Japanese Baseball has a mystique all its own that no other Asian league really does. The Japanese play the game properly. They respect it. But at the same time it is also filled with as much drama as anything you’ll hear of in MLB. I love NPB and it’s lore.
It’s interesting timing that Barnette’s move to Japan was seen as so risky. It was right before Colby Lewis’s renaissance in Texas that was a great demonstration that Gaijin could leverage a successful Npb stint into MLB success as well. Now there former Npb Gaijin all over the place!
So interesting! I saw Barnette blow a save back in August of 2012 against the Hanshin Tigers. I was so upset. Bought a Swallows jersey and wear it a couple times a month during baseball season. Great video!
Btw, looking at where Jingu located . Isn't it more appropriate for the title to be called "West Tokyo Guardian Angel"? Especially since I remembered your vid about Tokyo Stadium where you said there's no stadium in East Tokyo after its demolition
That's a screw up on my part, cut that part out in the YT editor. Should just be Tokyo now but the YT editor is absolute crap so idk if I did it right.
Why do NPB teams have English names? Can't find information online about it and i seems very strange, especially from a country as nationalistic as Japan.
This is probably the most common question I get asked, so I've had this response pre-prepared for a while now, sorry if it's a bit long TLDR: been that way since the 1880s and WW2 ensured that Kanji would never be on a main uniform ever again. So, in 1888 Keio University's Baseball Club was founded by a graduate student who'd just got back from the US. He started the team to help his fellow students decompress while cramming for exams. Their uniforms had "MITA" on the front of them in Latin characters (aka Romaji) because from 1888 to 1891 membership was restricted to students on Keio's Mita Campus. Every university that started a team after Keio followed their example. To this day most if not all universities have the school name in Romaji on the front of their jerseys. This influenced the JPBL (NPB's precursor), because it strove to replace the Tokyo Big 6 League as the highest level of Japanese Baseball. The first team to take on an English nickname was the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. They got their name in 1935 when they were doing a tour of North America to prepare for the inagural JPBL season the next year. San Francisco Seals manager Lefty O'Doul convinced them that they would need an evocative name to sell more tickets, and he suggested Giants, reasoning that Tokyo was the New York of Japan, so they should name themselves after a New York based MLB Club. They won a lot under the name and elected to keep it. The Osaka Tigers (now Hanshin Tigers) were the second team to take an English name, naming themselves after the Detroit Tigers thanks to the similarities between Detroit and Osaka at the time. Other pre-war English names included the Korakuen Eagles, Osaka Lions, and Tokyo Senators. All of whom were forced to drop their English names in 1941 by the Military Junta. The Junta allowed them to keep playing, but mandated that the jerseys must be in Kanji and that players would wear a military cap instead of a traditional baseball cap. This left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. So when the league started up again in 1946, they mandated that all jerseys and logos had to be in Romaji, and all teams had to have an English nickname. This was partially for conformity, as pre-war only half the teams had nicknames, and partially so they could attract American soldiers to come watch the games by making it easier for them to understand. The names on the back being in Romaji was because of TV. NPB mandated it in the 1970s so fans watching at home could watch without needing a program, and Romaji was chosen because it was cost effective and easier to read, 2200+ kanji and Katakana characters to print, vs 26. KBO uses Hangul because foreign players weren't allowed in the league till the late 90s, whereas there have been foreign players in Japanese pro baseball since the beginning, all the way back in 1936 Only high schools put Kanji on the front of their jerseys (and even then the big ones like Toin and Waseda Business Academy all use Romaji). So that led to the connotation that if you're playing high level ball, you have your jerseys in Romaji. This has extended to indyball and the industrial leagues too.
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CORRECTIONS:
- Go Fujisawa was not with Tony at Toda, that was another interpreter
- Unfortunately Tony and Hillary are no longer together.
One more correction. Logan Ondrusek’s last name is pronounced “On-drew-sick”. I learned to say when he pitched in Cincinnati for the Reds.
Japanese Baseball has a mystique all its own that no other Asian league really does. The Japanese play the game properly. They respect it. But at the same time it is also filled with as much drama as anything you’ll hear of in MLB. I love NPB and it’s lore.
It’s interesting timing that Barnette’s move to Japan was seen as so risky. It was right before Colby Lewis’s renaissance in Texas that was a great demonstration that Gaijin could leverage a successful Npb stint into MLB success as well. Now there former Npb Gaijin all over the place!
NPB CERTAINLY is no pushover league. I love NPB. I love the hitting style, I Love the crowd enthusiasm. I Love everything about it.
