
each other on the ballfield.
     The Japanese have used 400 foreigners--in Japanese, gaijin, which means
"outside people." There is an ambivalence toward these aliens. On the one
hand, teams are tempted to use them to gain a competitive advantage (there's a
cap of three per team). On the other hand, the Japanese yearn for the day
that an all-Japanese team will win a real world series and reign as kings of
the baseball world.
     Although the Japanese regularly import players, they are paranoid about
exporting any to the U.S. majors. America has a very favorable
"balance-of-baseball" trade. And the currently devalued dollar means Japan
can afford even more American shortstops--more Yanks for the yen.
     In 1987 they gave Bob Horner of the Braves $1.4 million dollars. He
rewarded them with six homers in his first four games and put an estimated
quarter of a million more people in the park. But he spurned a $3 million
offer to stay, preferring to go home to the Cards for $1 million rather than
play "something like baseball."
     The Japanese offered Dave Righetti a reported $8 million for two years
and Reggie Jackson $2 million for one. They turned it down. But the Japanese
teams landed Bill Madlock for $1 million, Bill Gullickson for $1.1 million,
and Doug DeCinces for $1.5 million--this only four years after Japan's
commissioner had announced a plan to ban all gaijin.
     (Gullickson returned from Tokyo after signing his contract to report that
he saw only two English words there--Sony and Mitsubishi.) However, 1989 was
the most successful year for gaijin players, winning MVP and three batting
titles of both leagues except the RBI title of the CL.
     Here are some of the best--and the worst--foreigners to play in Japan.

Victor Starffin

Now that baseball is an Olympic sport, the Russians have set themselves the
goal of winning a gold medal some day. A preview of what the future may hold
was big (six-four) Victor Starffin, the White Russian whose parents brought
him to Japan fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. He took to baseball like
Khrushchev to vodka and became the greatest Russian baseball player of all
time.
     Joining the Dai-Nippon team, Starffin towered over the Japanese and
opened a rivalry with teammate Sawamura. Vic was 28-11 in 1937, 33-5 in 1938,
42-15 in 1939 (two-thirds of the team's wins), and 38-12 (1.01) in 1940.
Those 42 wins remained the record until Inao tied it in 1961.
     On the U.S. tour in 1935, Americans assumed he spoke English. He didn't,
once telling a waitress, "I am a chicken." (He later learned the language.)
     Excused from military service as a stateless person, Starffin served as a
Russian translator at the Tokyo war crimes trials. He spent his postwar years
with some tailend teams but finished at 303-176, Japan's first 300-game
winner.
     He was killed soon afterward when he was driving his car home while drunk
and hit a train. His plaque in Japan's Hall of Fame is inscribed in both
Japanese and Russian.

Henry "Bozo" Wakabayashi (Wa-ka-bah-yah'-shee)

The son of a Japanese immigrant to Hawaii, Wakabayashi first played in Japan
in 1928, graduated from one of Tokyo's "Big Six" universities, and pitched for
the Osaka Tigers from the beginning of pro ball in 1936. A finesse pitcher,
Wakabayashi threw seven different pitches ("seven-color magic pitches"). In
1939 he was 30-7 with a 1.25 ERA. For six years in a row, 1939-1944, he had
ERAs of under 1.81; his best was 1.06 in 1943.
     Twice MVP, his most famous game came in the first Japan Series in 1950 at
the age of forty-two, when he was the surprise starter in Game One against the
Robins, who boasted a team batting average of .287. Bozo beat them 3-2.
     Wakabayashi retired at 240-141 and 1.99 and remained a baseball
ambassador for decades.

Bucky Harris

Bucky Harris, another American (no, not the Senators' manager), was the
Japanese home run king in the spring season of 1938 and the first foreigner to
win the MVP. A veteran catcher from the American PCL, he had a good throwing
arm and repeatedly won exhibitions throwing through a barrel at second base.
     He studied hard to learn the language and, given a day of honor at his
retirement, replied with a sayonara speech in Japanese.

Wally Yonamine (Yo-na'-mi-nay)

The Jackie Robinson of Japan, Yonamine introduced a slashing, running game and
blazed the way for American players there. This Hawaiian-born Nisei didn't
know a word of Japanese when he left the San Francisco 49ers' backfield to
join the Yomiuri Giants in 1951. (He'd played some baseball in the low U.S.
minors; Brooklyn's Billy Loes, who pitched against him, said he was the
toughest out he ever faced.)
     Wally carried a double stigma. Not only was he an American, when the
wounds of the war were still fresh, he was a Nisei (son of a Japanese who
chooses another country), who was regarded by the Japanese in about the same
way as Americans would regard a fellow countryman who had defected to Russia.
     The Giants put him in center field and batted him leadoff, and he
promptly hit .354. He also ran out sacrifice bunts, which surprised the
Japanese, and threw rolling blocks into second basemen on the double play,
which horrified them. And he played center like his stateside contemporary,
Dom DiMaggio, who also wore glasses.
     A Yonamine single, a hit-and-run, and a base hit by Kawakami was the
usual Giant formula. They rose from third to first in Wally's first season
and won the flag every year he was with them except one. Wally and Kawakami
were rivals for hitting honors, and a jealousy arose. Yonamine was much the
better fielder and won three batting titles and one MVP, made seven All-Star
teams, and ended with a .311 average, one of the highest in Japan. Against
the Dodgers in 1956 Wally hit .347. The Japanese hailed him as the greatest
leadoff man in their history, and he's probably still the biggest American
star to play in Japan.
     Another Nisei, Jun Hirota, caught for the Giants. When the New York
Giants arrived in 1953, manager Leo Durocher, coaching at first, abandoned
signals and merely told his runners to "go down on the next pitch." Hirota
calmly threw them out. Leo didn't know Jun was a graduate of the University
of Hawaii.
     When Kawakami took over as Giant manager, he eased Wally off the team.
     Yonamine got his revenge, however. As manager of the Dragons in 1974 he
nipped Kawakami's Giants by one game, or .001 points, to end Kawakami's record
of nine straight pennants.
     Thereafter the U.S.-Japan baseball romance was a rocky one. Some
Americans made a big hit. Others were big bombs.

Ugly Americans

Don Newcombe and Larry Doby  The first big-name American stars in Japan,
Newcombe and Doby signed with the Chunichi Dragons in 1962. Both were in
retirement, and Newk especially arrived overweight and out of shape. He
pitched only 4 innings but batted .262 in 81 games in the field. Larry hit
.225 with 10 home runs, although some of them were eye-popping 500-footers.
The Dragons, who had finished second before they came, finished third with
them. The pair were not invited back.

