The All-Time Greatest

I ranked the top 100 Japanese players in this article [BaseballGuru.com]. Your selections are close to what that effort came up with. As that article makes clear, the system used that time had significant limitations. I've come up with a new system which eliminates at least 80-90% of the problem areas given the available data. I prefer the results I'm getting with the new method.

Unfortunately, I'm still working on rating all the players who should be evaluated, so I can't give the results at this time. I'll advise when I'm done with it -- hopefully within a month or so of the end of the season.

Jim Albright

Very Cool! Thanks Jim. That looks like a great web site.

Bobby Rose at second base? That doesn't sound very Japanese. What's his story?

What can you tell me about Masanori "Mashi" Murakami? I know of his attempt to play in the MLB but I don't know what kind of pitcher he was. Was he a power pitcher, finesse, curveball? What was his best pitch? What ended up happening to his career in Japan? I don't see him ranked on your rankings web page. Did the Japanese fans like him? Did they welcome him back?

How is it that you became so interested in Japanese baseball?

Bobby Rose is an American who went to Japan (out of the Angels organization, iirc). Since he played in the 1990's, I'm sure some of the people in this forum can tell you more about him than I can (beyond his statistical record).

Murakami's style as a pitcher is not something I'm qualified to discuss, so I won't.

As for me, see this page and my July 29, 2003 post on this thread. I think that stuff will go a long way toward answering your questions about my interest in Japanese ball.

Jim Albright

I neglected to talk about Murakami's career in Japan. He had a nice career, but what I've seen suggests the fans expected more of him after his reasonably successful MLB stint. As a result, he was regarded as a bit of a disappointment, from what I can gather. I will make sure to evaluate him under the new method, but he wasn't close to being one of the best under the old method.

Jim Albright

I looked again at Murakami's NPB career using my new method, and it leads me to the conclusion that he probably would have had a better MLB career than NPB. The reason is that NPB of that time used a 1930's model for relievers (star starters also fill the closer role), and so they pushed Murakami toward being a starter. He seems to have been one of those pitchers best suited to a pure relief role -- and the majors of the 1960's would have been more likely to leave him in such a role.

I can say this for sure -- the more they left Mashi function purely in a bullpen role, the better he did.

Jim Albright

Over-coaching screwed up Masanori Murakami after NPB, and the Nankai Hawks pressured him into returning to Japan from his stint with the San Francisco Giants. American baseball tried to develop his natural talents. The Japanese coaches kept trying to change his style.

I agree with Albright's assessment of Mashi.

The fact Mashi wasn't as well suited to starting also explains how the situation came about in the first place. The Hawks didn't see him as much of a prospect because they looked at him solely as a starter. They weren't used to looking at guys solely as relievers, so they probably didn't think he woulod catch hold in that role in the majors. Of course, that's exactly what did happen -- and then the Hawks thought the kid had learned how to be a starter during his state-side visit. They wanted him back badly, not to mention that NPB feared the consequences if he stayed in the States.

He wasn't a big strikeout pitcher, so I think he survived on location, variety of pitches, and out-thinking hitters. That's a lot easier to do only once through the lineup rather than 3-4 times, and probably played a role in why he was more successful as a reliever.

Jim Albright

Happened to come across one of my sources on the Murakami affair (the Phila. Daily News article) and it indicates he had a good curve and excellent control.

Jim Albright

Much of the new stuff I've done has been posted, and my answer at this time to this topic can be found here.

Jim Albright