Slightly Better than Replacement Level
It’s time for one of the big boys of Japan, and I’m sure its executives would say the biggest boy, the Central League (JPCL). History The JPCL was founded in 1949, but began play in 1950, out of the ashes of the Japanese Baseball League. From the onset, the JPCL was a member of and […]
Next up in the League Primer series is the second Nippon Professional Baseball farm league, the Western League (JPWL). The JPWL begins play in a little under a month. History The JPWL has been around since the early 1960s when it was created to allow for the two main leagues in Nippon Professional Baseball to […]
About halfway through this past Central League (JPCL) season, I wrote about the interesting career path of Xavier Batista. At the time he deserved all the praise in the world for having turned his career around. The Hiroshima Toyo Carp slugger had gone from a prospect to out of baseball to a developmental prospect again […]
Not all foreign players who sign contracts with Nippon Professional Baseball find success. The myth is that NPB is a place where foreigners go to dominate. Those who follow NPB closely, or even those like me who only follow as they can, are able to easily dispell of this myth. Yet, the myth exists and […]