Marshall, Logan, Stuart, Johnson, Howard, Davis. Instead, in 1963 the
optimistic Dragons signed Jim Marshall, a reserve first baseman for San
Francisco with a .242 big league average, for $40,000, more than either
Nagashima or Oh were making. Marshall stayed for three years, averaging .268
and 26 homers a year.
     The thirty-seven-year-old Johnny Logan, a former star shortstop for the
Milwaukee Braves, joined the Nankai Hawks in 1964. He hit .189 and set a
Japanese record by going 38 straight at-bats without a hit.
     Dick Stuart came well touted in 1967. He hit 33 homers his first year,
but in his second fell to 17 homers and .217. They sent him home, where he
signed with the California Angels, the first Japanese reject to return to play
in the U.S. majors.
     In 1973 Davey Johnson hit 43 homers for Atlanta, a record for big league
second basemen. The next year the Tokyo Giants obtained him to replace the
great Nagashima and integrate the Giants once again. It was a job no mortal
man could fill, and Johnson didn't. He hit .197, as the Giants finished dead
last. He did make a comeback the next year, and so did they, hitting .275
with 26 homers, as the Giants won the pennant. But Dave was happy to go home
to the Phils, where he hit .321.
     Big Frank Howard cost the Lions $80,000 in 1974. He hurt his knee, came
to bat twice, and didn't get a hit. His salary came to $40,000 per at-bat.
     In mid-season 1988, Dick Davis was arrested for cocaine possession and
immediately was dismissed from the Buffaloes.

Joe Pepitone  In 1973 the Yakult Atoms forked over $140,000 to Pepitone, a
.258-hitting former Yankee. He arrived with shoulder-length hair, got a
headache from bumping his head on low hotel room doors, complained about the
food and high prices, played 14 games, hit .163, developed a "bad leg," and
refused to play--but discoed into the morning. He finally flew home, leaving
his roommate a $2,000 phone bill, and the Japanese with a new noun, pepitone,
meaning "a goof-off."
     The Japanese players' union protested against these high-priced
foreigners who were taking jobs away from Japanese and getting paid more for
doing less.

Some Handsome Americans

Blasingame, Boyer, Kirkland  Thank goodness Don Blasingame came to Japan in
1967 after hitting .258 for several teams in the States. He hit 20 points
better for the Nankai Hawks, learned to speak good Japanese, was cheerful to
his teammates, respectful to his manager, and popular with the fans.
     When home run champ Katsuya Nomura took over as manager, he appointed
"Blaser" as his head coach and de facto bench manager, while Nomura
concentrated on his play in the field. They got along splendidly and won the
pennant in 1973.
     Clete Boyer, possibly the greatest fielding third baseman of all time,
also won friends and influenced people as a gritty player for the Taiyo Whales
in 1972-1975. He also enjoyed the people, spoke their language, ate their
food, and showed them the same sensational play he had shown Yankee fans back
home.
     Willie Kirkland hit .240 with 20 homers a year for the San Francisco
Giants and others before he joined the Hanshin Tigers in 1968. He gave them
37 homers his first year, stayed for six years, joked in Japanese with fans in
the outfield, and thrilled them with long distance blasts--three in one game
against the hated Giants. He hit .246, the same as he had in the States, and
averaged 21 homers a year.

Leron and Leon Lee  Leron Lee, a vet of four big league teams (.250), owns the
second highest lifetime batting average in Japan, .320, plus 283 homers in 11
seasons, 1977-1987. He almost won the Triple Crown in his rookie year, got an
800 percent raise, and brought his kid brother Leon over.
     Leon, who never played in the majors, was almost as good, hitting .309
with 268 homers.
     Both were considered "good gaijin," on and off the field. Leon learned
Japanese well enough to act as Bob Horner's interpreter.

Xenophobia

     The Japanese have not been blameless in their handling of the
cross-cultural experiments. Sometimes their bias against gaijin is subtle,
sometimes blatant.

Daryl Spencer  A 33-year-old infielder with fair power and a .244 big league
average, Spencer, at six-three, was a "monster" in Japanese eyes. In his
first year, 1964, he hit 36 homers, second to Nomura's 41, and lifted the
Hankyu Braves from last to second.
     The next year Spencer was hitting .300 and leading Nomura by six homers
in August, when, he said, his own coaches took him aside and told him to
concentrate on the batting title and forget home runs, because Nomura usually
finished strong. Spencer refused, so the Japanese pitchers sent their own
message--they began walking him. At one stretch he got 16 straight balls. He
even stepped into the box holding his bat upside down and still drew a walk.
Of course, Nomura's Nankai Hawk pitchers were the most flagrant evaders of
Spencer's strike zone. Nomura won the home run crown, 42-38, and took the
batting crown too, .320 to .311. (He also won the RBI title for a Triple
Crown.) The Braves fell to fourth.
     A student of the game, Spencer analyzed every pitch and defensive
alignment. One of his ideas: move the left field fence in ten feet to help
him hit more homers. Spencer played for seven years. He told Whiting that
his manager resented his advice. "I spoke my mind once too many times,"
Spencer told Whiting, "and I think I'm blackballed." Japanese observers,
however, understood that manager Yukio Nishimoto had welcomed Spencer's help.
     Other Americans felt a similar sense of discrimination. In 1968 Dave
Roberts, a .239-hitting utility man with several big league clubs, hit 40
homers for the Sankei Atoms, to Oh's 49. The next year Roberts was leading
for the Triple Crown, when a Giants pitcher ran into him at first base,
breaking his shoulder. Dave was out for the rest of the year, and Oh and
Nagashima took the three batting titles.

George Altman  In 1968 the former National League outfielder (.269, fair
power) started a new career in Japan at age thirty-five. He was an immediate
success, hitting .320 with 34 homers and 100 RBI. In 1970 he helped pull the
Lotte Orions into first place with .319 and 30 homers.
     In 1969, George said, he got nothing but balls from the pitchers and
nothing but strikes from the umps. He slumped to 21 homers and .269.
     In 1971 Altman had his best year--39 homers and 103 RBI, and was in a
race for the batting title with his teammate, Shinichi Eto. When Eto came up,
he noticed, the infielders suddenly left a big hole between first and second,
and Eto punched four hits through it in one game. "That," Altman told
Whiting, "is when I figured my chances of winning the title were almost zero."

Randy Bass  Big, bewhiskered Randy Bass played a little first base for the
Padres and Rangers (batting .212) before joining the Japanese Hanshin Tigers
in 1983. In 1985 he burst into stardom, winning the Triple Crown with .350,
134 RBIs, and 54 home runs.
     He was just one home run short of tying Oh's Japanese record, with one
game left--against the Giants, managed by Oh. The Giant pitchers walked him
all four times he came to bat.
     But Bass did lead the Tigers to the pennant over the hated Giants, and
his home runs won two Japan Series games as the Tigers took the Japanese
championship in seven games. He became a media star, his poster
advertisements appearing all over Tokyo. He even agreed to shave his beard
for a razor blade company.
     Bass left the team suddenly in 1988 when his son contracted
hydrocephalus. Although given a leave of absence, Bass was fired when he
didn't return after five weeks. Under his contract, the Tigers had agreed to
pay his family's medical bills, but they hadn't bought insurance and balked at
the bill of $2 million. The dispute was eventually settled for $1.5 million,
but during the negotiation a Tigers executive jumped to his death from a hotel
window. The affair left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, and Randy was
blackballed, despite his batting production.

