This is the second article in a two-part series on Japanese baseball. (For all you non-sports fans, don't worry! Next month we'll be moving on to a new topic. If you have any suggestions, as always, just send them my way c/o my parents at PO Box 367. Or you can reach me via electronic mail at "daneilh@grad.e.u-tokyo.ac.jp" Look forward to hearing from you!)

Japanese and American baseball has received quite a lot of attention in Japan over the past few days. On June 9, Mike DiMmuro resigned from his umpiring job in Japan. The 29 year old former Triple A umpire had been the only American ump working in this country. He quit after he was surrounded on the field by angry players and was pushed on the chest by a batter whom he had just ejected from the game for arguing a strike call. This type of behavior on the part of the players is not unusual in Japan. The batter who did the pushing received no punishment or reprimand from the league.

Dimura's resignation has focused attention on umpiring in Japan. DiMuro was apparently invited over here to help teach his Japanese counterparts correct officiating. In attempting to do so he faced many cultural barriers. Generally speaking, umpires in Japan do not have the same strong-man status and are not treated with the same level of respect as umps typically receive in the U.S. (Of course, I haven't heard of an ump being spit on over here...) It's unfortunate that Dimura's stay in Japan lasted only about two months, but hopefully something good will come out of it. Certainly there is now a lot of attention being paid to an aspect of the game which has long been neglected in Japan. Officiating will hopefully get better, but for that to happen Japanese umpires must work harder and refuse to back down in the face of protest. Did Dimura set a good example for this by resigning? That's a tough call. But, if in the end officiating over here improves, then I guess it's a mute point and DiMura accomplished his task. I'll try to keep you informed on further developments as they unfold.

I got some great baseball questions via email from Brookfield resident, Frank Halloran. Let me answer some to them here. The Japanese friends I interviewed said that games which end 7-6 or 6-5 are generally the most popular over here. In these games you get to see some home runs, but the pitching isn't so terrible you are embarassed. The typical career, including minor leagues, of a professional Japanese ballplayer is probably about 10+ years. Not so different from the US, I suppose. Hiromitsu Ociai, constidered the best batter ever in Japanese baseball, is still playing. He is 44 years old and in his 19th season. And guess what, he is still hitting clean-up! Most people over here seem to feel that while there are undoubtedly many Japanese players who hold the dream of one day playing in the US, the number who actually make the leap to America will probably stay relatively small. The Japanese are however very interested in seeing how the Japanese pitcher, Irabu, now a NY Yankee, will fare in the US with his Japaese record holding 97 mph fastball. I'm pretty interested too! Until next month, may peace be with you. -Daniel Heller