ELItorial

Opening daze in Tokyo...why?

COURTESY AFLO The Mets received flowers from women in kimonos and a split from the Cubs during their trip to Tokyo.

At 5:30 a.m., nearly 12 hours before I was expected, I stumbled into Krauszer's, filled a medium cup with coffee, walked to the front of the store, and dropped $1.09 into the palm of the man with glasses behind the counter.

That morning, I was early—and cranky—on account of Major League Baseball. This spring, Commissioner Bud Selig decided to make history by asking the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs to open their seasons in Japan, and I had to rouse myself out of bed even before the Doodle opened so that I could catch the game live from Tokyo, which is 14 hours ahead of Eastern Time.

Even after downing a cup of black coffee, I had trouble staying alert for most of the game. Now, I can remember only a few details—Darryl Hamilton's sacrifice fly that brought Rey Ordonez home, Shane Andrews' blast over the right field wall, Mike Piazza's homer that nearly salvaged the game for the Mets in the eighth inning. I also remember this one face.

After Piazza blasted that long home run, the television camera panned to a young Japanese fan, maybe eight years old, who was beaming and clapping vigorously at the performance. As the camera lingered on his face, the commentator declared, "This is why it's worth having opening day in Japan."

I should have gotten sentimental then, watching that boy. He was eight time zones and thousands of miles away from me, yet at the same instant we felt the same elation as the ball soared into the stands. I nearly did get sentimental. Then I looked at the score.

The game ended 5-3 in favor of the Cubs, and it occurred to me that the score probably would have been reversed if the game had been played in New York. In the first five innings, Mets pitcher Mike Hampton walked nine batters, the most by a Mets hurler since 1983. Would the fans at Shea have allowed that to happen? Would their cheering have made him more focused? Would their booing have brought him back to the dugout sooner?

The spectators at the Tokyo Dome spent $200 apiece to watch the Mets-Cubs game because they love the game of baseball. They did not come because they were fans of either team. It could have been Mets-Braves, Yankees-Red Sox, or Cardinals-Reds, and the stadium still would be have been filled to capacity: I couldn't help feeling that something was lost when opening day was played before fans without allegiance to a particular team. Sure, the Japanese are crazy about baseball, but how many of them really cared which team, be it the Mets or the Cubs, returned to the United States with an opening day victory?

Selig said that he brought the game to Japan to help "internationalize" the sport. Despite his claims to diplomatic intentions, it's clear to any fan that Selig only wanted to "internationalize" the market for baseball merchandise. There were 50,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday—just think of how much money could be made if every one of them went home wearing his very own Sammy Sosa t-shirt.

In the meantime, fans who care deeply about the Mets and the Cubs were left wondering why they had been forced to alter their sleep and work schedules and wake up at 5 a.m. to watch a baseball game. True, the game may have been a thrill for the Japanese. It may, indeed, have brought joy to an eight-year-old who had never dreamed of seeing Mike Piazza hit a home run in person. It may have helped to expand the annual earnings of Major League Baseball.

At the same time, however, the move to Japan showed a blatant disregard for every Chicago fan who can rattle off Mark Grace's career statistics and every New York fan who has been following the Mets since the time Rickey Henderson started playing Little League ball. The game may have generated international enthusiasm for baseball, but when that enthusiasm comes at the expense of the sanctity of the national pastime, it's probably not worth the airfare.

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