Feeling the cold wind blow means two things. Winter is around the
corner and Japan's misnamed spring training cannot be far behind. No, sorry.
That would be getting too far ahead. Spring camp doesn't start until February--only
because November temperatures are far too hospitable to prepare players
to swelter in August at the Seibu Dome.
No, November is the time when young men see their dream of becoming pros realized and fans get a lesson in abstract thought through the new draft, which will rear its ugly head on Monday.
Tired of having a draft system that satisfied no one, baseball's best and brightest have tied a Gordian knot that will infuriate everyone. For anyone who remembers being frustrated by new math, the new draft will bring a wave of nostalgia, nausea or both.
Let's have a look, shall we?
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First of all, there is a pre draft. Teams can sign one or two college graduates or corporate league players with three years under their belts.
If you sign one of these guys, then you will be excluded from being able to pick in the first round, when high school players become available.
A team signing two of these older players cannot join the regular draft until the team's owner sings "Kimigayo" in Swahili 20 times or the fourth round, whichever comes first.
Unlike third year high school students, college and corporate players have reached the age of consent and are allowed to sell themselves to the highest bidders. High school players and lesser lights from the college and corporate ranks, however, are forced to negotiate with whatever team earns their rights when the slave auction--excuse me, the draft--begins in proper.
Teams that lust after 18-year-olds with superior fastballs will skip the pre-draft market and go straight to the appropriately misnamed first round.
The first round is misnamed because it follows the free selection phase, but let's pass on that for the moment. The principle object of pro scout lust this fall is Koshien fireballer Hayato Terahara.
Four teams, the Yomiuri Giants, Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, Yokohama BayStars and Chunichi Dragons, are after the speed burner, who is now toiling with the Japanese national team at the World Cup in Taiwan.
Three other clubs, the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, Hiroshima Carp and Chiba Lotte Marines, who have not signed anyone old enough to vote, will also seek out willing high school players in this round.
In the first round, teams that covet the same schoolboy will draw lots for that player's negotiating rights. Losers will get to make another selection and draw lots again if their alternate pick is the same as another club's. So the three clubs that miss the boat on Terahara will be allowed to look around and take their pick from among the remaining players.
The second round (the third if anyone is counting) is exclusively for those teams who sign only one player in the pre-draft. The Nippon Ham Fighters, Seibu Lions and Yakult Swallows all fall in this category and they will pick anyone they like in that order, from this past season's worst finisher to best, with no lottery.
The next round belongs once again to those teams that skipped the pre-draft in order to gain access to high school boys in the first round. Again the teams will choose in reverse order of their 2001 finish with no lottery.
Finally, in the fourth round, the two remaining teams, the Hanshin Tigers and the Orix BlueWave, who have each signed their quota of two older players, will be allowed to sit at the big table--unless of course some owner has shown an unusual aptitude for the Swahili language.
The fourth-round picks will be made in order of finish, so the Japan
Series-champion Swallows will pick first and the PL's last-place Fighters
will go last. The draft continues, with the selection order reversing in
each successive round, until either 120 players have been picked, all the
teams pack up and leave, or until the the vice squad raids the joint.
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One of Japan's true old masters died on Saturday. Tadashi Sugiura the former submarine-style hurler of the Nankai Hawks, died in his Sapporo hotel room after the Osaka Romans played the Sapporo Ambitious in their Masters League game at Sapporo Dome on Saturday. Sugiura, the pitching coach, was filling in as acting manager for skipper Yoshio Yoshida, who was unable to make the game.
Sugiura, a Rikkyo University teammate of former Yomiuri Giants star and manager Shigeo Nagashima, is best known for dismantling the Giants in the 1959 Japan Series. The right-hander started and won Game 1. He relieved and won Game 2 and then tossed complete game victories in Games 3 and 4.
Although the bespectacled native of Aichi Prefecture pitched in 13 pro seasons, he never had another year like he had in 1959, when he led the Pacific League with 38 wins (against four losses), 336 strikeouts and a 1.50 ERA.
Sugiura managed the Hawks for four seasons, their last three in Osaka
and their first after the club was purchased by Daiei and delivered to
Fukuoka.
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Sugiura's death is really the first bad news to strike the Masters League. The newest pro circuit in Japan had hoped to draw 10,000 fans a game and have so far exceeded that number in all but one game. The exception was a Friday night game at Seibu Dome. Even with the wind and rain, 6,000 hardy fans made it all the way out there to see the Tokyo Dreams and the Nagoya 80 D'sers play in Yoshiaki Tsutsumi's icebox.
The games are snappily played and, despite the league's emphasis on
age before ability, the guys put on a good show. The principle question
to be asked is whether they put an entertaining product on the field or
not. So far, the answer is yes.
The ML deserves a better fate than the National Baseball League, the
last independent league to form. That circuit, despite boasting many top
players, folded after completing the 1947 season in poor venues and with
barely a mention in the sports pages.
By playing in the winter, the ML provides a real alternative to stories
about fall camp and contract negotiations. If you're a baseball fan, the
best solution for the off season is winter ball, something the old masters
are bringing us. All jokes aside, it's a service and one we should welcome
with open arms.
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Congratulations to Ichiro Suzuki for being named the AL's rookie of the year. The great thing about award voting is that it brings out more knuckleheads than a classic Harley exhibition. One intellectually challenged voter thought Ichiro was undeserving because of his time in Japan. So what. The rules say you select the best player eligible. Ichiro was the best player eligible.
Let him take his case to the courts but don't deprive Ichiro of the unanimous selection he deserved.
The Hot Corner appears each Thursday in The
Daily Yomiuri .