Major League Baseball Players in Japan – Strangers in Paradise
The final match-up of the World Baseball Classic featured two teams from countries where baseball is a beloved sport – Cuba and Japan. Both countries are noted for producing fine players, some of whom are enjoying stellar careers in America. Presently, Ishiro and Matsui from Japan are two of the best and most consistent players in the majors. Making it in the big leagues in America is a big deal in Japan, a country that loves baseball and embraces its own professional teams.
American teachers first introduced the game to the island country in the 1870s, and it firmly took root. By the turn of the century, it was a sport throughout the nation and in 1936 the first professional teams were established. The current professional structure was created in 1950, with teams playing in either the Pacific League or the Central League.
The exchange of players between the Japanese leagues and Major League baseball is not a one-way street. The first American to play baseball in post-World War II Japan was Wallace Kaname Yonamine, a Nisei Japanese American who had played NFL Football but never...
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