Kuehnert's NPB
He does point out some facts that one can't refute, i.e., Matsui is the #1 cover boy for the "daily rags" and the umpires are disrespected and want their story heard. I won't argue with those.
However, is Matsui really the focus of Japanese society as a whole, as Marty suggests? Or is he the focus of the media as a whole, shaping public opinion, giving the public little else to view?
In my oh so humble opinion, the problems is not that the public demands more Matsui (Ichiro, Sasaki, Nomo, etc.) news, but that the news agencies have taken it upon themselves to decide that Matsui is the popular topic of the time. And it's the Tokyo press that is especially guilty of this practice.
I'd like to hear from the Kansai area. Has Matsui been #1 on the front page down there recently? Or have the streaking Tigers, winning an unpresidented (for them) 7 open-sen games in a row? Is Matsui the talk of the town, or who will be the opening day pitcher?
Let's move down to Fukuoka. They sold out an inter-squad game at Fukuoka Dome last month - on a Friday! And admission wasn't free! Are the fans in Kyushu fixated with the former Giant? Not from what I've been reading.
When Kuenert-san says that "at least one" of the sports dailies had Matsui on the cover, it's most likely Yomiuri's sports daily, fulfilling its obligations to the Yankees. Since I get Nikkan Sports delivered, I can't verify that, but Nikkan has been pretty good at not putting Matsui on the front too overwhelmingly often. (If they start, I'll have a talk with our local Nikkan Sports distributor.)
I share Marty's dislike for the overkill shown by the press on focusing on Matsui. But I pass it over and still find four pages dedicated to NPB and one (plus the front page on occasion - which usually lacks content anyway) on MLB.
[Umpire rant later.]
Here in Osaka, Matsui is the attraction he should be. By which I mean that he makes the papers, but he's not on the front page every time he sneezes (or gets a crick in his neck, as the case may be).
I'd hazard a guess that that's not because local sports dailies have the right outlook on things, though. I'd say it's just because Matsui doesn't play for Hanshin. He was front page news for the five minutes that Hanshin were after him. The same thing applies to Nori Nakamura: when Hanshin were after him, he was on the front page literally every day, but now that he's back with Kintetsu, it's like he doesn't exist.
Westbaystars-san is right: it seems that the mainstream media has decided that Matsui is what we want to hear about, so that's what they're going to talk about. I can understand Yomiuri TV, the Daily Yomiuri, and Sports Hochi standing by their man, but it's a bit depressing when NHK's top news story is what Matsui did on his day off.
The most interesting part of Kuehnert's rant was the part about the umpires. I didn't know that MLB umpires didn't practice in Spring training. Since the NPB umps don't have an organized training school, I always thought that that was a good idea. (Better training would be better, but...)
What are the well known problems with NPB umpires?
- They get no respect from players or managers
- They don't get professional training in their job
- They make an unusually lot of bad calls (due to lack of training?)
- If what Kuehnert-san says is true, that the starting salary is 300-man yen, then I don't see how they can live - even with lodging and travel
Do the umpires have a legitimate complaint? Yes, I think so. And I fully agree with Marty's assessment that better training for umpires is a must. (Oh, no. I agree with him.)
However, creating an umpire school isn't going to solve this problem. Neither will a pay hike - although I think that a minimum similar to the players' 420-man or so should be considered. As it is now, when an umpire screws up big time, he's either sent to ni-gun for a period or given a week off. And he's ridiculed in the press by players, managers, and sports writers. Does this send a positive message to the umpire to do better next time? I don't think so.
When a player isn't hitting well, his form is studied from a number of angles and he's given advice on how to correct his swing. I think that similar techniques can be used to help umpires call a better game. If a call was blown, figure out why it was blown, don't just chastise the fellow. Should he have been at a different angle? What advantages and disadvantages are there to a different, or that particular, angle? Throwing and batting have a great deal of science backing them up to make them more efficient, why not umpiring as well?
In the short term, a review process to help current umpires develop better techniques is necessary. In the long run, more formal training (such as umpiring school) is needed. I think we all agree on that. But without financial incentives and better working conditions, who's going to want to go to a special umpiring school? Will high school graduates be contemplating between ToDai (Tokyo University - Japan's top Ivy League school) or Umpire school? And the way things are now, the current umpires certainly can't seem to afford it. So who's going to foot their bill?
It's been a trend in Japan for decades to give jobs that nobody wants to do (repetitious factory jobs) to robots. Is the only feasable answer going to be turning to the instant replay and/or electronic sensors? I wouldn't be surprised to see the owners invest more money in a technical solution to solve the problems.
This week's ShuBe (Shukan Baseball) had a reader's poll asking if the fans thought that prices were too high. The results:
- 75.2% High
16.8% Just right
5.5% Other
2.5% Cheap
If the owners are lowing the prices then maybe, just maybe, it's because they're actually listening to the fans! I'd certainly like to think so.
One common complaint is that the outfield general admission seats, while the right price, are sold out before normal salary-men get off work. With the only seats available the more expensive infield seats, a lot of people are going to pass. That's how the economy is right now. "Let's see, eat for a week or watch a live baseball game?" Which would you decide in a time when there just doesn't seem to be that much money in circulation? (Where did it all go, by the way?)
Furthermore, Marty still doesn't take into account today's society. People used to go out and do group activities after work. Spectator sports was one such activity. Now it's cheaper to go to the movies for entertainment, rent a movie, or chat with friends on a keitai phone (typing - not talking - don't ask me why). 30 years ago, even 20 years ago, baseball was a good bargain and competitive with other forms of entertainment. Now there are more forms of entertainment (you're reading one now) which are eating away at all sports' attendence.
Finally, thanks to Sky Perfect TV, I can enjoy many baseball games all season long - and the full thing, not starting in the third inning and signing off in the eighth - in the comfort of my own home. I can, and do, watch the game while working on my computer, entering player data, writing comments like this, getting a little extra work done. It's a more efficient use of my time than the long trip to and from the ball park where I can only do one task - watch the game.
Society has changed. Kuehnert-san seems to think that the problem is with NPB that fans aren't going out to the ball park any more. It is only so far as Nippon Professional Baseball hasn't changed their business model to better fit in with the changed (and changing) society. Bringing prices down to be more competitive with movies is a big plus. How else can they attract new customers to an old game? What other revenue streams are there? What need is it that the teams are trying to provide me? These are the questions that the teams need to be answering.
Marty declaring them panicking based on a drop in ticket prices doesn't do NPB or anybody else any good. I'm sure he means well, but I swear that he's trying to undermine NPB sometimes. There's a word for it, um.... "demi" I think it is. That sounds like a good "word of the day." I'll leave you with it.
It is up to NPB to finally coordinate and modernize their marketing. MLB was run with the teams acting like separate "mom and pop" operations into the 1990s.
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(aka westbaystars)
Founder
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Are things really that bad Marty???