baseball

Japan's baseball world surprised by Ichiro's trade to Yankees

17 Comments
By Jim Armstrong

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17 Comments
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OK, that does it - I'm a Yankee fan now. I had been waiting for the Dodgers to see the error of their ways and come home to Brooklyn but I must admit I have lost patience.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I wish he would have gone to another team besides the Yankees, Americas most hated team.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

Japan's baseball world surprised by Ichiro's trade to Yankees... especially the fans, who now have to throw away their Mariners stuff and buy Yankees gear now. But, of course, they'll all have been fans long before Ichiro went there.

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Ichiro's near the end of his career. Whatever you think of the Yankees there's a definite prestige to playing for them, so this makes sense from his standpoint.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

real question is - why didn't he move earlier?

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ultradork Jul. 25, 2012 - 09:31AM JST real question is - why didn't he move earlier?

Ichiro had no trade clause on the contract with the Mariners. Mariners could trade him to limited teams. He didn't want to go to Kansas City Royals and said "August in Kansas City is hotter than 2 rats in a f__k'n wool socks" This pissed off people in Kansas. He also did not want to go to Cleveland Indians and said "To tell you the truth, I am not exited to go to Cleveland, but we have to" This pissed off people in Ohio.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Whatever he did or didn't say, don't think there'd be that many who don't believe he made the right strategic decision at the end of the day on when and how he should be waiving his no-trade provision rights.

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where is revered for his stoicism, perseverance and attention to detail.

He is also well known to be aloof, arrogant, and a difficult teammate as well. He had to agree to quite a few, (un-Ichiro-ish) conditions as well before the trade could have been made. Batting 8th, playing a different position, possibly sitting against left handed pitching, giving up No 51. and a few others it's seems as well.

Ichiro needed the Yankee's more than they needed him. His is without a doubt a future hall of fame entrant, but at this stage of his career Ichiro needs to finally learn how to be a team player.

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where is revered for his stoicism, perseverance and attention to detail.

I wanted to also add here that the Japanese media, and Japanese population as well fail to realize that Ichiro, while an icon for who and what he has accomplished, conveniently over-look the facts about his short comings and "bored" manner of playing when his team is losing. (continually).

He's just like the rest of pro-players, show me the money.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Hopefully he'll win a championship.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In my view Ichiro's shortcoming which Japan may be overlooking is not his "arrogance", lack of team player mentality or in his "bored" manner of playing losing games, knowing his consistent numbers and achievements throughout much of his major league career as well as the leadership, motivation and team play he displayed as part of the Japan team which won the WBC. Ichiro goes about his business in an extremely stoic manner, and probably expects the same from others. He prefers not to chat around (even in Japanese) and chooses to communicate through execution. In that sense he is more of a traditional samurai-like figure and it's therefore easy to imagine him not getting along at all with other team members espacially when they are in their early 20s without even attempting to communicate in English.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

seattle wasted this man's time. they did not make a team around this man. they used him as a ticket draw for eleven and a half years. i live in seattle. i remember when he came to this country. this city was and the team was going to become something.

well the yankees will be in the world seris again. seattle will be at the bottom of the pile one more year.......

0 ( +0 / -0 )

as well as the leadership, motivation and team play he displayed as part of the Japan team which won the WBC. Ichiro goes about his business in an extremely stoic manner, and probably expects the same from others. He prefers not to chat around (even in Japanese) and chooses to communicate through execution. In that sense he is more of a traditional samurai-like figure and it's therefore easy to imagine him not getting along at all with other team members espacially when they are in their early 20s without even attempting to communicate in English.

Leadership? I disagree, he didn't take, and doesn't take other players into his confidence and help them become better players. He stays aloof of others and does what Ichiro wants. Communication through execution? Hardly. No coach would advocate trying to copy what he does, his manner of hitting is extremely difficult to copy and there are few players alive that would even want to try. He, again here, does things his way and does not take to being corrected either. Not a team player.

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Yubaru: There were several in-depth interviews with members of the Japan team after the last WBC which showed how solid teamwork was key to their success and how Ichiro's presence was critical. Yes I agree he may never be able to lead the team through his own effective communication or technical guidance provided to others but his presence itself and the stoic way he approaches each game clearly played an effective part in bringing the team together and tightening them up. Having said that I believe what Japan may tend to overlook is rather the fact that he never really seemed to give an effort to communicate with his Mariners team members in English throughout the 11.5 yrs with the team, which I suspect was the biggest underlying factor that led to the critical remarks (in ways you describe) by existing and former team members who could never really see the positive side in his unique approach to each game and an artisan-like quest for excellence which he quietly expected from other team members.

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Ichiro is obsessive compulsive which serves him well for his routine work-outs, playing style, and being the finicky man that he is. He goes out and does his job, he's not single so he doesn't have to mingle. He deals with his team mates professionally and does not cater to the "hollywood" part of being a superstar. I'll rather him be eccentric than a drunk driver, murderer, abuser, or big mouth like quite a few of our "superstars." I hope the Yankees get him a ring, that's all he needs on his resume. Thinking of Momo...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Having said that I believe what Japan may tend to overlook is rather the fact that he never really seemed to give an effort to communicate with his Mariners team members in English throughout the 11.5 yrs with the team, which I suspect was the biggest underlying factor that led to the critical remarks (in ways you describe) by existing and former team members who could never really see the positive side in his unique approach to each game and an artisan-like quest for excellence which he quietly expected from other team members.

There is no denying as I see it his ability and talent. Ichiro is a once in a generation talent that many if not most people would love to trade places with, to do what he can do, with the panache and skill that he has obviously worked so hard to perfect.

His work ethic is undeniably top level for his sport. However as a teammate or leader, we are going to have to agree to disagree because I see neither of those traits in him as a player or person. He is too self centered.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Simply put, Ichiro was, at one point, one of the top 5 "baseball" players in the world (just like Bobby V. said)... but Ichiro, in his 11 years (or 13, if you consider his spring training episode in 1999) in the big leagues, has yet to become a true "Major League" baseball player, figuratively and literally... as much as I hate the Yankees, I seriously hope that he finally "gets it" during his short stay with them... There is so much more to the league than just playing the actual game, most of which was not forcefully taught to him during his time in Seattle (Buhner could have done it)... and I hope he learns just how important leadership (which he thinks is unnecessary for a player) is on a team through Jeter... as Yogi might say, you can observe a lot by watching...

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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