Trying Out

Please start off by reading this FAQ on the subject. Better yet, read Latham-san's essay on the subject first, then my FAQ.

One thing you mention is staring out in Japan's minor league. The minor league here is just an extension of the top team. It's not like a number of independent professional leagues in North and South America. The closest thing would perhaps be to play for an Industrial League team. In this case, you would be a company employee (office worker) who happens to get a lot of leave for playing baseball. Some companies you might consider talking with are:

JR East Japan (Tohoku)
Hitachi
Matsushita
Fuji Heavy Industries
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Kobe and/or Nagasaki)
Nittu (Nippon Express)
NTT East Japan
Nissan
Toyota
Isuzu
Yamaha
Honda

The above companies are just a few who are particpating in a championship tournament in Tokyo. And the professional scouts are at these tournies.

The big question, though, is will they hire a foreign high school graduate? I don't know. (I know that two Cubans recently found employment with an Industrial League company - but they're proven ball players.)

I hope that some of the resorces I've pointed out are useful. But what ever you choose, it won't be an easy road. Nothing worthwhile ever is.

First Andrew, I would advise you to go to Junior College at least. Grow up a little bit, get some college ball under your belt, make some friends with players who go on to bigger and better things (or become one of those yourself). You can tryout for a U.S. independent league and see if you can hook up with them.

You didn't say what kind of stuff you have or what your record in high school was. For example, what would you offer a Japanese club that they can't get at home? Moreover, the upcoming draft is going to be very heavy in college pitching and high schoolers, even good looking position players like the nifty shortstop Masahiro Nagata, are going to go in lower rounds.

There's a guy who was drafted number one this summer by the Reds, Mike Schramek, an infielder, iirc. He has apparently worked out a tryout with Orix, but he has to pay his own expenses over there and the Orix front office is admittedly sceptical of Shramek's motives. Since you don't have that impramatur of being an MLB draftee, unless you can do something outrageous such as throw the ball over 152km/h (about 94-95mph), they probably won't be interested since Jamie Moyer/Mike Boddicker type control pitchers are a
dime a dozen there.

Then you have the problem of adjusting to a new culture and people who speak a language unrelated to english (in fact, Chinese is more like english than Japanese structurally). As a 19 year old who hasn't studied Japanese nor has lived in Japan, you are not ready for that experience, period.

I would also suggest that you read everything you can on Japanese pro ball (Robert Whiting's books and Warren Cromartie's book are good starts; for day to day stuff you can read my stuff at the Baseball Guru website) just so that you would have an idea of what you are aspiring to take on.

Failing finding a job in Japan or with an independent league, you could tryout for the Mexican League maybe (I don't even know if they have organized tryouts there). The main thing is, get some real life
advanced baseball competition under your belt first before trying to play overseas. Even some semi-pro ball could be good for you (like Bryan Harvey). Good luck.