Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
February 20, 2008
More West than East

Joe Posnanski reports on Trey Hillman's training camp:

So, sure, it only makes sense to wonder how Hillman will bring East and West together as manager of the Kansas City Royals. Will he ask players to bow? Will he put them through the famously rigid training methods of Japanese baseball? Sushi?

Well, it's only been one day, but it seems pretty clear already that the answer is: None of the above. The Royals' camp on Tuesday looked, more or less, like every other spring training camp. There were a few subtle differences, of course, which we'll get to in a moment. But the most striking part of the first day of Camp Trey is how familiar it all looked. Players hit, fielded, pitched. That's all. They stayed on the field about the same length of time as years past. They did many of the same drills. If you didn't know any better, this camp would have looked like Buddy Bell's, Joe Torre's or Bobby Cox's.

Hillman is not trying to revolutionize American baseball. "I'm not that smart," he says.

Still there are things Hillman is doing differently, from having pitchers throw with dummies standing in for batters to having his fielders play catch more. I can't wait to see if it makes a difference.

By the way, my daughter is in Japan on a school trip, and I'm told she bought me a Nippon Ham Fighters hat while in Sapporo. I'll post a picture when she returns.


Posted by David Pinto at 01:22 PM | Management | TrackBack (0)
Comments

If American baseball fans ever get the chance, it's well worth the effort to go see a Japanese baseball game. I was only able to see a Hanshin Tigers game (apparently one of the more notoriously raucous home crowds) while I was there (the girlfriend wouldn't agree to more than one day dedicated to baseball...grr) but it is an intense experience from beginning to end. There is rarely a lull at any moment during the 9 innings of ball. Most every player has their own cheer, and the opposing team even has its own section with its own mascots and drums. It is constant noise. During the 7th inning stretch, everyone was given a ballon to blow up, and at the end of a song they were released simultaneously, filling the air with rubber confetti. The stadiums tend to be a bit smaller, so it has more of the intimate minor league feel to it. And it even turned my girlfriend into a baseball fan- 'Why can't Mets games be more like this? I would go all the time.' Sigh.

Posted by: r0n at February 20, 2008 03:16 PM

Give me Fenway over Koshien any day of the week. I've been to Osaka Dome, I've been to Koshien, I'll be visiting Tokyo Dome for the Sox opener on the 25th, and I will guarantee you none of it would top even Marlins fans.

It's a nice gimmick, but what's baseball without heckling?

The one big positive is the lax policy on bringing in outside coolers of beer (which seems to have been controlled more recently), and the cheaper beer at the ballpark. Last time I was at Fenway they were charging $7 for beer and wanted a tip.

No good.

Posted by: Sal Paradise at February 20, 2008 10:47 PM
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