Warren Cromartie  A nine-year veteran and .280 hitter with the Montreal Expos,
in 1985 Cromartie--the "Black Cannon"--became the first genuine major league
star to play in Japan. He reported facing prejudice as a gaijin, especially a
black gaijin, but he learned to speak Japanese and stayed with the Tokyo
Giants for five seasons, earning a record $3 million a year. (He made some
more yen on the side, cutting a rock record in Tokyo; Cro played drums.)
     Giants manager Sadaharu Oh helped Cromartie out of a bad slump his first
year, 1984, and the two became close friends. (Cro's daughter's middle name is
Oh.)
     A controversial player, Cromartie trotted around the bases on home runs
with his right fist raised--the Japanese called it his "guts pose." Sometimes
after making a hit he would point to his head as if telling the pitcher, "I'm
smarter than you." ("just trying to psych him," Cromartie said.) After a homer
he led the center field fans in loud banzais.
     Cromartie's hot-dogging angered anti-Giant fans, but in 1987 he helped Oh
win his only pennant. In 1989 Cro flirted with .400 and led a patched-up team
of rookies into the Japan Series. They lost the first three games until
Cromartie's pep talk sent them out to win the last four. He was named MVP.
     Cromartie hit .321 with 171 banzai blasts in his Japanese career. In 1991
he returned to the Kansas City Royals and batted .313.

Ralph Bryant  The former Dodger outfielder set a Japanese record
for strikeouts with 198 in 1992. He broke that in 1993 with 204--is that
a world record?
     Bryant's longest home run, in 1990, hit the speaker atop the Tokyo
Dome, 146 feet above the field and 318 feet from home. If it
had continued unimpeded, it is estimated, it would have struck the center
field scoreboard 558 feet away. Because the Japanese had offered a #250,000
prize for reaching the scoreboard, the speaker cost Bryant a cool quarter
million.


Gaijin Champions

     In the last twenty years westerners have done very well in the races
for major batting titles. Of 120 titles (BA, HR, RBI in each league),
gaijin--not counting Chinese and Korean players--have shared or won 45.
This comes despite the improvement among Japanese players in recent years.
On the other hand, most of the Americans have arrived with major
league experience.
     Some minor leaguers have done well in Japan.
     Jack Bloomfield won two batting titles in 1962 and 1963.
     Pitcher Joe Stanka won an MVP, with 26-7 for the Nankai Hawks in 1964.
     Gene Bacque (Bock'-ay) won a Sawamura (Cy Young) for pitching the Tigers
to the 1964 pennant with a mark of 29-9. However, his brushback pitches
appalled the Japanese. When he tried one against the great Oh, the whole
Giants team mobbed him. In the melee, Oh says, coach Hiroshi Arakawa, Oh's
best friend and an aikido black belt, broke Gene's thumb and put him out for
the rest of the season.
     Clarence Jones won a home run crown in 1974.
     Boomer Wells won the Triple Crown and MVP in 1984.
     Richard Lancellotti was home run king in 1987 while batting .218.

New Trend: "Cup of Tea" Gaijin

Cecil Fielder's great success--.302 with 38 homers in 106 games in 1989--
illustrates a new trend of U.S. players traveling to Japan for a
"cup of coffee."
     Far from being over the hill like most earlier U.S. arrivals, Fielder was
]only twenty-five when he arrived from the Blue Jays after a frustrating .230
season, when he was platooned against lefthanders only. He replaced long-time
favorite Randy Bass of the Hanshin Tigers, even wearing Bass' uniform number,
44.
     Japanese pitchers soon discovered Fielder's weakness, the high inside
fastball, and his strikeouts earned him the nickname, "The Big Fan." However,
in June he came back with home run after home run, and his long shots excited
the fans. He knocked two balls completely out of the park in one day. By
September he was leading the league in homers (two more than Larry Parrish).
Then Cecil, angry after a strikeout, tossed his bat, which bounced back,
breaking his finger and ending his season. But with his new-found confidence,
he returned to the States to blast 51 home homers for the Tigers.
     In 1989 pitcher Bill Gullickson, twenty-nine, came off a 4-2 season
with the Yanks to sign the Tokyo Giants for two years. He posted
won-lost records of 14-9 and 7-5 before returning to Houston, where he
was 10-14. In 1991 he won 20 games for Detroit.
     Others who went from the U.S. majors to Japan and back to the majors
were Vance Law, Warren Cromartie, Goose Gossage, and Tony Bernazard.
     One investment fizzled badly. In 1992 the Japanese put out $1.5 million
for the Dodgers' Mike Marshall, thirty-two, but he batted only .246 with 9
homers and was sent back home at the end of the season.
     That year former Angel third baseman Jack Howell, thirty, had a great
initial season in Japan. He won the Central League home run (38) and batting
(.331) titles and was voted MVP. It earned him a 1993 contract for $1.5
million, tying Marshall's gaijin record but leaving him $500,000 short of
former Yankee Mel Hall.

Japanese in America

Mashi Murakami  Many Japanese have played in the U.S. minors and one in the
majors.
     The big leaguer was Masanori "Mashi" Murakami, who almost caused a
complete rupture in U.S.-Japan diamond relations. Murakami was one of three
members of the Nankai Hawks sent over to gain experience with the San
Francisco Giants' farm teams in Fresno and Magic Valley in 1964. The
twenty-year-old did so well (11-7) and was so well liked (bowing to teammates
who made good plays behind him) that he was promoted to the Giants. He made
his debut against the last-place Mets before 50,000 fans at Shea Stadium and
pitched one inning of shutout relief. That year he won one and saved one with
a 1.80 ERA. He struck out 15 men in 15 innings and walked only 1.
     At this point the Giants invoked the fine print in their contract--the
paragraph giving them the right to buy any of the three who made the parent
club. The Japanese had never anticipated this development! They said
Murakami had only been on loan. Besides, they said, he was homesick and
didn't want to go back to the States. The boy dutifully agreed. The Hawks
even charged that the contract was a forgery, thus enraging the Giants. Who
did they think Murakami was, club president Chub Feeney demanded--Christy
Mathewson?
     U.S. Commissioner Ford Frick threatened to break relations with Japan if
they didn't honor the contract. This could have cut off all further U.S.
players going there to play.
     At last a compromise broke the impasse. Murakami would play one more
year in the States, then would be free to choose his own destiny.
     Mashi flew back to San Francisco, won 4 games, lost 1, saved 8, and
struck out 85 men in 74 innings. He was a darling of the San Francisco Nisei
community.
     In 1966 the Hawks enticed him home with a $40,000 contract, twice what
the Giants had offered. The Hawks rubbed their hands in anticipation of
seeing Murakami obliterate every pitching record in the book. Alas, he never
lived up to his promise. He won a total of 9 games his first two years. He
had only one good year, 1968, when he was 18-4. He was the first and last
Japanese to play in the U.S. majors.

