Ichiro Suzuki hits for the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star game history in 2007. He won the game MVP award. (Photo: Brad Mangin/Sports Illustrated)
MLB’s All-Star Game roster was announced today, and there are no Japanese Ball Players on it. Not even Ichiro Suzuki, who has been on the All-Star team every year since he came across the Pacific in 2001. This is the first time in his 11-year MLB career he will miss the All-Star game. He has started all but one year (2005, he was one of the backup position players) of the 10 all-star appearances.
In 2007, Ichiro went 3 for 3, hit the All-Star Game’s first inside-the-park home run and won MVP honors in the AL’s 5-4 victory.
One of the reasons Ichiro will be missed this year is that he won’t be doing the (not-so) secret pre-game, profanity-ridden pep talk. I first heard about this secret speech that Ichiro gives every year from ESPN’s Michael Kim when I was on the panel with him in AAJA convention in Boston.
Anyway, I thought this is a good occasion to look at Japanese players participation in All-Star Game throughout the years.
Japanese players in All-Star Games
- 1995: Hideo Nomo(Los Angeles Dodgers)
- Nomo started for National League in 1995 All-Star Game as a rookie, striking out three of the six batters he faced.
- 2001: Ichiro (Seattle Mariners), Kazuhiro Sasaki (Seattle Mariners)
- All star game was held in Seattle. Ichiro and closer Sasaki, both playing for the host Mariners, appeared for the first time. N.L. starter was Korean Chan Ho Park (his only selection).
- 2002: Ichiro, Kazuhiro Sasaki
- 2003: Ichiro, Hideki Matsui (New York Yankees), Shigetoshi Hasegawa (Seattle Mariners)
- Ichiro and Matsui were both voted in as a starter. Game started with Ichiro in right, Matsui in center and Garret Anderson in left. Hasegawa, who was closing for the Mariners in the place of injured Sasaki, also took his place in the All-start game.
- 2004: Ichiro, Hideki Matsui
- Hideki Matsui was the American League All-Star Final Vote winner.
- 2005: Ichiro
- 2006: Ichiro
- 2007: Ichiro, Takashi Saito (Los Angeles Dodgers), Hideki Okajima (Boston Red Sox)
- As the dodgers closer, Saito was named to the National League All-Star team for the first time in 2007. Red Sox’s Okajima was the American League All-Star Final Vote winner. Ichiro wins MVP.
- 2008: Ichiro, Kosuke Fukudome (Chicago Cubs)
- After a hot start, a .327 batting average in April, Fukudome was voted a starter in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game.
- 2009: Ichiro
- 2010: Ichiro
- 2011: None
—
Honorable mention.
Hiroki Kuroda, in his 4 yoear of MLB service with the Dodgers, have never been selected for All Star team. and He didn’t get a call this time either. But as ESPN Los Angeles website points out, in his past six starts, Kuroda has a 1.72 ERA, and opponents are batting .191 against him. Hiroki Kuroda took over the Dodger lead in ERA at 2.90, moving ahead of a pitcher most assume will make the National League All-Star team, Clayton Kershaw. Kuroda is active outside of the field as well. He just made donation to a cancer-research non-profit. Kuroda lost both of his parents to cancer.
The post Japanese players in All-Star Games appeared first on JapaneseBallPlayers.com Blog.
