Playing Hurt

The Stubbornness of Japanese Baseball

I read a quote from Yankee scouting advisor, George Rose, praising Masahiro Tanaka for a legendary story that he once threw 700 pitches in 5 days. The scout used this as evidence of Tanaka’s unique character.

To follow up, the advisor said, ”When I saw that, I said, ‘Wow, that’s a 17-year-old kid doing that,’” Rose added. “That’s the kind of thing you can’t coach.”

Actually Mr. Rose, in Japan, this workaholic approach to the game is EXACTLY what they coach.

700 pitches in 5 days IS INSANE. No argument there. My argument looks at the broader context of baseball in Japan. High school pitchers are expected to never, ever come out of a game. They are expected to pitch when they are hurt. They are expected to pitch when they are spent. And they are expected to pitch every day. To complain or ask to be taken out is a sign of major weakness.

To a Western baseball mind, this is of course insane. But within the unique culture of Japan, this kind of over-pitching is a cultural point of pride. Japanese baseball coaches scoff at the way American coaches ‘protect’ their pitchers. Of course, there are also many well-documented cases of Japanese pitchers blowing their arms out and having career ending injuries. I do not understand the point of pitching when your body is not capable of it. Take a long term view of these players. They are high schoolers with developing bodies. Protect their futures.

Anyway, back to Tanaka. The fact that he pitched so many pitches in so few days actually makes the reverse case that the Yankee scout attempted to make. It doesn’t show any bravery or uniqueness to me. To me it says that Tanaka was afraid of asking his coach to take him out. To me it says that Tanaka fell in line and behaved how 99 percent of Japanese high school players behave. Tanaka is the status quo in this story. He was afraid of the consequences and perceived weakness of not pitching 700 pitches in 5 days.

Hideo Nomo has the same high pitch count legend. So does Dice-K. If you are a high school ace in Japan, you pitch every game. There is no rotation. It is a anecdote that is more enlightening about the state of Japanese baseball culture than it is in judging the grit of a player’s character.

Tanaka is enormously talented. All I’m questioning is that we evolve the narrative and understand more about the culture that these Japanese players are coming out of. Japanese baseball is not the MLB, it’s not triple A. It’s a particular and proud version of baseball that has many differences, mostly in mentality and training that its American counterparts, especially scouts should take the time to understand.