The Young Lions

     In a second experiment, the Taiheiyo Lions bought a U.S. minor league
team in Lodi, California, and stocked it with nine of their rookies plus a
coach, along with U.S. players.
     But the Japanese players, like some Americans in Japan, couldn't adjust
to the food and the language. After two years the Lions sold their Lodi club
and brought their players home.
     Undaunted, in 1982 the Seibu Lions (bought by Seibu Railway Co. after the
1978 season) signed a working agreement with the Baltimore Orioles' Class A
farm team at San Jose and each year have sent several rookies there for
experience. The plan paid off big. The Lions won the pennant five of the
next six years, and experts attributed it in part to their San Jose graduates.
Most famous of the group was Koji Akiyama, the 1987 Japanese home run king.
     The young Lions are now the seasoned veteran Lions. They've won nine
pennants in eleven years, 1983-93. They built their empire with strong
administration on the U.S. model--good scouting, a strong farm system,
and a huge wallet.
     Third baseman Ishige (Ishi'-gay), at $1.5 million the second-highest-paid
player in Japan, provided the leadership beginning in 1981. In 1985 outfielder
Akiyama and the magic-gloved second baseman Tsuji arrived. Slugging first
baseman Kiyohara (six foot three) followed in 1986. The Lion pitchers included
251-game-winner Higashio and "the Orient Express," Kuo (Gwaw) Tai-yuan, a 1984
Olympic star. In 1989 Cuban-born Orestes Destrade arrived as DH and won home
run crowns in 1990-92 before joining the Florida Marlins. In 1991 the Pacific
League all star team had lions at eight positions. However, they are not
bringing up new stars, and in 1993 they lost the Japan Series to the Swallows
in seven games. Destrade was sorely missed, and free agency threatens to end
their dynasty.
     Manager Ma-aki Mori was a catcher for the Tokyo Giants when they
won nine straight Japan championships under Tetsuji Kawakami. His experienced
teams play a steady, cunning game, but it is also sometimes boring, as
Mori has his hard-hitting team bunting even in the first inning.

In spring 1990, American baseball fans were irritated when a Japanese
whiskey company, Suntory, bought the Birmingham Barons (AA).

The "Magic" Manager, Mihara

     Two of the greatest managers in Japanese history were Osamu Mihara and
Shigeru Mizuhara. Their duels are compared to the legendary duel of the
greatest swordsmen of literature, Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro.
     Mihara and Mizuhara attended rival high schools on Shikoku Island and
went to rival colleges in the highly competitive Tokyo Big Six Conference. In
1931, before 65,000 fans, Mihara stole home against pitcher Mizuhara to lead
his school to victory.
     In 1934 both played on the All-Japan team against Babe Ruth's Stars. Then
Mihara went into military service; Mizuhara toured the States with Dai-Nippon,
sparked the Giants to several pennants (he was MVP in 1942), and then was
drafted himself.
     Mizuhara languished in a Soviet POW camp for four years after the war,
while Mihara took over the Giants and rebuilt that once proud club into champs
in 1949.
     But Mihara's triumph was spoiled when Mizuhara was repatriated that same
year. "I am Mizuhara," he announced. "I have returned." Mizuhara was given
the manager's job and won eight pennants in ten years, 1950-1959. Mihara was
kicked upstairs, where he spent his time playing go.
     Then Mihara left to manage a new club, the Nishitetsu Lions, in far-off
Kyushu. He lived in the dorm with his players, mostly recent high school kids
like Nakanishi and slugging shortstop Yasumitsu Toyoda, and built them into
champs in 1954. They won again in 1956 and beat Mizuhara's strutting Yomiuri
Giants in the Japan Series. They did it again in 1957 and 1958. In the last
year the Giants won the first three games, but the Lions, behind Inao, won the
last four.
     In 1960 Mihara moved back to the Central League with the Taiyo Whales,
who had finished last for six straight years. Shades of the Mets! In
Mihara's first year, he whipped the Giants for the pennant by 4 1/2 games,
then swept the Japan Series in four straight!
     No wonder they called him "the Magician."

Olympics

     Japan stunned the Americans at the 1984 Los Angeles Games (where baseball
was still a demonstration sport) by taking the gold medal over a team headed
by Will Clark, Mark McGwire, and Shane Mack.
     At Seoul in 1988, again in a demonstration, the Americans extracted
revenge as hurler Jim Abbott beat Japan in the Gold Medal finals 5-3.
     Cuba beat everyone at Barcelona in 1992, and a surprising Taiwan knocked
both Japan and the United States out of the running for the silver medal.
Taiwan's Chien-fu Kuo Lee made the Japanese hitters look foolish with his
breaking pitches--so they signed him to a Hanshin Tiger contract. Japan and
America had to settle for the playoff for the bronze, which the Japanese won.


A Real World Series

     Matsutaro Shoriki died in 1969 with one dream still unfulfilled--a real
World Series between his Giants and the winner of the American World Series.
It's a goal every Japanese fan keeps before his eyes.
     In frequent series against U.S. big league teams, the Japanese have
already established one thing: the Americans can still win, but they have to
field strong teams and play hard to do it.
     In 1966 the Giants played seven games against the NL champion Dodgers and
won four of them. Overall, the Dodgers were 9-8-1 in Japan. Of course, Sandy
Koufax and Don Drysdale didn't make the trip. But their number three pitcher,
Claude Osteen (17-14), did and was bombed out of the box five times.
     In 1968 the NL champion Cards (Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Orlando Cepeda,
etc.) arrived fresh from the World Series. Beset by jet lag, they lost two of
their first three games but came back to win 12 of their last 15 for a 13-5
record overall. The Japanese might have done better if Nagashima had not
missed the series with an injury. Oh hit .356 with six homers.
     In 1971, after a 9-6 spring training record against U.S. teams, Kawakami
announced that "the Americans have nothing more to teach us." The nation
looked confidently forward to the arrival that fall of the AL champ Orioles
for what the Japanese were hailing as the long awaited "world series." Bowie
Kuhn even threw out the first ball.
     The Japanese knocked Jim Palmer (20-9) out three times, but Pat Dobson
(20-8) pitched three shutouts, including a no-hitter. The O's held Oh to a
.111 average. Nagashima hit .258, and the Orioles won 12 games to two, with
four ties. But when the Americans sent subpar teams--the fifth-place Mets in
1974 and the fifth-place Orioles in 1984, the competition was closer.

