Japan doesn’t usually get the respect it deserves as far as being considered the premiere baseball country in the world, this despite the fact that they have won the only two World Baseball Classics, the World Series MVP is from Japan, as is former AL MVP and possibly the best contact hitter in baseball history. So my next few posts will be strictly about Japanese baseball players, from the best, the worst, to the outlandish. Let’s start with the outlandish.
Tsuyoshi Shinjo- In Japan Shinjo is an icon, though known more for his dyed hair-sprayed hair, his good looks, and his Ochocinco-esque stunts than his play. Statistically Shinjo did not have a great career, never hitting more than 30 hrs in any season in Japan and totaling only 20 hrs in 3 years in the MLB. All while only hitting a mere 250 for his career. Though he did total 9 gold gloves while in Japan and became the first Japanese player to play in a World Series in America, and in finally won a Japan Series when his Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters won in his final season in baseball.
So why is Shinjo, an above average player, so beloved? The answer is simple, its because he’s so damn entertaining. This is a man who was lowered from the roof of a stadium onto the field for an All-Star game. In fact All-Star games seem to be the perfect platform for Shinjo to showcase his mixture of exciting all out play and bizarre sense of humor. In one All-Star game he used a rainbow colored bat and wore an LED belt that said “Nevermind what I do!!!Fan is my treasure!!!” During another All-Star game he used a golden bat, and in another he stole home.
He is also known for his stunts with his uniforms. He’s once famously reprimanded by the league for wearing his old Tigers jersey while playing for the Fighting Ham, and for wearing a collared shirt under his uni. And he has on several occasions worn ridiculous masks during warm ups.
Here is Shinjo with a frog hat on.
Here is Shinjo with a mask of a face eating a face, eating a face, eating Shinjo.
I have no words for this picture, just love.
Since retiring Shinjo immediately announced his intentions to pose nude with his wife*. He also won Japan’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” which I’ve never seen but I can say with 90 percent certainty that it somehow involved a very painful obstacle course. He has also came out of retirement to get the last out of a SoftBank Hawks game as a pitcher. Anyway here’s the video… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOxP8YQ1NYA
What’s awesome about Shinjo in this video is 1. He’s not a pitcher, 2. Where most people have a number on the back of their jersey he has a picture of his face, and 3. After he gets the batter to ground out, he gets the ball and throws it into the stands, next goes his gold colored glove, then he runs around high fiving everyone, teammates, umpire, and fans, all for getting the last out of a meaningless game.
I will end this section on Shinjo with a conversation he had with his manager Katsuya Nomura.
After asking Shinjo why he didn’t steal more bases given his excellent speed Shinjo replies with ” because I have no interests in it” then added he didn’t want his legs to get bigger because they wouldn’t look as good in his jeans.awesome.
*although a quick google search of “Shinjo nude” yielded page after page of hentai** and sadly no Shinjo
**for those of you who don’t know what hentai is, its basically anime porn that frequently features penetration by a tentacle. and no that is not a typo.
