The Mets of Japan
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The Mets of Japan
Here is something I have posted on my New York Mets blog about the similarities between the New York Mets and the Yakult Swallows. It may be of interest to fans of Japanese baseball. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think.
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Re: The Mets of Japan
[ Author: Guest: Ed Kranepool | Posted: Nov 10, 2006 2:31 PM
]
I think you might have sold NPB a little short. The caliber of play, IMHO, is pretty good.
Being the second team in a big city, and a mediocre team at that, doesn't necessarily make the Swallows the Japanese Mets. I don't think the Swallows arose like the Phoenix from the pyre of two beloved teams heading west a few years earlier, or the improbable victories in 1969 after years of generous mediocrity, the great young arms, the return to mediocrity, becoming the toast of the town, only to submerge again until Omar Minaya opened Fred's wallet and made some gutsy moves. Are the Swallows as lovable losers as the Mets, or was there a Japanese Casey Stengel who could mangle the language?
Sure, it stinks to be the second fiddle. Does being a Swallows fan build character - to endure the embarrassment of defeat, mediocrity and suffering?
Being the second team in a big city, and a mediocre team at that, doesn't necessarily make the Swallows the Japanese Mets. I don't think the Swallows arose like the Phoenix from the pyre of two beloved teams heading west a few years earlier, or the improbable victories in 1969 after years of generous mediocrity, the great young arms, the return to mediocrity, becoming the toast of the town, only to submerge again until Omar Minaya opened Fred's wallet and made some gutsy moves. Are the Swallows as lovable losers as the Mets, or was there a Japanese Casey Stengel who could mangle the language?
Sure, it stinks to be the second fiddle. Does being a Swallows fan build character - to endure the embarrassment of defeat, mediocrity and suffering?
Re: The Mets of Japan
[ Author: Guest: puddin head | Posted: Nov 21, 2006 10:12 PM
]
Do they have all-day sports talk radio in Japan? Where people with no life just go on and on, so much of it negative?
A big difference is that the Swallows and Giants are in the same league and both are pretty mediocre right now. That hasn't happened in New York for a long time and probably won't, given the crazy kind of money they spend.
A big difference is that the Swallows and Giants are in the same league and both are pretty mediocre right now. That hasn't happened in New York for a long time and probably won't, given the crazy kind of money they spend.
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