The former batting champion has taken a downward turn. From the laser ball opening night of his new stay in Japan when he electrified a stadium and the imagination of the entire fan base to the current ghosting of the lineup. A batting average that wants to go to 200 or lower. Too many opportunities for big RBIs missed. No timely hitting as they say in Japanese.
I think I want to blame America. I think I want to say that he has psychological problems as a result of playing baseball in America. I think I’m saying that he’s a morose alcoholic and needs to take care of himself for reals. Yeah, I think the last one is the true story here.
I have been wanting to say something about this for a while now. I have had many reasons to hold back. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel right to say something even if it would be the most constructive. And now suddenly it’s time. I’m going to say what I see.
He was the guy in Japan and he got the call. In Japan, they love their league and they love their friends but they take the calls. When the call came, he was a big leager and that’s all there was to it. That’s what it meant. He was a real big liger and of course would get real big leaguer money. That’s all you need to know.
What does Fame do to the average alcoholic? Well, everyone is looking at you all the time. Not just on the ball field where you like your attention but off. Oh yeah, you’re a Japanese ballplayer. You don’t speak English. Sure. Superstar. Let’s watch. Isolation. Except for the Entourage because you’re rich and a businessman. Basically for you, the rock star life continues even if there’s no one actually coming to the concerts.
So he drinks. The Japanese drink. The Japanese drink and think drinking is fine. There is a genuine truth as to whether people become great philosophers when drinking and never lose the love of life or if they just become belligerent sadists like all the other drunks I know. Do they sometimes get physical with things that are smaller than them selves? Does it somehow need to dominate something in order to survive?
Or you keep your face on. You decide to take the honorable path. You will not allow yourself to be made a fool of. You will do the best you can. The white people will say what the white people will say but you will be a perfect version of yourself. I think he wore the mask. And he drank.
There is always an argument about which is the better thing when you want to celebrate a moment. Should you use marijuana to toast arrivals? Or should we break out the alcohol when we are together? I myself do not see anything from drunk people making decisions. I have seen many instances of drunk people at play and I have no real use for it. It’s kindergarten. They just like bumping into each other while they are senseless. And it is senselessness. Without sense and without senses. And they live for this because it feels good and passes time well.
But I see no great things from these people. I do not see their kindness at all. I do not see anyone who is a friend anywhere. We are just isolated little rats, hysterical in our search for peanuts and all the time that we spend in our cars getting to these important places is just poisoning the planet for nothing. So a rat can have a nut, the whole world has to be poisoned.
I think he was living in his soul. I think he was doing his contracts for a while. He was gone and as dead as dead would be. But he had a contract to play baseball and he was obligated to come out to the park. I think he waited his contract.
And then the merciful end and he was free to climb back into the bosom of love in Yokohama. They made a video. He was stoic. Actually I think he was soused and senseless. He appears like a Yakuza gangster more than a ball player. What an image? What an image.
And then he puts on the uniform and they actually play a game of baseball. And for whatever reasons things happen and however the fates and the capriciousness of man might intertwine, he got an at-bat that could win the game and launched one. Was it just a nice fastball? The guy pitching was not Japanese. I say Japan is very aware and they play a good game of baseball. But I think everybody wanted the fans to go home happy, that’s all. Pro move actually. And boy oh boy did he spank it. I wrote about this. I wrote about this moment because there were tears. This wasn’t just a baseball moment. This was an epic emotional moment for the city of Yokohama. And look at what they saw! He did it! He did it.
For me, when I was lucky enough to get to watch his first game and his first two games back, the thought from the audience was could he do it? If there was a fly ball out to left field, could he do it? He could! He had to make a throw. Can he throw? He can! He can do it. That’s all they asked. Can he really do it?
And fans do these things in the hope that their favorite athletes will pick up on there enthusiasm for having them on the team. It’s just about showing up for work and doing your job. That’s the only thing about the game of baseball that has ever mattered.
Let me explain to you who I am talking about. The ball player is what you call a physical specimen. The ball player likes to move around some. The ball player is not really a desk jockey. The ball player is the guy who does the physical labor. What does this mean? It means if he weren’t playing baseball, he’d be framing houses and putting up drywall. Maybe he’d be working as a fireman or a policeman. Maybe he’s out at the lumber mill or doing glass installations or it’s just the straight up mechanic. What would these guys be doing if it weren’t for baseball?
But I think that is the soul of what it means to be a baseball player. A major leaguer. You got to be the guy who does the job because if you can’t do the job, you’re going to lose the contract. And the only people that Don’t care about their reputations are the ones who don’t make their money off of their own physical efforts. Baseball players are not gangsters. Baseball players are neither vine nor weed. Baseball players are at work and holding down the fort like they mean it. You find people that just do the damn job and keep things together for the season and you got yourself some big league baseball players and a chance to win it all.
Qualitative time. In judging people, I have always used a system of assigning a simple yes or no point. A ball maybe. You get one ball if you are a decent person. A good worker. You are there and you are alive and you are trying to help. Maybe you’re not the big hero or the big skills person, but your head is in the game and you keep things going and you’re one of the good guys. I’m good with such people and I put a ball on their stand. I also think people of great talent and skill should get a ball. If you really know your way around the electrical system, I say you’re a good person. Thank you for building such skills. Mad people. Super villains. Why not? Because if you genuinely have the skills to do the job, we will live with the quirks. A gangster who can actually barrel up or at least get a nice easy sack fly when needed is cool. A gangster who has a hard time getting up off the bench and who has no reflexes from a little bit too much Chivas Regal is not a hero for the children to look at.
Yes, yes, yes. Baseball is for the children. Baseball is for the imagination of young people. The young children who watch these games and see these fine young men play. And what must they see? Professionalism. The ball players look good. They look like ball players. They play like ball players. Sometimes they don’t have all of the skills but that’s baseball. That’s part of the game and they play a very good game of baseball in Japan. You can’t argue things at all. They play a very sharp and crisp and interesting game of baseball. They care about every play.
If I want to get artsy here, I have the vision of the shogunite walking to the edge of his terrace and understanding that the responsibility of the region has now fallen into his hands. There can be no other way but to prepare for all out war. Physically, mentally and spiritually. This is a thing that must be done with full resolve. There must not be a doubt. You shall hit like you know how to hit and bring your best game every day. You do nothing but prepare for a baseball game and you do everything to put the alcohol away until the end of the season. No matter what, stop drinking immediately and let your eyes clear up at least if you’re going to put on the uniform. At least.
In any case, we have the Dragons and then the Giants. Lots of time in Koshien stadium This year. I understand it is sacred ground. What it must be like to get to play baseball in a place where one particular stadium or actually several of them feel like sacred places. And the Bay Stars absolutely know how to play the game of baseball.
Let’s go Tsutsugoh let’s go!