The U.S.-Japan Series

     Satellite TV brings U.S. major league games to fans in Japan, and as
a result major league caps, jackets, and T-shirts sell well there.
     In 1990 Japan stunned a visiting U.S. all star team, winning 4 games
against 3 losses and a tie. The major leaguers included Barry Bonds, Cecil
Fielder, Roberto Alomar, Kelly Gruber, Bobby Thigpen, Ramon Martinez, Dave
Stewart, and others. Following Japan's 1984 Olympic gold medal, the results
started speculation that the Japanese were approaching U.S. major league
caliber.
     However, in 1992 Roger Clemens led another all star squad to Japan,
and they won handily, 7 games to 1 with a tie. It seemed clear that Japan
has not produced the formidable players it did in the 1960s, such as Oh,
Nagashima, Nakanishi, Inao, Kaneda, etc.
     There is still about a twenty-pound difference between the average U.S.
and Japanese big leaguer, which means that today's Japanese player is about as
big as a major leaguer of Babe Ruth's day.
     Some Japanese doubt that Japan can ever catch up with the U.S. majors.
They say the Olympics are a better arena for competition--Japan won the
"demonstration" Olympic title in 1984, defeating the United States in the
finale.
     Will we ever see a real World Series? If so, when? In this generation?
The next?
     Japan's economic miracle, which surprised the world, suggests that one
thing is certain--don't bet on anything.

Pennant Winners:  Japan Pro-Baseball League
----------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR                  TEAM                 WON     LOST   PCT.
----------------------------------------------------------------
1936    FALL      TOKYO GIANTS              18       9     --
1937    SPRING    TOKYO GIANTS              41      13    .759
        FALL      OSAKA TIGERS              39       9    .813
1938    SPRING    OSAKA TIGERS              29       6    .829
        FALL      TOKYO GIANTS              30       9    .769
1939              TOKYO GIANTS              66      26    .717
1940              TOKYO GIANTS              76      28    .731
1941              TOKYO GIANTS              62      22    .738
1942              TOKYO GIANTS              73      27    .730
1943              TOKYO GIANTS              54      27    .667
1944              HANSHIN                   27       6    .818
1945              Play Suspended
1946              KINKI GREATRING           65      38    .631
1947              OSAKA TIGERS              79      37    .681
1948              NANKAI HAWKS              87      49    .640
1949              YOMIURI GIANTS            85      48    .639
----------------------------------------------------------------

Pennant Winners:  Central League
-----------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR                  TEAM                 WON     LOST   PCT.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1950              SHOCHIKU ROBINS           98      35    .737
1951              YOMIURI GIANTS            79      29    .731
1952              YOMIURI GIANTS            83      37    .692
1953              YOMIURI GIANTS            87      37    .702
1954              CHUNICHI DRAGONS          86      40    .683
1955              YOMIURI GIANTS            92      37    .713
1956              YOMIURI GIANTS            82      44    .646
1957              YOMIURI GIANTS            74      53    .581
1958              YOMIURI GIANTS            77      52    .596
1959              YOMIURI GIANTS            77      48    .612
1960              TAIYO WHALES              70      56    .554
1961              YOMIURI GIANTS            71      53    .569
1962              HANSHIN TIGERS            75      55    .577
1963              YOMIURI GIANTS            83      55    .601
1964              HANSHIN TIGERS            80      56    .588
1965              YOMIURI GIANTS            91      47    .659
1966              YOMIURI GIANTS            89      41    .685
1967              YOMIURI GIANTS            84      46    .646
1968              YOMIURI GIANTS            77      53    .592
1969              YOMIURI GIANTS            73      51    .589
1970              YOMIURI GIANTS            79      47    .627
1971              YOMIURI GIANTS            70      52    .574
1972              YOMIURI GIANTS            74      52    .587
1973              YOMIURI GIANTS            66      60    .524
1974              CHUNICHI DRAGONS          70      49    .588
1975              HIROSHIMA CARP            72      47    .605
1976              YOMIURI GIANTS            76      45    .628
1977              YOMIURI GIANTS            80      46    .635
1978              YAKULT SWALLOWS           68      46    .596
1979              HIROSHIMA CARP            67      50    .573
1980              HIROSHIMA CARP            73      44    .624
1981              YOMIURI GIANTS            73      48    .603
1982              CHUNICHI DRAGONS          64      47    .577
1983              YOMIURI GIANTS            72      50    .590
1984              HIROSHIMA CARP            75      45    .625
1985              HANSHIN TIGERS            74      49    .602
1986              HIROSHIMA CARP            73      46    .613
1987              YOMIURI GIANTS            76      43    .639
1988              CHUNICHI DRAGONS          79      46    .632
1989              YOMIURI GIANTS            84      44    .656
1990              YOMIURI GIANTS            88      42    .677
1991              HIROSHIMA CARP            74      56    .569
1992              YAKULT SWALLOWS           69      61    .531
1993              YAKULT SWALLOWS           80      50    .615
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Pennant Winners:  Pacific League
----------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR                  TEAM                 WON     LOST   PCT.
----------------------------------------------------------------
1950              MAINICHI ORIONS           81      34    .704
1951              NANKAI HAWKS              72      24    .750
1952              NANKAI HAWKS              76      44    .633
1953              NANKAI HAWKS              71      48    .597
1954              NISHITETSU LIONS          90      47    .657
1955              NANKAI HAWKS              99      41    .707
1956              NISHITETSU LIONS          96      51    .646
1957              NISHITETSU LIONS          83      44    .648
1958              NISHITETSU LIONS          78      47    .619
1959              NANKAI HAWKS              88      42    .677
1960              DAIMAI ORIONS             82      48    .631
1961              NANKAI HAWKS              85      49    .629
1962              TOEI FLYERS               78      52    .600
1963              NISHITETSU LIONS          86      60    .589
1964              NANKAI HAWKS              84      63    .571
1965              NANKAI HAWKS              88      49    .642
1966              NANKAI HAWKS              79      51    .608
1967              HANKYU BRAVES             75      55    .577
1968              HANKYU BRAVES             80      50    .615
1969              HANKYU BRAVES             76      50    .603
1970              LOTTE ORIONS              80      47    .630
1971              HANKYU BRAVES             80      39    .672
1972              HANKYU BRAVES             80      48    .625
1973    1st HALF  [*] NANKAI HAWKS          38      26    .594
        2nd HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             43      19    .694
1974    1st HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             36      23    .610
        2nd HALF  [*] LOTTE ORIONS          38      23    .623
1975    1st HALF  [*] HANKYU BRAVES         38      25    .603
        2nd HALF  KINTETSU BUFFALOES        40      20    .667
1976    1st HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             42      21    .667
        2nd HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             37      24    .607
1977    1st HALF  [*] HANKYU BRAVES         35      25    .583
        2nd HALF  LOTTE ORIONS              33      24    .579
1978    1st HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             44      20    .688
        2nd HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             38      19    .667
1979    1st HALF  [*] KINTETSU BUFFALOES    39      19    .672
        2nd HALF  HANKYU BRAVES             36      23    .610
1980    1st HALF  LOTTE ORIONS              33      25    .569
        2nd HALF  [*] KINTETSU BUFFALOES    35      26    .574
1981    1st HALF  LOTTE ORIONS              35      26    .574
        2nd HALF  [*] NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS   37      23    .617
1982    1st HALF  [*] SEIBU LIONS           36      27    .571
        2nd HALF  NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS       35      23    .603
1983              SEIBU LIONS               86      40    .683
1984              HANKYU BRAVES             75      45    .625
1985              SEIBU LIONS               79      45    .637
1986              SEIBU LIONS               68      49    .581
1987              SEIBU LIONS               71      45    .612
1988              SEIBU LIONS               73      51    .589
1989              KINTETSU BUFFALOES        71      54    .568
1990              SEIBU LIONS               81      45    .643
1991              SEIBU LIONS               81      43    .653
1992              SEIBU LIONS               80      47    .630
1993              SEIBU LIONS               74      53    .581
----------------------------------------------------------------
 [*] playoff winner

