Baseball is the national pastime of both the United States and Japan, but the two countries approach and play the game differently both on the field and away from it. To shed light on these differences and help fans gain a greater appreciation for Nippon Professional Baseball, Robert K. Fitts turns to the true experts, the people who play, oversee, promote, and watch the game, to find out what makes Japanese baseball special. In the Japanese Ballpark features engaging interviews with twenty-six baseball personalities to provide a behind-the-scenes look at the game. Fitts speaks with participants in the games such as players, managers, and an umpire; support staff including an interpreter, trainer, and data analyst; front office personal such as an owner, general and assistant managers, and marketing directors; ballpark workers including cheerleaders, a mascot, beer vendor, and usher; and professionals who surround the sport, such as baseball writers, a player agent, and a sports card dealer; as well as a league commissioner. Through their personal experiences, these individuals reveal the inner workings of the Japanese game and explain the cultural aspects that make Nippon Professional Baseball different from Major League Baseball. In the Japanese Ballpark features interviews with Bobby Valentine, Trey Hillman, Matt Murton, Robert Whiting, Marty Kuehnert, Tomoko Namba, Ambassador Ryozo Kato, and many others. Their experiences and insights provide inside knowledge to make the fan experience more enjoyable, for both those watching a Japanese game for the first time and well as for seasoned followers.
Robert K. Fitts is a curatorial consultant for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and a baseball historian. He is the author of eleven books of Japanese baseball, including Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American Ballplayers (Nebraska, 2020), Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan (Nebraska, 2013), and Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer (Nebraska, 2015), and is the coeditor of Nichibei Yakyu: U.S. Tours of Japan, volumes I and II.
List of Illustrations Introduction Japanese Baseball Timeline Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) Teams Glossary Part 1: Setting the Stage 1. Robert Whiting, Journalist Part 2: On the Diamond 2. Matt Murton, Player 3. Shungo Fukunaga, Minor League Player 4. Natsuo Yamazaki, Umpire 5. Trey Hillman, Manager Part 3: In the Ballpark 6. Jim Allen, Sportswriter 7. Jennie Roloff Rothman, Superfan 8. Yasuro Karibe, Oendan Leader 9. Taylor Foote, Mascot Team 10. Saori Ogure, Cheerleader 11. Keiko Suzuki, Uriko (beer girl) 12. Kenjiro Kajita, Ballpark Security & Intern Part 4: In The Clubhouse 13. Toshihiro Nagata, Data Analyst 14. Ichiro Kitano, Trainer 15. Ken Iwamoto, Interpreter Part 5: The Front Office 16. Marty Kuehnert, General Manager 17. Tomoko Namba, Team Owner 18. Shun Kakazu, Assistant General Manager 19. Jonathan Fine, Assistant General Manager Part 6: The Business of Baseball 20. Shigeo Araki, Marketing Director 21. Tomoki Negishi, Marketing and Business Development 22. Noamichi Yokota, Marketing and Merchandising 23. Ryozo Kato, NPB Commissioner 24. Edwin Dominguez Alvarez, Agent 25. Tatsuo Shinke, Sport Cards Part 7: Conclusion 26. Bobby Valentine, Manager Appendix A: Tips on Following NPB from Outside of Japan Appendix B: Tips on Collecting Japanese Baseball Cards & Memorabilia Appendix C: Tips on Attending Games in Japan Appendix D: Recommended English-Language Books on NPB Notes Acknowledgments Index
"You begin reading Robert Fitts's book with a walk. Each step is another intimate first-person portrait that is an integral part of the collective Japanese game of baseball. You feel the honor, the soul, the sheer attention to detail in every page. Each turn was a revelation of what seemed almost confidential. I never stopped learning from start to finish and when I completed the final chapter I found a full tapestry of a beautiful game where every stitch made by every person was deeply consequential. I loved this book."-Doug Glanville, Emmy award-winning journalist and baseball analyst and author of The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer's Inside View "Thanks largely to Robert Fitts, we've learned a great deal about Japan's greatest ballplayers. But now Robert has given us a penetrating, necessary look at the game off the field, too, and every page is filled with insights and delight."-Rob Neyer, award-winning baseball writer "Inside the Japanese Ballpark fills an important gap in baseball literature with passion, wonder, and deep research and legwork. Through the voices of agents, cheerleaders, umpires, journalists and mascots, as well as players and managers, Robert Fitts uses the best kind of oral history to bring alive the vibrant and unique culture of Japanese baseball, from its old-fashioned samurai ethos where the word 'ouch' was once forbidden to the modern game of packed stadiums and the world's best player, Shohei Ohtani. You can taste the fresh sushi and cold beer delivered straight from kegs and hear the crack of the bat on a Sunday afternoon at the Tokyo Dome. It also comes with a fantastic comprehensive guide to attending and following the Nippon Professional Baseball league. A homu ran."-John W. Miller, author of The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