You are a legend for putting this video together with all the random fun facts. I never knew Matt Stairs played in Japan before this video 🤯
Oh 2010 and 2011… What a time to be new to NPB and following both the Dragons and Swallows.
When I think of Climax I think of New Japan Pro-Wrestling G1 Climax tournament.
So interesting! I saw Barnette blow a save back in August of 2012 against the Hanshin Tigers. I was so upset. Bought a Swallows jersey and wear it a couple times a month during baseball season. Great video!
Lol sharp dressed man is such a cool walk up song
First upload I’ve seen from ya for a while, looks like I have catching up to do tonight (ps a video on the power pro series would be sick)
Great video!
Good to see you're uploading again Gaijin!
Great story
Would be a perfect movie
Omg, is that the MLB Power Pros music in the background?
Yes it is lol
@@GaijinBaseball That game was my childhood, man.
Great video
Babe wake up, Gaijin Baseball just posted (It’s real cinema)
Hello GB! Have you ever tried or thought about interviewing the players you make videos about, especially if they are foreigners?
I'd love to, but it's a mix of lack of connections and logistical issues that's stopped me.
Plus, their time ain't free.
Didn’t watch the derby watched this instead.
Texas Rangers Legend and former twitter mutual Tony Barnette reference let’s goooo
Btw, looking at where Jingu located .
Isn't it more appropriate for the title to be called "West Tokyo Guardian Angel"?
Especially since I remembered your vid about Tokyo Stadium where you said there's no stadium in East Tokyo after its demolition
That's a screw up on my part, cut that part out in the YT editor. Should just be Tokyo now but the YT editor is absolute crap so idk if I did it right.
ok new rule, the Post-merger, pre-2020 Buffaloes are now known as the Buffalols.
Wasn’t NPB’s first Hall of Famer a Russian?
Yes, but under the current rules he would count as a domestic player (went to a Japanese High School)
What team do you support gaijin?
He's a Carp fan
Carp and Lions
@@GaijinBaseball carp fan here too
Why do NPB teams have English names? Can't find information online about it and i seems very strange, especially from a country as nationalistic as Japan.
This is probably the most common question I get asked, so I've had this response pre-prepared for a while now, sorry if it's a bit long
TLDR: been that way since the 1880s and WW2 ensured that Kanji would never be on a main uniform ever again.
So, in 1888 Keio University's Baseball Club was founded by a graduate student who'd just got back from the US. He started the team to help his fellow students decompress while cramming for exams. Their uniforms had "MITA" on the front of them in Latin characters (aka Romaji) because from 1888 to 1891 membership was restricted to students on Keio's Mita Campus.
Every university that started a team after Keio followed their example. To this day most if not all universities have the school name in Romaji on the front of their jerseys.
This influenced the JPBL (NPB's precursor), because it strove to replace the Tokyo Big 6 League as the highest level of Japanese Baseball.
The first team to take on an English nickname was the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. They got their name in 1935 when they were doing a tour of North America to prepare for the inagural JPBL season the next year. San Francisco Seals manager Lefty O'Doul convinced them that they would need an evocative name to sell more tickets, and he suggested Giants, reasoning that Tokyo was the New York of Japan, so they should name themselves after a New York based MLB Club. They won a lot under the name and elected to keep it.
The Osaka Tigers (now Hanshin Tigers) were the second team to take an English name, naming themselves after the Detroit Tigers thanks to the similarities between Detroit and Osaka at the time.
Other pre-war English names included the Korakuen Eagles, Osaka Lions, and Tokyo Senators. All of whom were forced to drop their English names in 1941 by the Military Junta. The Junta allowed them to keep playing, but mandated that the jerseys must be in Kanji and that players would wear a military cap instead of a traditional baseball cap. This left a bad taste in everyone's mouth.
So when the league started up again in 1946, they mandated that all jerseys and logos had to be in Romaji, and all teams had to have an English nickname. This was partially for conformity, as pre-war only half the teams had nicknames, and partially so they could attract American soldiers to come watch the games by making it easier for them to understand.
The names on the back being in Romaji was because of TV. NPB mandated it in the 1970s so fans watching at home could watch without needing a program, and Romaji was chosen because it was cost effective and easier to read, 2200+ kanji and Katakana characters to print, vs 26. KBO uses Hangul because foreign players weren't allowed in the league till the late 90s, whereas there have been foreign players in Japanese pro baseball since the beginning, all the way back in 1936
Only high schools put Kanji on the front of their jerseys (and even then the big ones like Toin and Waseda Business Academy all use Romaji). So that led to the connotation that if you're playing high level ball, you have your jerseys in Romaji. This has extended to indyball and the industrial leagues too.
@@GaijinBaseball🎉thank you!