Yokohama and Orix

I don't how correct things can be when it comes to "Japlish," but the official names are:

Orix BlueWave and Yokohama BayStars.

It is "Yokohama BayStars, even though the "Bay" should tie in more with "Yokohama" than "Stars."

Bob, thank you for your books and other writings on Japanese baseball. Those were precious resources in the days when Japanese baseball news trickled out so slowly.

I don't know how official this is, but in Shukan Baseball's "12 kyudan" weekly topics section, the names are written as:

Orix Bluewave
Yokohama Bay Stars

I don't know if the "w" in "wave" should be capitalized or not, because all the team names are written in caps.

I also would like to echo Kiyoshi-san's sentiments.

Mr Whiting,

I'm in the middle of reading "Ya Gotta Have Wa" and it has been incredibly interesting and informative. It has been a real asset in my effort to learn more about Japanese baseball. I can't wait for your new book, "The Importance of Ichiro" (or so I've heard it is called)!

Thanks to you all. The name of the book is "The Meaning of Ichiro." However, perhaps I should have called it, as suggested here, "The Importance of Being Ichiro." The book is supposed come out from Time-Warner at the end of March. But first I've got some correcting to do in regard to the names of the Yokohama and Orix teams.

Looking at the team links page on the Official NPB web site [Link - in Japanese], it appears that there is a space between the two "mascot" words.

However, looking at the teams' official sites:

• Yokohama
• Orix

[Both in Japanese]

The pair of mascot names are run together in all instances. Most of the time, it's written in all caps, however, when in mixed caps, Yokohama consistantly writes it "BayStars" on their site. Orix, on the other hand, writes it both "Bluewave" and "BlueWave."

Standardized Romanization of names (or lack thereof) is one of my nit-picks. If "ou" becomes "oh" at the end of last names, such as Itoh, then it should for first names as well, such as Ichiroh. You'll find that I include the final 'h' on last names throughout my database because that's how it's written on the back of players' uniforms. (I confess to be inconsistant myself with first names, with Koji and Kohji both being used.) However, the English press appears to drop the final 'h' - making it confusing to follow their guides with players on the field.

Nonetheless, I would go with BayStars and BlueWave, as that's how the two teams' official sites write them, as well as how they appear on their uniforms.

Mr. Whiting's upcoming book "The Meaning of Ichiro" can be pre-ordered now at amazon.com, which claims an April, 2004 release.