Former catcher Jason Kendall and former infielder Akinori Iwamura talked Tuesday about how major league baseball in both Japan and America could be better if Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball opened their eyes wider to the way other countries do things.
The two were among a host of former major leaguers who converged on Tokyo Dome for MLB’s opening games last week. Kendall, a three-time all-star who led his league in games played as a catcher eight times, wished more Japanese catchers would come to the United States because of the fundamentally sound approach they would bring.
Kendall said one perk of coming to Tokyo, where he took part in a clinic for youth baseball coaches, was getting to see Japanese catchers in action, and contrasted the basic fundamentals Japanese baseball demands with the variable fundamental skills he sees now in American ball.
“There are a lot of good catchers (in America), but the way they’re doing things now, it’s different,” he said. ” But the fact that they’re so fundamentally sound over here, I think one of the biggest things for me is getting to see some of the Japanese catchers because your first priority is the pitcher. That’s it.”
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