More on Kenshin Kawakami
by gondeee on Jan 17, 2009 9:09 PM EST
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PrintI came across a very good article about Kenshin Kawakami in The Japan Times Online, I suggest you read the whole thing, but here are some snippets:
Special assignment scout Chuck McMichael is the guy who watched Kawakami pitch in Japan on several occasions and suggested the Braves sign the 33-year-old hurler and 2004 Central League MVP.
Atlanta general manager Frank Wren also traveled to Japan last season to watch Kawakami and check out Japanese baseball, and McMichael credits local scout Hiroyuki Oya, who lives in Osaka, for the heads-up on Kawakami.
By signing guys like Andruw Jones, Neftali Feliz, and Julio Teheran, we already know that the Braves have a good knack for spotting young international talent. With the signing of Kenshin Kawakami, an established player in another major baseball league, we may be seeing the first fruits of a new era of Braves scouting.
Speaking by phone this past week from his home in Dallas, McMichael said, "Hiro is our man on the ground in Japan and the one who first told me to keep an eye on Kenshin."
McMichael did that and was impressed by Kawakami's assortment of deliveries, excellent control and the ability to adjust his pitching, even on days when his best stuff is not working well.
"Each time I saw him, he was outstanding or just ordinary," said McMichael. "Kenshin realizes even the best pitchers on some days can spot the ball, while on others they cannot, but you still have to go out there and compete. He has a good cutter, I like his curve ball, and he can normally put his fastball where he wants it."
Everything I keep reading about Kawa is that he is first and foremost a fighter and a guy who battles on the mound. I also like the report of his ability to adjust on the mound.
Kawa's agent, Dan Evans, had this to say about the negotiations:
Somewhat puzzled two weeks ago when the Japanese sports press "decided" Kawakami had narrowed his choice of MLB teams to the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins, Evans said that was bogus; he was still talking to more clubs.
"I don't mind the rumors," he said. "But not when they are totally untrue. Atlanta was always a clear choice, and the Braves sold their franchise and city and explained how Kenshin could fit into the community. He was really impressed when he got to Atlanta and started his trip which was crammed with events."
The Braves also picked up some help to ease the adjustment of Kawakami to American baseball during Spring Training.
One more thing: Kawakami will see at least one familiar face when he reports to camp with pitchers and catchers next month. The Braves have also invited Dominican right-hander Rafael Cruz, a teammate with the Dragons [in Japan] in 2007 and 2008, for a shot at making the club.
Cruz is a relief pitcher. Here are the only stats I could find on him.
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This appears to be the same Cruz:
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/C/Rafael-Cruz.shtml
oddly enough, his minor league experience was at catcher apparently…
This is a terrible signing! …because I can’t find any baseball cards on this guy.
www.dropoutproductions.com
No cards, but here you go
His nickname is “Ducky Hip”.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 6:17 AM EST up reply actions
I can’t get over how the CD’s infield is all dirt, like it’s some softball park. And then there are NBP parks like the Tokyo Dome that have the four circles for the bases and mound, like in Toronto.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
no grass infield
That’s sort of traditional standard of Japanese ballpark – infield is all dirt (like Koshien stadium – it uses black and soft dirt, and softball park uses much harder one), or turf all over (like Nagoya dome – home of Dragons). The only NPB ballpark with grass infield is Kobe Skymark Stadium, as far as I know.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 12:22 PM EST up reply actions
I once asked a Japanese friend and baseball fan why the infields in Japan, especially in the few remaining outdoor parks, are all dirt, and he really didn’t have a good explanation. Pretty much because that’s how they’ve always done it.
First thing is infielders like black and soft dirt for their experience since they are kids, and if it uses both grass and black dirt, the difference of surface would be too significant. Kobe Skymark Stadium uses a bit harder dirt to narrow that gap.
Also there are countless ballparks around Japan but I guess more than 95% of them have dirt infield. 9 NPB ballclubs has spring training here in Okinawa (where I live), but all of them, including clubs with turf home field, requires black dirt infield to avoid knee injuries.
More than that, I just think we just didn’t copy the ballpark when baseball began in Japan back in 1872 by a guy named Horace Wilson – I guess that’s the biggest reason.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 1:01 PM EST up reply actions
Really… ducky hip? I wonder where that comes from. I almost half hope he makes the team with a nickname like that.
Rafael Cruz
He seriously injured his right elbow in the game (Mar 10th 2008 – I remember the moment), and waived on Aug 11th from Dragons. He had pretty good slider and hope he is okay now.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 12:28 PM EST up reply actions
He has big legs which is a plus for a pitcher and looking at his stats he had a ERA of 2.66 in 17 games pitched. Dont know if that means anything considering it was done in the Japanese league but hey lets take a chance and see wht this guy has left…
by AlRoBraves95 on Jan 18, 2009 5:16 PM EST up reply actions
CB
of course thats the only way you would judge him lol at least Kawa has like 50 different cards lol GO BRAVES!!! Spring Training 2009
N. Tyler Ayers
Kenshin showed up in radio show after contract
Are you going to call him Kawa? There are too many family names starting with Kawa (means river) like Kawamura, Kawazoe, Kawai, Kawasaki, Kawasshima, Kawata, Kawamoto, Kawabe, Kawase…. Also Kawakami is very popular one among them (more than 36000 households)…. But Kenshin is very identical and he said he want you folks call him as Kenshin at the press conference the other day.
Kenshin showed up in local radio show in Nagoya right after he returned from Atlanta press conference, and here is the write up what exactly said.
He sounded like feeling very at home thought out the show, and and here’s some notable points:
- Happy with his agent’s decision to contract with Atlanta.
