FanHouse InternationalPastime

The Israeli Baseball League was a minor topic of fascination among baseball people for a year or so, but in 2007 the league collapsed financially. Apparently Israeli market demand for second-tier baseball players dueling on half-groomed baseball fields is low. Who knew? So Israeli baseball went away, seemingly forever, and I'll admit I totally forgot it was even an interest of mine in the first place. Video games are distracting that way.

Alas, the New York Times' baseball blog informs us today that Israeli baseball may not be dead for long. Apparently, a limited Yankees partner -- who was involved in the first Israeli league but resigned because of his dismay over how poor the league was -- is organizing a new league with an ETA of 2010 or 2011. Why would this league be any different? He seems to have it pretty well-considered:

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

There are few pitches as strength-agnostic as the knuckleball. Get a good knuckleball, and you can look like John Daly's fat cousin and still probably end up making money to play baseball. It's a golden ticket, that knuckler. Use it wisely.

That's exactly the plan for 16-year-old Japanese girl Eri Yoshida, who is attempting to use her knuckler to go pro against men in Japan. So far, so good:

High school student Eri Yoshida was drafted by the Kobe 9 Cruise, a professional team in a new independent Japanese league that will start its first season in April. "I always dreamed of becoming a professional," Yoshida, who is 5-feet (152-centimeters) tall and weighs 114 pounds (52 kilograms), told a news conference Monday. "I have only just been picked by the team and haven't achieved anything yet."

Yoshida took part in a tryout held earlier this month and passed with flying colors. The right-hander held male batters hitless for one inning in the tryout and her successful outing helped her become one of the 33 players picked in the draft.

If you factor in mathematical probability -- carry the one, add the three, and so forth -- it is a near certainty that one of those batters was Kosuke Fukudome. He was being held hitless somewhere, anyway.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

In recent years we've seen quite an influx of international players in Major League Baseball, with most of the players coming from the Oriental countries of Asia. You have your Daisukes, your Ichiros, your Fukudomes, and your Wangs along with many other players from Japan and Korea. The newest Japanese import will be pitcher Junichi Tazawa who is already getting interest from the Boston Red Sox.

Of course, Major League teams are now scouting the Far East pretty regularly in search of the newest import superstar. If you live in any other part of Asia and want to play baseball in the big leagues, you have to cross the Pacific Ocean first, which is exactly what two kids from India have done, with a little help along the way.

Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel, two 19-year-olds from small villages in India, desperately want to live the American dream. Their shot at it is a decidedly improbable one.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

You've probably noticed over the last few years there have been a lot more players in MLB with names that are hard to pronounce, or just sound dirty. Yes, Japan is quickly becoming the new Latin America as just about every team these days is adding a Japanese player to their roster.

It's hard to blame them for it, as guys like Ichiro Suzuki, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Hideki Matsui, and Akinori Iwamura are proving themselves to be pretty good players. It's also nice to have a Kosuke Fukudome around for a fan base to blame for everything.

Of course, on the flip side of this equation is Japan. Due to the amount of Japanese players crossing the Pacific for the honor of facing off against John Lannan and the Washington Nationals, it's leaving the Japanese league a little thin. Which is why they've decided to implement a new policy in hopes of keeping players from leaving the island.

An executive committee representing Japan's 12 professional baseball teams have agreed to introduce a ban on players returning to Japanese baseball after turning down rookie draft nominations in Japan and signing with overseas pro teams.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

For years major league teams have honored a handshake agreement with Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) not to sign Japanese amateur prospects. Once a player signs in Japan, he's not eligible to test free agency for nine years, meaning any player who hopes to jump across the Pacific to play in the majors before then must go through an expensive posting process which compensates his Japanese team.

It's a system that has allowed Japanese baseball to flourish, but from a player's perspective, it's obviously quite limiting. As Peter Abraham of the Journal News describes, Junichi Tazawa, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher, hopes to buck the system by skipping the NPB and signing with a U.S. team.

Tazawa has been heavily scouted by several MLB teams (Abraham mentions the Red Sox, Braves, Mets and Dodgers, and another report puts the Tigers in the mix, as well) and last week asked the 12 teams in the NPB not to draft him so that he'd be free to sign a major league contract. Not surprisingly, NPB quickly went into freak-out mode, issuing the following press release last week:

"The initial rules for amateur player acquisition was created back in 1962 by the Commissioners from the Majors and the NPB," the release said. "Since then, no amateur players have signed with MLB teams and it is this fact that indicates that this was more than just a gentleman's agreement, but rather an implicit understanding that the Majors would do no such thing," it said. "That a handful of clubs from the Majors is trying to break this gentlemen's agreement is truly regrettable."

