Friday, October 9, 2009

CRACK

The air is cold this time of year in Japan.  Nevertheless, that does not stop the ball from leaping from the bat, seemingly propelled by a rocket.

CRACK

The bat flies through the strike zone faster than perhaps any other bat on Earth.  This time the ball is still rising as it clears the fence.  The man standing in the batters box just gives a coy smile and shrugs.

CRACK

Being the best player in the biggest market in all of Japan might inflate the ego of some men, especially if that man was barely a man at 25 years pf age.  However, this is no mere man.  When discussing who is the best player in all of Japan, there is never really much argument; the discussion usually starts and ends at Morhiro Nakamura.

In a place where 35 million people are crammed into a space smaller than all 50 U.S. states, he easily stands out from the masses – and not just because of his imposing size (6’3” and a power-packed 215 pounds) but because he is the face of Japanese baseball.

When the League of the Rising Sun formed from the broken fragments of numerous other leagues in 2007, Nakamura quickly seized the popular imagination of a baseball-mad nation.  Hitting .303/.405./.651 at only 23 years old, Nakamura proved he was easily the best young player in all of Japan.  His 49 HR ranked second in the league and he finished sixth in OPS.  Playing the bright glow of Tokyo did little to hinder his second year in the league.  He had a season that will perhaps be unassailable for decades to come.  The nation was stirred into frenzy with each passing week as his HR total mounted.  By season’s end it would equal 72 belted out of the park.  Combined with a batting average of .365 and 72 BB, his OPS would end at 1.267.  His VORP was higher than many players accumulate in a career at 114.4.  He can perhaps be forgiven for his current season numbers not rising to the Mt. Fuji-type heights of the previous year.  To date, his .310/.415/.679 is still among the best in the league.

With the takeover of the league and the team itself, there are new questions for this young league and this young player.  He still has many years left before he can test the free agency market.  Nakamura has so far been mum on the possibility of playing in America.  Tokyo promises to be a ripe market should the team elect to stay.  However, the lure of PEBA dollars has to attract the attention of every LRS superstar.  For now, Morhiro can simply continue doing what he does best; abusing LRS pitchers and making the league into his own personal daily batting practice session.  If he stays in Japan, he will surely go down as the milestone by which all future position players are judged.  If he does so happen to decide to invade the Western hemisphere, then he could be bigger than Godzilla itself.