Jim Allen of the Daily Yomiuri examines why it was the right choice for Kosuke Fukudome of the Chunichi Dragons to win the Central League MVP award, beating out his more heralded teammates: pitcher Kenshin Kawakami and first baseman Tyrone Woods.
"Personally, I'd like to see the Japanese take on the MVP award, it's probably smaller and more efficient."
Obviously, that piece is amazingly good in comparison to the usual fare in the US. Can you contextualize it a bit more? Is this kind of writing unique among Japanese sportswriters? What about the readership? I'm wondering if this is the equivalent of Marchman and Hollinger writing for the NY Sun or more like if Joe Sheehan got hired by the LA Times.
Jim Allen is a SABR member so I imagine that he knows about win shares. The average Japanese fan doesn't get too involved in this. I'm not sure who the voters are.
The English language media in Japan are not a big group. I can't compare them at all to the Japanese writers since I can't read their stuff. I think that the Japanese press are a lot more wrapped up in "chemistry" and "heart" and "effort" than numbers, although I think that's changing.
Thanks.
The English language media in Japan are not a big group. I can't compare them at all to the Japanese writers since I can't read their stuff. I think that the Japanese press are a lot more wrapped up in "chemistry" and "heart" and "effort" than numbers, although I think that's changing.
I know nothing. Nothing.
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