Japan Series
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR       TEAM/LEAGUE         WON       TEAM/LEAGUE            WON
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1950    MAINICHI ORIONS, PL     4     SHOCHIKU ROBINS, CL        2
1951    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           1
1952    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           2
1953    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           2  1 TIE
1954    CHUNICHI DRAGONS, CL    4     NISHITETSU LIONS, PL       3
1955    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           3
1956    NISHITETSU LIONS, PL    4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         2
1957    NISHITETSU LIONS, PL    4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         0  1 TIE
1958    NISHITETSU LIONS, PL    4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         3
1959    NANKAI HAWKS, PL        4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         0
1960    TAIYO WHALES, CL        4     DAIMAI ORIONS, PL          0
1961    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           2
1962    TOEI FLYERS, PL         4     HANSHIN TIGERS, CL         2  1 TIE
1963    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NISHITETSU LIONS, PL       3
1964    NANKAI HAWKS, PL        4     HANSHIN TIGERS             3
1965    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           1
1966    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           2
1967    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          2
1968    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          2
1969    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          2
1970    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     LOTTE ORIONS, PL           1
1971    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          1
1972    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          1
1973    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NANKAI HAWKS, PL           1
1974    LOTTE ORIONS, PL        4     CHUNICHI DRAGONS, CL       2
1975    HANKYU BRAVES, PL       4     HIROSHIMA CARP, CL         0  2 TIES
1976    HANKYU BRAVES, PL       4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         3
1977    HANKYU BRAVES, PL       4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         1
1978    YAKULT SWALLOWS, CL     4     HANKYU BRAVES, PL          3
1979    HIROSHIMA CARP, CL      4     KINTETSU BUFFALOES, PL     3
1980    HIROSHIMA CARP, CL      4     KINTETSU BUFFALOES, PL     3
1981    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS, PL    2
1982    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     CHUNICHI DRAGONS, CL       2
1983    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         3
1984    HIROSHIMA CARP, CL      4     HANYKU BRAVES, PL          3
1985    HANSHIN TIGERS, CL      4     SEIBU LIONS, PL            2
1986    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     HIROSHIMA CARP, CL         3  1 TIE
1987    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         2
1988    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     CHUNICHI DRAGONS, CL       1
1989    YOMIURI GIANTS, CL      4     KINTETSU BUFFALOES, PL     3
1990    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     YOMIURI GIANTS, CL         0
1991    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     HIROSHIMA CARP, CL         3
1992    SEIBU LIONS, PL         4     YAKULT SWALLOWS, CL        3
1993    YAKULT SWALLOWS, CL     4     SEIBU LIONS, PL            3

