Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series "Celebrity Commentary" (coming soon)
This is a "small" (小) post—click here for an explanation of Round and Square post lengths.
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One year ago on Round and Square (4 June 2012)—The Accidental Ethnographer: Ocean and Isle (Tonga)Two years ago on Round and Square (4 June 2011)—Living and Learning: Rules and Regulations
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| [a] Individual and Society RF |
可飛ばせ, 田中!
Let 'er rip, Tanaka! OR
Fly to base, Tanaka!
Fly to base, Tanaka!
—Common Japanese baseball chant
(Tanaka is a common surname, like "Smith")
(Tanaka is a common surname, like "Smith")
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| [b] Wrigley-narrow RF |
It's time to let 'er rip.
And sometimes when the batter is a little early or late on the pitch...the ball drifts into foul territory.
Foul territory. That's an interesting cultural concept, isn't it?
The American major leagues (Oakland is one exception) have rather narrow bits of foul territory. This makes a difference in the way the game of baseball is played. A home run to center field requires perfect timing on the swing. Even a millisecond can send the ball on the "other" side of the foul lines.
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| [c] Pitcher, batter RF |
And here is where it makes a difference. If foul territory—the area between the foul line and the stands—is narrow, the ball drifts into the stands, gives a fan a souvenir, and gives the batter another pitch (or more). If the ball is caught in foul territory, the batter is out.
That's a big difference. Narrow foul territory helps batters (and keeps the fans closer). Wide swaths of foul territory favor the pitchers.
And in Japan, there is a whole lot more foul territory than there is in almost every venue in the American major leagues. Just compare image [b] from Chicago's Wrigley Field and image [d] from the Tokyo Dome.
That's a big ol' difference, and it matters...a lot.
[If you don't read Japanese, but want to have some sense of the Japanese kana and kanji in these posts, just copy the phrases and paste them into translation software such as Babylon or Google Translate].
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