Learning About Lions
Discussion in the Open Talk forum
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Re: Learning About Lions
[ Author: Jbroks86 | Posted: Jul 20, 2007 7:25 AM
| SFT Fan
]
This thread goes over all you need to know about baseball stats and how to understand what they really mean. For example a batting average over .300 (3 hits in 10 at bats) is what it takes usually to lead the league in batting average. Also, an ERA under 3.00 (3 earned runs per 9 innings) is what it takes to lead the league.
Sabermetics [Wikipedia] is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, and takes a good understanding of math for a lot of the more in depth formulas. One of the most common sabermetic stats you'll see is OPS (On Base percentage+Slugging).
- My first question is: Are the Seibu Lions a strong team this year?
Seibu has been pretty good considering they lost Daisuke Matsuzaka, as they currently are 42 wins, 41 losses, and 2 ties (.506 winning percentage), which leaves them 7 games behind the Nippon Ham Fighters. Right now, Seibu is very much in the race, despite being in 4th place. The top 3 teams in each league make the playoffs.
You can see the standings for both the Pacific League (which is what league the Seibu Lions are in) and the Central League here.
- It seems that American players get paid more than the Japanese players, why is this?
If I'm not mistaken, I think South Korean Seung-Yeop Lee is the highest paid player this season at 6.5-oku yen.
One thing to keep in mind is that the average salary for a Japanese player in NPB has fallen 1.98 million yen [Japan Ball] from 2006, due to the departures of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, and Akinori Iwamura to MLB.
Looking at the top 10 salaries in NPB (if I got it right), there are 7 Japanese players are in the top 10, compared to 2 from the United States, 1 from Venezuela, and 1 from South Korea:
Sabermetics [Wikipedia] is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, and takes a good understanding of math for a lot of the more in depth formulas. One of the most common sabermetic stats you'll see is OPS (On Base percentage+Slugging).
- My first question is: Are the Seibu Lions a strong team this year?
Seibu has been pretty good considering they lost Daisuke Matsuzaka, as they currently are 42 wins, 41 losses, and 2 ties (.506 winning percentage), which leaves them 7 games behind the Nippon Ham Fighters. Right now, Seibu is very much in the race, despite being in 4th place. The top 3 teams in each league make the playoffs.
You can see the standings for both the Pacific League (which is what league the Seibu Lions are in) and the Central League here.
- It seems that American players get paid more than the Japanese players, why is this?
If I'm not mistaken, I think South Korean Seung-Yeop Lee is the highest paid player this season at 6.5-oku yen.
One thing to keep in mind is that the average salary for a Japanese player in NPB has fallen 1.98 million yen [Japan Ball] from 2006, due to the departures of Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kei Igawa, and Akinori Iwamura to MLB.
Looking at the top 10 salaries in NPB (if I got it right), there are 7 Japanese players are in the top 10, compared to 2 from the United States, 1 from Venezuela, and 1 from South Korea:
- 6.5-oku: Seung-Yeop Lee
- 6.0-oku: Tyrone Woods, Alex Cabrera
- 5.5-oku: Tomoaki Kanemoto
- 5.0-oku: Nobuhiko Matsunaka
- 4.0-oku: Michihiro Ogasawara
- 3.85-oku: Kosuke Fukudome
- 3.8-oku: Hitoki Iwase
- 3.5-oku: Jason Johnson
- 3.4-oku: Kenshin Kawakami
- 3.1-oku: Koji Uehara
Re: Learning About Lions
[ Author: Guest: Clueless | Posted: Jul 20, 2007 1:46 PM
]
Thank you so much. I checked out the thread you directed me to and feel much more read about baseball.
How are American baseball players treated in Japan as opposed to America? Is there any literature out there I could read up on? I'm doing a composition for one of my classes about pro-athletes and am including a part on how they are viewed in America and abroad. Thanks
C
How are American baseball players treated in Japan as opposed to America? Is there any literature out there I could read up on? I'm doing a composition for one of my classes about pro-athletes and am including a part on how they are viewed in America and abroad. Thanks
C
Re: Learning About Lions
[ Author: Jbroks86 | Posted: Jul 21, 2007 3:36 AM
| SFT Fan
]
- How are American baseball players treated in Japan as opposed to America?
The So You Want to Play in Japan page over at Japan Baseball Daily should help you with the differences between NPB and MLB, Japanese culture, and most of your questions.
- Is there any literature out there I could read up on?
I would read some of Robert Whiting's work: You Gotta Have Wa [Amazon.com], Chrysanthemum and the Bat, and The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime [Amazon.com].
Also I read the autobiography of Warren Cromartie's time spent with the Yomiuri Giants, Slugging It Out In Japan [Amazon.com] and Rob Fitts' Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game [Amazon.com].
The So You Want to Play in Japan page over at Japan Baseball Daily should help you with the differences between NPB and MLB, Japanese culture, and most of your questions.
- Is there any literature out there I could read up on?
I would read some of Robert Whiting's work: You Gotta Have Wa [Amazon.com], Chrysanthemum and the Bat, and The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime [Amazon.com].
Also I read the autobiography of Warren Cromartie's time spent with the Yomiuri Giants, Slugging It Out In Japan [Amazon.com] and Rob Fitts' Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game [Amazon.com].
Re: Learning About Lions
[ Author: Guest: clueless | Posted: Jul 22, 2007 5:31 PM
]
Thank you for all your help. I will check these books out.
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Now that I've declared my ignorance and therefore don't really understand stats, I'm hoping you all will educate me with my new interest. My first question is: Are the Seibu Lions a strong team this year? Secondly: It seems that American players get paid more than the Japanese players, why is this?
Clueless, but wanting to learn.