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

U.S. Major League Batters in Japan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Name            Yrs                  G       HR      BA    Titles Won
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adair, Jerry         1    1971           90       7    .300
Adduci, Jim          1    1987           82      13    .268
Allen, Kim           2    1982-83       125       5    .265
Allen, Rod           3    1989-91       245      45    .288
Alou, Matty          3    1974-76       262      14    .283
Altman, George       8    1968-75       935     205    .309  68 rbi, 71ba
Andrews, Mike        1    1975-76       123      12    .231
Arnold, Chris        3    1978-81       330      43    .274
Aspromonte, Ken      3    1964-66       295      31    .273
Ault, Doug           1    1981          102      18    .307
Barbier, Jim         1    1970           93       9    .188
Barfield, Jesse      1    1993          104      26    .215
Bass, Randy          6    1983-88       614     202    .337  85-86 hr-ba-rbi,
                                                             83-84 ba, 85 MVP
Bathe, Bill          2    1991-92       156      16    .236
Batista, Rafael      1    1975           48       3    .204
Baumer, Jim          5    1963-67       690      82    .251
Bean, Billy          1    1991            7       0    .208
Bernazard, Tony      3    1988-90       308      67    .289
Bertoia, Reno        1    1964           20       1    .175
Blasingame, Don      3    1967-69       366      15    .274
Boisclair, Bruce     1    1980           80       1    .249
Boles, Carl          6    1966-71       577     117    .265
Boyer, Clete         4    1972-75       419      71    .257
Bradford, Buddy      1    1977           56       4    .192
Bradley, Phil        1    1991          121      21    .282
Braggs, Glenn        1    1993           72      19    .345
Brant, Marshall      2    1984-85       118      25    .244
Brantley, Mickey     1    1993           13       0    .182
Breedon, Hal         3    1976-78       260      79    .251
Brewer, Tony         3    1986-89       389      82    .310
Briggs, Dan          2    1982-83       176      18    .258
Briggs, John         1    1976           47       7    .227
Brouhard, Mark       2    1986-87       140      23    .265
Brown, Marty         2    1992-93       229      46    .256
Brown, Mike          1    1990           70       7    .282
Bryant, Ralph        6    1988-93       620     214    .261  89 hr-MVP, 93
                                                               hr-rbi
Budaska, Mark        1    1982           86       3    .208
Buford, Don          4    1973-76       490      65    .270
Cage, Wayne          2    1981-82       252      62    .235
Chance, Bob          2    1969-70       143      22    .271
Christian, Bob       2    1971-72       232      27    .263
Coggins, Frank       1    1973           13       2    .125
Corey, Mark          1    1984           31       3    .215
Cosey, Ray           1    1981          120      15    .251
Cromartie, Warren    7    1984-90      7779     171    .321  89 ba-MVP
Cruz, Hector         1    1983           58       4    .240
Cruz, Tommy          6    1980-85       712     120    .310
Dade, Paul           1    1981           37       1    .219
Davis, Alvin         1    1992           40       5    .275
Davis, Dick          5    1984-88       461     117    .331
Davis, Willie        2    1977-78       199      43    .297
Dayett, Brian        4    1988-91       145     121    .268
DeCinces, Doug       1    1989           84      19    .244
Destrade, Orestes    4    1989-92       471     154    .264  90-92 hr, 90-91
                                                               rbi
Diaz, Mike           4    1989-92       350     114    .281
Distefano, Benny     1    1990           56      39    .215
Doby, Larry          1    1962           72      10    .225
Dodson, Pat          1    1989            6       0    .313
Doyle, Jeff          2    1984-85       243      29    .263
Duncan, Taylor       1    1980           64      14    .235
Dupree, Mike         1    1980          127      10    .266
Easler, Mike         2    1988-89       142      26    .302
Edwards, Mike        1    1983           53       1    .291
Emery, Calvin        1    1970           94       8    .213
Essegian, Chuck      1    1964          110      15    .263
Ewing, Sam           1    1979          119      15    .286
Fernandez, Chico     1    1965           52       1    .144
Fielder, Cecil       1    1989          106      38    .302
Gaines, Joe          1    1969           51       3    .205
Gainey, Ty           1    1993           98      23    .290
Gardner, Art         2    1981-82       218      30    .272
Garrett, Adrian      3    1977-79       384     102    .260
Garrett, Wayne       2    1979-80       192      28    .241
Gentile, Jim         1    1969           65       8    .256
Gonzales, Dan        1    1981            9       1    .174
Gonzalez, Denny      2    1991-92        41       9    .248
Gonzalez, Tony       1    1972           31       0    .297
Goodwin, Danny       1    1986           83       8    .231
Green, David         1    1986           67      10    .270
Grunwald, Alfred     1    1962           70       3    .211
Hadley, Kent         6    1962-67       781     131    .260
Hall, Mel            1    1993          129      30    .296
Hammond, Steve       1    1987          115       9    .274
Hampton, Ike         1    1981           72      15    .230
Hansen, Jimmy        2    1977-78       232      31    .271
Harlow, Larry        1    1982           42       4    .164
Harper, Terry        1    1988           10       2    .143
Harris, Vic          3    1981-83       280      35    .253
Hengel, Dave         2    1990-91        21       4    .183
Hicks, Jim           2    1973-74       183      33    .247
Hilton, Dave         3    1978-80       251      38    .284
Hinshaw, George      1    1989           53       8    .294
Horner, Bob          1    1987           93      31    .327
Hopkins, Gail        3    1975-77       360      69    .282
Hostetler, Dave      2    1986-87       254      42    .270
Howard, Frank        1    1974            1       0    .000
Howell, Jack         2    1992-93       234      66    .313  92 hr-ba-MVP
Hudler, Rex          1    1993          120      14    .300
Ireland, Tom         2    1983-84       204      18    .275
Jackson, Lou         3    1966-68       329      68    .257
Jacoby, Brook        1    1993           18       2    .183
James, Skip          1    1980          111      21    .269
Jestadt, Garry       2    1975-76       256      27    .239
Johnson, Dave        2    1975-76       199      39    .241
Johnson, Frank       1    1972          101      13    .232
Johnson, Greg        1    1982          104      10    .256
Johnson, Randy       2    1987-88       142       9    .306
Johnson, Stan        1    1969           96       5    .242
Jones, Bobby         2    1979-80       174      20    .284
Jones, Clarence      8    1970-77       961     246    .239  74, 76 hr
Jones, Ruppert       1    1988           52       8    .254
Keough, Marty        1    1968          134      17    .231
Kirkland, Willie     6    1968-73       723     126    .246
Kostro, Frank        1    1970           37       1    .200
Klaus, Billy         1    1963           62       3    .257
Krsnich, Mike        5    1963-67       506      90    .265
Lacock, Pete         1    1981           90      10    .269
Laga, Mike           2    1991-92       136      35    .231
Larker, Norm         2    1965-66       224      14    .267
Lancellotti, Rich    2    1987-88       200      55    .207  87 hr
Law, Vance           1    1990          122      29    .313
Lee, Leron          11    1977-87      1315     283    .320  80 ba, 77 hr-rbi
Lefebvre, Jim        4    1973-76       330      60    .263
Lezcano, Sixto       1    1987           20       3    .217
Lind, Jack           1    1977           65       7    .237
Lis, Joe             1    1978           95       6    .206
Llenas, Winston      1    1976          101       6    .227
Locklear, Gene       1    1978          108       8    .240
Logan, Johnny        1    1964           96       7    .189
Lolich, Ron          3    1974-76       272      56    .238
Lopez, Arturo        6    1968-73       750     116    .290
Loman, Doug          1    1986          126      14    .291
Lum, Mike            1    1982          117      12    .269
Lyttle, Jim          7    1977-83       876     166    .285
Macha, Ken           4    1982-85       473      82    .304
Madlock, Bill        1    1988          123      19    .263
Manuel, Charlie      6    1976-81       621     189    .303  79-80 hr, 80 rbi,
                                                             79 MVP
Marshall, Jim        3    1963-65       408      78    .268
Marshall, Mike       1    1992           67       9    .246
Martin, Gene         6    1974-79       746     189    .272
May, Carlos          4    1978-81       415      70    .309
McFadden, Leon       1    1972           54       2    .283
McGuire, Mickey      2    1973-74       207      11    .265
McManus, Jim         2    1962-63       190      20    .236
McNulty, Bill        1    1975           64      13    .190
Medina, Luis         1    1993            3       0    .333
Mejias, Roman        1    1966           30       0    .288
Millan, Felix        3    1978-80       325      12    .306  79 ba
Miller, John         3    1970-72       382      79    .245
Mitchell, Bobby      4    1976-79       474     113    .250  78 hr
Money, Don           1    1984           29       8    .260
Morton, Bubba        1    1970           48       3    .173
Moseby, Lloyd        2    1992-93       133      29    .289
Motley, Darryl       2    1992-93        44       7    .222
Murphy, Dwayne       1    1990           34       5    .229
Muser, Tony          1    1979           65       2    .196
Nettles, Jim         1    1975           84       3    .234
Newcombe, Don        1    1962           81      12    .262
Nieman, Bob          1    1963          110      13    .301
Nyman, Chris         2    1984-85       246      55    .276
Oglivie, Ben         2    1987-88       224      46    .306
O'Malley, Tom        3    1991-93       366      59    .320  93 ba
Ontiveros, Steve     6    1980-85       686      82    .312
Ortenzio, Frank      2    1979-80       149      30    .250
Paciorek, Jim        6    1988-93       698      86    .315  90 ba
Paredes, Johnny      1    1992           53       3    .242
Parker, Wes          1    1974          127      14    .301
Parrish, Larry       2    1989-90       235      70    .260  89 hr
Patterson, Mike      1    1985           88      16    .225
Palys, Stan          4    1964-67       446      66    .275
Pepitone, Joe        1    1973           14       1    .163
Perlozzo, Sam        1    1980          118      15    .281
Peterson, Carl       3    1961-63       357      58    .272
Pierce, Jack         1    1977           95      13    .227
Pointer, Aaron       3    1970-72       302      40    .230
Ponce, Carlos        5    1986-90       533     119    .296  87 rbi, 88 hr-rbi
Powell, Alonzo       2    1992-93       185      40    .313
Putnam, Pat          2    1986-87       243      37    .266
Qualls, Jimmy        2    1972-73       162      15    .252
Raines, Larry        3    1953-55       330      31    .302  54 ba, 53 sb
Rajsich, Gary        3    1986-88       317      76    .283
Rawdon, Wade         2    1989-90       149      24    .289
Ray, Johnny          2    1991-92       159      13    .269
Reid, Jessie         2    1991-92       128      20    .250
Reinback, Mike       5    1976-80       565      94    .296
Repoz, Roger         5    1974-77       526     122    .262
Reynolds, R.J.       3    1991-93       335      52    .288  93 rbi
Rivera, Bombo        2    1985-86       158      37    .240
Rivera, German       1    1989          123      25    .260
Roberts, Dave        7    1967-73       814     183    .275
Robson, Tom          1    1976           37       3    .209
Rodgers, Andre       1    1969           49       4    .210
Roig, Tony           6    1963-78       779     126    .255
Rosario, Jim         2    1975-76       131       5    .215
Rose, Bobby          1    1993          130      19    .270
Ryal, Mark           2    1991-92       124      24    .286
Scheinblum, Rich     2    1975-76       239      33    .295
Schu, Rick           1    1993          128      24    .270
Scott, John          3    1979-81       279      48    .262
Sheets, Larry        1    1992          131      26    .308  92 rbi
Shirley, Bart        2    1971-72       246      15    .183
Sipin, John          9    1972-80      1036     218    .297
Smith, Chris         2    1984-85        68       5    .202
Smith, Reggie        2    1983-84       186      45    .271
Smith, Willie        2    1972-73       170      29    .259
Solaita, Tony        4    1980-83       510     155    .268  81 hr-rbi
Sorrell, Bill        2    1972-73       183      20    .278
Spencer, Daryl       7    1964-70       731     152    .275  64, 65 ba
Spikes, Charlie      1    1981           26       1    .122
Stairs, Matt         1    1993           60       6    .250
Stanton, Leroy       1    1979          121      23    .225
Stephens, Gene       1    1966          109       5    .224
Stroughter, Steve    1    1983           28       5    .276
Stuart, Dick         2    1967-68       208      49    .257
Tatum, Jarvis        1    1971           31       1    .192
Taylor, Robert       3    1973-75       358      30    .259
Testa, Nick          1    1962           57       0    .136
Thomas, Lee          1    1969          109      12    .263
Thomasson, Gary      2    1981-82       167      20    .249
Tolan, Bobby         1    1978           98       6    .267
Tolentino, Jose      1    1993           30       1    .152
Torve, Kelvin        2    1992-93       192      20    .271
Traber, Jim          2    1990-91       247      53    .287
Tracy, Jim           2    1983-84       128      20    .301
Tyrone, Jim          3    1979-82       435      74    .287
Upshaw, Willie       2    1989-90       174      39    .245
Valentine, Fred      1    1970          123      11    .246
Venable, Max         2    1992-93       214      20    .270
Versalles, Zoilo     1    1972           48       4    .189
Vidal, Jose          1    1971           39       2    .221
Vukovich, George     2    1986-87       222      32    .256
Walls, Lee           1    1965          108      14    .239
Walton, Danny        1    1978           75       9    .215
Ward, Jay            1    1966          104      14    .238
Wells, Greg         10    1983-92      1148     277    .317  84 hr-ba-rbi-MVP,
                                                             87 rbi, 89 ba-rbi
                                                             92 rbi
Werhas, Johnny       1    1971          100       8    .214
White, Jerry         2    1984-85       218      37    .251
White, Roy           3    1980-82       362      54    .283
Whitfield, Terry     3    1981-83       374      85    .289
Williams, Bernie     6    1975-80       718      96    .258
Williams, Dallas     1    1988          100      10    .242
Williams, Eddie      1    1991           49       5    .252
Williams, Walt       2    1976-77       239      44    .277
Wills, Bump          2    1983-84       203      16    .259
Wilson, George       2    1963-64       225      27    .258
Wilson, Jim          1    1990            6       1    .059
Windhorn, Gordon     6    1964-69       641      86    .255
Winters, Matt        4    1990-93       507     138    .269
Wolfe, Larry         1    1982           88      14    .224
Woods, Ron           2    1975-76       192      19    .263
Wright, George       2    1988&93       183      20    .247
Wynne, Marvell       1    1991          123      13    .230
Zimmer, Don          1    1966           87       9    .182
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