Some time between when I went to bed last night and early this afternoon, Olympic baseball started happening. Even as a huge baseball fan, Olympic Baseball doesn't really do much for me because the level of competition is stunted by Major League Baseball not allowing their stars to participate. Still, the Cuban national team and players from the Japanese leagues are playing, so there is some intrigue, even if it's almost impossible to find on your TV.

Last night Yu Darvish, possibly the next huge name to come to America from Japan, started against the Cubans. The result? Not a terribly pretty introduction to an international stage for Darvish, who gave up four runs on seven hits with four walks in his four innings of work in Japan's 4-2 loss. He did strike out six batters in his short start, which means that those that saw the game likely saw a flash of the tantalizing potential that's had major league teams salivating.

In other Olympic action, the US lost their opener to South Korea, Canada thumped China 10-0 behind a home run from Scott Thorman (he's alive!) and Chinese Taipei shut-out the Netherlands 5-0. And I swear I'll find a way to spite my sleep and watch at least one of these games before the Olympics ends. Seriously.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

While baseball may be extremely popular in Japan and South Korea, it hasn't made much in-roads throughout the rest of the Far East. In fact, according to the New York Times, the sport was actually banned in China by Mao Zedong during the 1960's for being too Western. The sport is now "legal," but despite tens of millions of dollars invested by Major League Baseball to promote the sport (and MLB sending four teams to China to start their season this spring), interest is still low.

That said, with the Olympics being hosted in Beijing, China will in fact field a team. The squad did make its way to American soil to train with would-be big leaguers during the Arizona Fall League this past year, but most of the players are still extremely short on experience. They have an American manager in former big leaguer Jim Lefebvre, but it's been difficult for him to close the cultural gap. From the Times:

When he first addressed his players five years ago, they would not even make eye contact. Most of them came to baseball in their teens after failing to advance in two or three other sports, he said.

Lefebvre, 66, gave an impassioned speech this spring: "We're here to get ready for the Olympics and strength is part of that. You don't order room service and say, 'Hey, send me up some strength.' You have to go and get it yourself. So how many of you want to go lift weights?"

Only one player raised his hand.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

The Israeli Baseball League has been a minor fascination around here since the MLB 'House started. International baseball is interesting altogether, actually, and who doesn't love the potential of new leagues? Israelis? Oh. Well that's not good:

"There will be no league in 2008," Haim Katz, president of the Israel Association of Baseball, told the Post on Thursday. "The main difficulty last year was that there wasn't sufficient work on the ground to prepare the terrain and to familiarize people with what was going to happen," said Zimbalist, a pioneer in the field of baseball economics. "There needs to be a lot more marketing - to introduce a new sport into a country, you need to promote it, and it wasn't adequately promoted. Once it got started, the communication system between the league and the potential fan base was not in place."

There's a chance the IBL will return in some incarnation in 2009, or beyond, but by the sounds of it the league seems doomed. Too bad. I, for one, will never forget Dan Duquette's Israeli redemption song. Oy vey. That's the joke, right? I'm supposed to say oy vey? Can someone Jewish bail me out here?

(HT: Walkoff Walk)

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

Jose Lima can be thankful for many things. He's blessed with an ample-bosomed wife, a wonderful voice, genital herpes and, every now and then, a right arm that can retire hitters with great effectiveness. The last of those times was in 2004, though, which is why Lima found himself signing a contract to pitch for the Kia Tigers of the Korean League before this season.

Kia hoped that the addition of Lima and other major league washouts would lift them out of the cellar. No such luck. Kia's lost 11 of their first 15 and Lima's compiled a 6.23 ERA while striking out just under three batters per nine innings of work. Predictably, he was released this afternoon.

How was the news received in his new country? East Windup Chronicle does the translating.

He leaves Korea not having won a single game, as the headline on the Korean Web portal Naver gleefully reads: "Not one win gathered...Lima is Kicked Out!"

That's a fitting final nail in the coffin of a career that was always a bit longer on off-field entertainment value than on-field achievement. Let that be a lesson to the mediocre starters of the future. If you're going to give up 48 homers in a season, do it colorfully and no one will mind as much.

International Pastime looks at baseball's influence outside the U.S.

We've already told you to be on the lookout (and to be careful with the Google Image searches) for Yu Darvish, who will likely make the jump from Japan to MLB sometime in the far-off future. But here's a name you'll hear a lot of in the next 12 months: Koji Uehara.

Unlike Darvish, Uehara is set to become an unrestricted free agent this winter, which means that he'll be able to shop his services to the highest bidder without prospective suitors needing to put up a costly posting fee. And as he recently announced, he plans on doing just that. From JapanBall (via MLBTR):

''I haven't seized the dream of playing in the major leagues. That is my ambition,'' Uehara told a press conference. ''I don't have that much time left and I want to achieve that goal before I see out my career,'' added the 33-year-old.