In Japan, BoSox gain more than they lose
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:25 PM
In the earliest start to a major-league season ever, the Red Sox faced the A’s in the Tokyo Dome Tuesday, the opener of a two-game series that also had the teams meeting on Wednesday. Both games are considered “home” games for Oakland.
Consider the trip to Japan part of Boston’s price for signing Daisuke Matsuzaka. It was Boston that made Matsuzaka -- a revered sports hero in Japan -- the highest-paid import in big-league history and the Red Sox can’t hide him. They needed to bring him back to his home country, show him off and have him spread the gospel of Major League Baseball.
Matsuzaka played perfect to the role even to the extent of taking out a full-page ad in Tokyo newspapers vowing that Boston would repeat as World Series champions and adding that he would win a Cy Young Award.
Perhaps Matsuzaka was trying too hard as he took the ball to open the season for Red Sox Nation in the nation where his celebrity status is off the charts. To his credit, he battled in the moment, leaving after five innings and 95 pitches, but allowing only two runs. He especially stumbled in his first two innings, but was not involved in the decision as Boston won, 6-5, in 10 innings.
No deceit here -- this isn’t an easy trip for the Red Sox. It began with two exhibition games in Tokyo on March 21 and 23, then the two-game “for real” series with the A’s, next a journey back to the United States and the resumption/conclusion of preseason baseball with three games over the weekend in Los Angeles, followed by two regular-season games in Oakland to close-out the series that began in Tokyo, then on to Toronto for three games with the Blue Jays from April 4-6. Finally, for Boston, the home opener, April 8 at Fenway Park against the Tigers. Not an easy trip, but neither is it an earth- shattering one.
Will this season-starting lengthy road trip affect Boston’s chances of winning the AL East crown? Well, consider the larger picture. In the games in Japan the Red Sox were matched against a weakened Oakland team. Their early-season travel will be appeased by a stretch of 19 home games in 26 days to end April. And Boston’s September schedule consists of 16 home dates in its last 25 games. The Red Sox finish with three games at Fenway Park against the Yankees. It looks to me like MLB made amends to the Red Sox for undertaking the trip to Japan.
Is there precedent for teams making the postseason despite having to open the regular season in Japan? The answer is yes. The Mets in 2000 and the Yankees in 2004 both made the playoffs after playing their first games in Tokyo.
All in baseball know that most players would opt to never play regular-season games outside the United States. That is why these games are collectively bargained and players are handsomely compensated (more on that below) for their participation in them. But MLB needs to keep pushing these trips. If anyone needs reminding of the game’s place in the international arena, note that Beijing is baseball’s Olympics’ farewell. Certainly not devastating, but it is a clear statement that there are many pockets in the world that view baseball as a North American, Central American and Latin American game.
There was a great read in Sunday’s New York Times baseball column. It returned to its role as union newsletter to inform us that the Boston players violated labor law by fighting for and threatening to strike the Japan games over payment to managers, coaches, trainers, etc.
This blog strives to consistently repeat its lack of expertise in matters medical and legal. Labor law certainly falls under that umbrella. But I know that the criticism leveled in the piece cited above reads as high comedy. Let’s get this right: players fight for their managers and coaches, the people who evaluate them daily. Players fight for people whom management won’t and the players are criticized…by their own union that, of course, is funded by the players. There continues to be at least one union management type who has yet to accept that such “thoughts” should be kept private and expressed internally rather than in the New York Times. The good news for the players is that the New York Times recognizes how few fans really care about such matters and it “buries the lead” (a similar understanding on the topic that is carried through in this blog).
Switching gears back to the preseason for five swings:
1. The Dodgers are creaky in the last week of spring training, nursing injuries to Jeff Kent and Nomar Garciaparra. But manager Joe Torre’s toughest call appears to be Juan Pierre or Andre Ethier in left field. Pierre would be less valuable and more distressed as a backup.
2. Mike Pelfrey is the fifth starter for the Mets with Orlando Hernandez completely out of sorts in the spring. Oliver Perez, No. 3 in the Mets’ rotation, is slotted for two key April starts against the Phillies and lefty swingers Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Geoff Jenkins.
3. Joe Nathan is a smart man. Signing a new deal with the Twins and bypassing a run at free agency at season’s end is a good play for Nathan’s longevity. No organization treats closers with more care and respect than Minnesota, a policy started by former manager Tom Kelly.
4. I have read many glowing previews for Tampa Bay. Is this the fourth or fifth straight year of such optimism? The Rays are filled with young talent, as they have been for four or five years. Here, we have crossed the bridge to “show me” status, having heard from smart people that the organization must prove it can mold talent into productive winners.
5. Final thoughts on the Tokyo opener: the television signal problems are inexcusable. When the curtain goes up on Opening Night, especially a “special” opener, everything must work. I hear too many concerns from baseball’s television partners about MLB’s lack of attention/concern to the international games.
In Los Angeles two weeks ago, I watched a mad scramble ensue in the final 24 hours to provide some television coverage of the Dodgers in Beijing. Local rights- holders must be worked with to make sure these games receive the high level of coverage they deserve.
And was Tuesday’s season-opening game a hit in Tokyo? Attendance was 44,628, with a nice notation that the Tokyo Dome was 131% (?) full.