U.S. Major League Pitchers in Japan [*]
--------------------------------------------------------------
     Name           Yrs                    Won-Lost     ERA
--------------------------------------------------------------
Alexander, Bob       1       1959             2-5      4.67
Anderson, Scott      2       1991-92        18-21      4.00
Austin, Rich         1       1974             1-1      2.33
bannister, Floyd     1       1990             3-2      4.04
Beene, Andy          1       1985             2-2      7.25
Birtsas, Tim         1       1991             3-5      5.61
Burnside, Pete       2       1964-65        10-22      3.10
Cary, Charles        1       1992             3-5      3.61
Castillo, Bobby      1       1987             1-1      7.84
Comstock, Keith      2       1985            8-10      4.47
Culver, George       1       1975             1-4      6.50
Davis, Ron           1       1989             4-5      3.97
Eichelberger, Juan   1       1989             0-3      7.04
Foytack, Paul        1       1965             2-3      3.16
Gale, Rich           2       1985-86        18-18      4.42
Gibson, Bob          1       1988            7-11      4.87
Gossage, Goose       1       1990             2-3      4.40
Grunwald, Alfred     1       1962             2-8      4.50
Gullickson, Bill     2       1988-89        21-14      3.29
Hoffman, Guy         3       1989-92        20-19      4.33
Kekich, Mike         1       1974            5-11      4.13
Keough, Matt         4       1987-90        45-44      3.73
Kiely, Leo           1       1953             6-0      1.80
Krueger, Rich        1       1979             2-1      4.66
Kuhaulua, Fred       1       1978             3-4      4.32
Lesley, Brad         2       1986-87          7-5      3.00
Ley, Richard         2       1974-75          5-5      4.09
Mickens, Glenn       5       1959-63        45-51      2.50
Newcombe, Don        1       1962             0-0      4.50
Paine, Phil          1       1953             4-3      1.77
Palmquist, Ed        1       1963             0-1      3.00
Perez, Yorkis        1       1992             0-1      7.11
Rajsich, David       1       1984             0-1      3.18
Reynolds, Bob        1       1977             0-0      9.00
Rochford, Mike       1       1990             0-3      8.61
Sanchez, Luis        2       1986-87          4-4      2.54
Schulze, Don         3       1990-92        12-11      4.94
Shirley, Steve       2       1983-84          5-7      4.17
Smith, Willie        1       1972             0-1     81.00
Stanka, Joe          7       1960-66       100-72      3.03  64 mvp
Stone, Dean          1       1964             0-0      3.75
Tillotson, Thad      1       1971             3-4      6.40
Tunnell, Lee         3       1991-93        10-19      4.90
Wright, Clyde        3       1976-78        22-18      3.97
Young, Raymond       2       1991-92          1-2      5.95
TOTALS                                    405-422
--------------------------------------------------------------
 [*] Lists compiled from Wayne Graczyk, Americans in Japan
     1950-1986, and Isao Chiba, "Kiroku no Techo (Record
     Notes)," Shukan Baseball, March 28, 1988, and April 4,
     1988.