This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
Wow! I don't have much comparative fielding info on pitchers before 1957, so I'll restrict myself to that. It might seem like Jim Palmer might fit, but Total Baseball only has him being the highest rated pitcher in 1975. There are still a couple of guys who were the highest rated pitcher at least three times. You get to choose between Gibson (who pitched in an era more similar to Yamada-san) or Maddux (who correlates better in terms of not relying on strikeouts). And I need to look up which hand Yamada threw with.