DEVON GRANDY (Matsumoto, Japan)
…seriously, fuck soccer.
What a crazy time it’s been these past couple of weeks in the world of baseball. Let’s recap:
Old Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium featured the big names: newly-named Hall-of-Famer Goose Gossage, Reggie Jackson, Tino Martinez, Bucky Dent, Yogi Berra, and more than seventy others. This includes fan favorite Willie Randolph, who after being horribly mistreated by some inferior, other New York team, recieved a hearty welcome back to the Bronx and those who love him for the class act that he is. Never leave again, Willie!- Manny Ramirez, professional douchebag and Yankee-killer, is dump-traded to the Dodgers in a three-team deal that sends Pittsburgh outfielder Jason Bay to the Red Sox. Devon is ecstatic about this: not only does Ramirez leave the Red Sox, not only does he leave the AL East, not only does he leave the American League, but Ramirez is now on an entirely different coast from where Devon usually makes his home. That’s right, go away, Manny! Never again shall your man-child mug crowd our television screen.
- Ken Griffey, Jr. is sent from his nine-year home in Cincinnati to the White Sox. It’s not every day that you get to see a 600+ homer guy traded, particularly mid-season.
- Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is traded to the Yankees by Detroit in return for Kyle “Please Don’t Put Him In Without A Ten-Run Lead” Farnsworth. A great move by the Yankees in the wake of Jorge Posada’s season-ending surgery, particularly because everybody in the Bronx hates Farnsworth.
- Xavier Nady, the outfielder traded recently to the Yankees from Pittsburgh, began his career in pinstripes by kicking asses and taking names–he’s hitting .526 since the trade, earning him AL Player of the Week honors and a lot of Devon’s kudos. He’s even a new father! It’s hard not to like him, even if he did spent a fraction of a season as a Met.
Some things never change, though. Curt Schilling is still an attention-grubbing douchebag, particularly now that his irritating career is over.
Devon runs down the baseball scoop in Japan, after the jump:
Japan is a nation obsessed with baseball–intriguing further reading can be found at everybody’s favorite online resource (can we consider it a lifestyle brand?), but for now we’ll just list some of Devon’s favorite baseball-related experiences in Japan:
- Count the caps: So far in its Japanese travels, Break Out The Oreos has counted one Mets cap, two Red Sox caps, one Cardinals cap, one Pirates cap (seriously, Pittsburgh?), and about seventy-five Yankees caps. Say what you like, it’s still a Yankees Universe.
- An unfortunately conflicted young man: One of those two Boston caps was spotted atop the head of a young teenager in the Matsumoto Train Station–closer inspection revealed him wearing a t-shirt reading, “Property of New York Yankees.”
Hints of a national hero: BOTO has stumbled upon not only one but about a half-dozen examples of young boys wearing the Yankee insignia not only on their hats but also on their shirts On the back of these shirts is the reason–MATSUI. Young men riding their bicycles and playing stickball with dreams of being like their favorite big-leaguer; it could be anywhere in America. How bizzare.- Missed the memo: Another young man was dressed like his afore-mentioned comrades, except his shirt sported the number 13 rather than the number 55, along with an entirely different name altogether–Rodriguez. Doesn’t he know that nobody is supposed to like A-Rod outside of the greater New York area?
- The faithful: From what BOTO has gleaned from the televised broadcasts, Japanese baseball games are more akin to college football games or anywhere-outside-of-the-US soccer games than their American counterparts. Marching bands, cheerleaders, spirit sections, crowd cheers with bass drum accompaniment, huge banners–all of these are in full force through every inning, every pitch.
- Work ethic: This is meant as a comment upon the Japanese game rather than on the American game, but the players really hustle–they sprint on and off the field between half-innings instead of strolling or jogging back. It’s difficult for one to imagine such a thing happening in the States; then again, BOTO hasn’t been to an American college game lately.
Devon may update from Tokyo in a couple of days. In the meantime, he will continue wandering about Matsumoto in an attempt to get some more writing done.
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Japanese baseball is a fascinating subject. I actually wrote a research paper about it during my senior year in high school. Also, if you’re really interested in the craziness of baseball over there, check out the fantastic documentary, “The Zen of Bobby V,” by the talented filmmaker (and co-alumni of Hendrick Hudson High School with your co-writer) Andrew Jenks. It was aired on ESPN a couple months ago, but I’m sure it’s out there somewhere.
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