Internet Company To Buy Buffaloes?

Giants' Tsuneo Watanabe won't let that happen. He said he will never allow some newcomer like "Livedoor" to buy into a ballclub.

The presence of this octogenarian in NPB will lead to its demise.

Livedoor's entry into this is certainly making things interesting. The Players' Union jumped right in and said that selling the team (as opposed to merging two) would be the best solution, as have the fans of all teams, including Orix and Kintetsu. Clearly, selling the team to a willing buyer is the best solution to the current crisis, with the other issues that the crisis has raised given more time for thought. (Yea, right, I know. If the crisis is over, they probably won't think about the other problems.)

So, who's against the 31 year old charismatic IT industry leader Horie from buying the struggling Buffaloes? Well, there's a photo of five grumpy old men on page 3 of today's (2004/07/01) Nikkan Sports with the headline stating that BlueWave owner Miyauchi is against it. Kintetsu's Yamaguchi-president (main office) says he's "clearly against it." The Buffaloes' Tashiro-owner states that the merger has the higher priority. Pacific League Commissioner Koike claims that the merger is progressing along on schedule. (Where he get's that impression from, I have no idea.) And Watanabe-owner refuses to even talk to the young company president. This collage of five grumpy men is screaming "Don't trust anyone under 50!" And that, in my opinion, is the problem.

The general feeling with other owners is that it would be best if someone could buy the team, but it's too late. Kintetsu and Orix already have an agreement with each other and it's poor etiquette to try to sqeeze in. Those of you studying culture through baseball, take note. Even if it's worse for business for both parties to allow a third party to come in with another offer, it's not culturally acceptable. That it's a young "kid" who doesn't follow the "Old Boys' Ways" most likely plays a part in this, but not as big a part as the cultural expectations of the original parties in the deal.

Nonetheless, this does introduce a new twist. As I mentioned before, the Players' Union and the fans are all in support of this. They don't care about the politics of an ancient business culture. Horie-president has presented a very rational case, the 2-League system can remain as is (which appeals to the Central League owners), and he's even stated that he'll keep the team name of "Osaka Buffaloes" (just dropping "Kintetsu"). This is what the fans have been asking for! Is Nabetsu worried about an owner who listens to the fans?

Well, Horie-president is going to need 3/4th of the owners' approval at the Owners' meeting on July 7 to join. He's already got 1/4th (Orix, Kintetsu, and Giants) against him. Most of the other owners appear to be taking a "this isn't any of my business" stance in their comments.

This drama will play out for one more week. What other turns can it take in that time?

Livedoor president, Takafumi Horie, said he may consider creating a professional baseball team if Livedoor fails at acquiring the Buffaloes. Though he said he "doesn't have a concrete plan on a establishing a baseball team." [Link - Japan Times]