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about Asia Buzz
Asia Buzz: The World Game
Baseball
may be slow, but it's plenty boring
By
ADI IGNATIUS
April 10, 2000
Web posted at 11:30 p.m. Hong Kong time, 11:30 a.m. EST
North American baseball stormed its way into the region recently as
the New York Mets traveled 11,000 km to play a "home" game in the
Tokyo Dome against the Chicago Cubs. Beyond Japan, however, the visit
failed to ignite much interest, perhaps because too few locals comprehend
the game. So here's a brief introduction to help Asians appreciate
what is clearly one of the world's sports.
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Goal: The point of baseball is simply to score more "runs"
than the other team. The secondary aim is to drag the game on for
as long as humanly possible. Perhaps on the defensive, Major League
Baseball's organizers have recently come up with a new promotional
slogan: "Still not as boring as cricket!"
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Legacy: Baseball has a storied history, featuring a great many
historical stories. (The players like to tell them to each other to
keep warm while they're waiting for the games to end.) The early stars
are a part of American folklore. There was Jimmy Foxx, one of the
greatt 20th-centuryy sluggerss, Lou Gehrig, who (in a tragic and ironic
coincidence) somehow contracted Lou Gehrig's disease, and Babe Ruth,
who became a candy bar. These days it's become even easier for American
fans to follow their favorite players, since detailed statistics are
available at all times on the Internet and because everyone's named
Martinez.
Strategy: Good pitching always prevails over good hitting,
and vice versa. That's why teams are always looking for a special
edge to prevail. Ever since "uppers" went out of fashion in the late
1970s, that has tended to mean playing the percentages for any small
advantage. The Seattle Mariners, for example, shout boisterous, off-color
sea shanties to disrupt the opposing team. The St. Louis Cardinals
perform regular exorcisms to purify their own squad. And New York
Yankees fans routinely phone in death threats to the rival nine. It's
all part of what makes the game America's National Pastime.
The Future: One day, America's annual championship, the World
Series, will truly deserve that exalted moniker. Already, baseball
is being played professionally in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. There
are 30 Asian-born players now in America's major and minor leagues.
And, reversing the trend, a bunch of overweight gweilos [foreigners]
play a lame version of the game each weekend in Hong Kong. There's
no stopping the trend! So get your mitt and get out there. The game's
still going on. And on.
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