|
|
 |
 |
The Monster from Japan - Foreign Players Make It Big in Major League Baseball
Japanese players are making a big impression on Major League Baseball. The latest is Daisuke Matsuzaka. He is known as the Monster. The fast-throwing pitcher plays for the Boston Red Sox. At first, the Red Sox had to pay 51 million dollars just for the right to negotiate with Matsuzaka. They then paid him another 52 million dollars for a six-year contract! Wow!
Japanese players in the Major Leagues are few, but the number is growing. The first ever was Masanori Murakami who played briefly for the San Francisco Giants in 1964. After Murakami, 30 years went buy until another Japanese player joined a Major League Baseball team.
The current wave of Japanese players began with pitcher Hideo Nomo who joined the Dodgers in 1995. That year, Nomo won the Rookie of the Year Award. The first Japanese non-pitcher to make the majors was Ichiro Suzuki. In his first year playing for the Seattle Mariners he was named the league's MVP!
Another famous player is Hideki Matsui, who joined the New York Yankees in 2003. In Japan, Matsui earned the nickname Godzilla because he hit the ball so hard! Cool!
With success stories like these, I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more stars coming from across the Pacific in the years to come!
I'm Lucy and that's what happened in Sports this week!
Japanese players are becoming stars in the Major Leagues! Can you tell who is who in this week's Match Game?
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