- Only 2 days to stay there so no big impression of Atlanta downtown, but it was so cold.
- He don’t know who Cy Young is.
- No plan on marrying yet and will be somewhat alone in Atlanta (he is single, and his long time teammate Kosuke Fukudome married right after he contracted with Cubs)
- Instructed by Atlanta management about the pronunciation of “Y’all” very carefully
- Wanted to be called as “Kenshin”, but found most of Atlanta managements pronounced like “Kasay” or “Cayce”.
- Turner Field was just great.
- Didn’t use calligraphy-brush for his handwriting of “Soul”, but used painter’s brush (like <a href=“http://image.”http://www.rakuten.co.jp/techno-ns/img10272194832.jpeg" target="_blank">www.rakuten.co.jp/techno-ns/img10272194832.jpeg" target="new">this one).
- Definitely want to strike out Kosuke Fukudome.
- Will drag interpreter all day long, but want to speak out in English as much as he can.
- Never experienced 4 days rest and 100 pitches rotation, but it should be adaptable.
- Definitely keep myself withing the rotation for entire season, and want some basehits as well. A bit worried about MLB’s slippy baseball (especially for his cutter", but it should be okay with some little techniques.
- No-hitter against Tokyo Giants (Aug 1st, 2002) was one of his best memory with Dragons.
- Did not expect he get #11 once again, and actually wanted bigger number this time like #59 as “5” is his favorite number. When he joined Dragons, the choice was either #11 or #19.
- Has wanted to play in Majors since he attended the games against MLB all star team in 2002.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 5:03 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
Interesting
Are the Japan League balls more texturized (obviously not a word)? Techniques? I’m sure Roger can show him how to scuff up a ball …
"He's getting better, but he's not there yet ..."
- Bobby Cox (talking about Boyer)
microscope photo
I cannot find it now but I recently saw good comparison of microscope photos of both baseballs (both cow), and NPB one has more holes than MLB’s. I guess that’s why.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
RIVER PUJOLS
Kawa = River
Kami = Pujols
Wait until Riverpujols starts the season. Atlanta can get hot, humid, or both. And if January is any indication, Georgia is going to be a rainy year ahead of us.
I hope he does put an effort towards his English. I find it disrespectful and condescending that guys like Ichiro and Vlad Guerrero, after all the years they’ve been in the United States still speak little to no English, and make no effort to appeal to their American fans.
Interesting about the baseballs. I heard that Asian leagues use horse leather for their baseballs, where as they are cow leather in the States. And there is a consistency difference between gripping them, that some were complaining about like in the WBC.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
Ichiro
He does speak very good English actually, but all we know he don’t want to speak it to media or fans.
Also we do use cow leather for baseball as well as horse. Anyway both of them has more gripping than yours. Kenshin was badly beaten when he used that slippy ball in Beijing Olympic games (one of his worst experience in his career), and hope he can adjust his cutter this time.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 12:08 PM EST up reply actions
Kenshin speaks decent English? That’s interesting. I know that most Japanese baseball players go pro after high school and don’t attend college, and that most Japanese kids who don’t attend college (and even many who do) don’t speak very good English, despite it’s being a required subject.
Well I don’t think he is fluent enough to play baseball as of now, but is encouraged to improve it as he said in the radio show. I guess around 30-40% of NPB players are from college (30-40% from high schools and 20-30% from club teams), but most of them are not skillful to communicate or make themselves understood in English, with some exceptions like Shiggy Hasegawa. But I think it is not because of education level but way of teaching English in Japanese education system, especially in junior-high and high school – they teach writing and reading well so far to pass the exam, but poorly on listening and speaking.
Anyhow his Braves teammates will definitely teach funny (and sometimes inappropriate) English words to Kenshin, just like he did to American or Dominican players at Dragons ;-)
BTW Kenshin is a bit funny and hyper guy in the locker room, but is on fire and untouchable on the hill.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 18, 2009 1:22 PM EST up reply actions
Riverpujols, nice…
I guess I should be one to talk.
There's nights that I can't even walk.
There's days I couldn't give a fuck.
And in between is where I'm stuck.
by Smoltz's Beard on Jan 19, 2009 9:34 AM EST up reply actions
Recs
Japanese baseball players are fascinating. Ichiro’s English is actually quite good, but he prefers to speak in Japanese so he can say things more subtly than he could in English. Some of the stuff he busts out with is pure genius.
BTW, for you or others looking for some good baseball reading on Japanese ballplayers and the NPB, I highly recommend You Gotta Have Way and the follow-up book on Ichiro, both by Robert Whiting.
Formerly Uncle Charlie of Minor League Ball
I hope we have a packed house for his opener. He needs a good experience from our fan base so that it will possibly open the door for future Asian players.
Easier said than done
I agree with you that his first few experiences need to be positive ones, but it is much easier said than done. If the Braves PR have any modicum of intelligence, they will advertise the snot out of Riverpujols’ presence on the Braves to the scattered Japanese community, and encourage the sale of ticket packages. Otherwise, it will be the same old 3/5 capacity Ted full of people who show up in the 3rd and bolt as soon as the 7th is completed.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
is it acceptable to throw ur beer at people who arrive in the 3rd inning of a game?
"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."
touche….what is acceptable to throw at them?
"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."
The empties. By the third inning, you should have at least 3 piled up at your feet. Also, crumpled up hot dog wrappers and other trash that can fly a little bit.
BIG JOE SUCK ONE
its a shame they dont allow glass bottles anymore for this reason alone
"We win today, that's two in a row... if we win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before..."
We should carpet bomb Braves PR with emails with that request—publicize the hell out of KK. Get that stadium packed.
Oh, Bobby.
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