Japanese players leaving

First of all, read some of the stories mentioned here. Also, many "Doom and Gloom" threads in the Nichi-Bei and News forums. There are a lot!

- Has there been any big affect of Japanese economics due to the leaving of star Japanese players?

Well, right now Japan is in a recession. Is it due to players leaving? I don't think so.

- How are teams dealing with the losses of players?

They're having new young stars step up to take the spotlight. I mentioned this just last week in this article.

- Have fans lost interest in the game since a lot of the players have left?

Read this thread and half a dozen similar "Exidus" threads where I make my point several times.

If, after doing some research, you have any more specific questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them.

Perhaps some of my explanations on the above mentioned threads are lacking for your purpose. Please point out those things that need further explanation. My writing tends to be geared more toward fans who are interested in the game on the field, not off. But I do try to help out all that I can.

I hope this helps you get started with your research. And I hope you come away from your research knowing more about Pro Yakyu than the economics that surround it.

In fact, a couple of those exciting young players are on the Yokohama Bay Stars, Mitsuru Tanaka and the infielder Uchikawa. Yokohama is my darkhorse pick, though I would line up the Swallows and Giants as 1-2, but Yokohama could surprise. I also look for a career year from Takanori Suzuki, which would be saying something considering that he already has two batting titles. I think he would be an excellent MLB performer as a number two or three hitter.

Ah, this is where the comment on Suzuki having a career year was. I was looking for it.

It seem that he's been having shoulder pain for the past week or so, so he hasn't played in the last few open-sen games. I don't recall seeing him taken off of the roster, though.

If Gulan can keep up his pre-season performance into the regular season, it will definately help Suzuki. He's not a #4 batter, as was shown last year. Batting #3 with an RBI threat batting behind him, like he used to have with Rose, will be a big help.