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jasonact

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Kenjie Jojima
« on: November 08, 2005, 05:48:13 pm »
Has anyone heard anything about Japenese catcher Kenjie Jojima?  This Newsday article seems to portray him as perhaps the next great thing to come out of Japan. Anyone know if he's as good as described? Is he even on the Astros' radar? If they can't get Ausmus to return (or even if they can), do you think Jojima would even be considered?

The first problem I can think of is the potential language barrier, which would probably be more of a problem at catcher than other positions.
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JimR

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #1 on: November 08, 2005, 05:49:11 pm »
nah. his interpreter can play 1B.
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homer

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2005, 06:33:54 pm »
The steM want him.
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utastro

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2005, 06:35:28 pm »
Quote:

nah. his interpreter can play 1B.



Bagwell speaks Japanese?
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jasonact

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #4 on: November 09, 2005, 09:25:33 am »
Quote:

The steM want him.



And?
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homer

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #5 on: November 09, 2005, 09:33:49 am »
Quote:

Quote:

The steM want him.



And?



And nothing. That is what I heard about him.

The steM seem to have the most interest in him.
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astrox

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2005, 07:08:31 pm »
Let me channel HD for a moment:

Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.
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hostros7

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2005, 07:18:19 pm »
and he wants somewhere in the ballpark of 20 mil.  no thanks.
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UpTooLate

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #8 on: November 10, 2005, 10:23:15 pm »
Quote:

Let me channel HD for a moment:

Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.



Didn't Bruce Chen play for a short time in Houston two years ago?  He sucked, we got rid of him. Yeah I know, Chen was not Japanese.
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jasonact

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2005, 09:56:46 am »
Quote:

Quote:

Let me channel HD for a moment:

Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.



Didn't Bruce Chen play for a short time in Houston two years ago?  He sucked, we got rid of him. Yeah I know, Chen was not Japanese.



Chen is Panamanian. The Astros have had a few other Panamanians play for them. What's your point?
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NeilT

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2005, 10:06:16 am »
Quote:


The first problem I can think of is the potential language barrier, which would probably be more of a problem at catcher than other positions.



Is language that much a problem for Spanish-speaking pitchers and English-speaking catchers, or vice versa?  Was Lima's problem that no one taught Meluskey how to say "get your pitch down" in Spanish?
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UpTooLate

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #11 on: November 11, 2005, 10:44:14 am »
Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Let me channel HD for a moment:

Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.



Didn't Bruce Chen play for a short time in Houston two years ago?  He sucked, we got rid of him. Yeah I know, Chen was not Japanese.



Chen is Panamanian. The Astros have had a few other Panamanians play for them. What's your point?



My point was that the implication that "McNeck" is a cross burning good ol'boy that wouldn't dare allow an asian on his team is bullshit.
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S.P. Rodriguez

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #12 on: November 11, 2005, 11:03:45 am »
Why bother replying.... Astrox just went on my ignore list...
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jasonact

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #13 on: November 11, 2005, 11:17:56 am »
Quote:

Quote:


The first problem I can think of is the potential language barrier, which would probably be more of a problem at catcher than other positions.



Is language that much a problem for Spanish-speaking pitchers and English-speaking catchers, or vice versa?  Was Lima's problem that no one taught Meluskey how to say "get your pitch down" in Spanish?



From what I understand, it can be a bit of a problem any time pitchers and catchers that don't speak the same language, but when the difference is Spanish/English, they can usually work something out.  I would think, however, that Japanese/English might be a more difficult barrier because the languages are so different and so complex. Even so, they could probably learn enough of the other language to get by. Besides, I think most Spanish-speaking pitchers/catchers know enough baseball English to get by by the time they get to the majors. I doubt the same's true for the Japanese players who don't come up through the American minors.

I don't know enough about the interactions between pitchers and catchers to speculate specifically on how this might effect them. I only assumed it would.
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NeilT

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #14 on: November 11, 2005, 11:27:33 am »
I had thought the same thing when I saw that the Mets were chasing Jojima. It took me about three days after your post for it to occur to me that something like that happens pretty often, so that maybe it wasn't that much of a problem.  I'm slow.

But I did get to remind everybody of Jose Lima and Mitch Meluskey.  If I could have worked in D. Bell, it would have been the completest thing.
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geezerdonk

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #15 on: November 11, 2005, 12:21:41 pm »


Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.



Oh yeah? Well what about Matt Mieske? Huh?
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astrox

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #16 on: November 11, 2005, 12:56:01 pm »
Sarcasm.
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astro pete

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #17 on: November 11, 2005, 01:02:37 pm »
Quote:

Sarcasm.



I don't think they knew HD.
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pravata

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #18 on: November 11, 2005, 01:07:42 pm »
Quote:

Has anyone heard anything about Japenese catcher Kenjie Jojima?  This Newsday article seems to portray him as perhaps the next great thing to come out of Japan. Anyone know if he's as good as described? Is he even on the Astros' radar? If they can't get Ausmus to return (or even if they can), do you think Jojima would even be considered?

The first problem I can think of is the potential language barrier, which would probably be more of a problem at catcher than other positions.



From Seattle, where they have experience with Japanese players,

"Jojima is regarded as the best position player in Nippon Professional Baseball, but is not close to the company of Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki, a class unto themselves among Japanese players....

Jojima may still re-sign with his Japanese team, ...He turned down a four-year, $20 million offer before becoming a free agent, but the Hawks have come back with another, for one year at $6 million. Jojima is not likely to find a comparable offer (per annum) in the U.S., at least not from the Mariners. ...

 Health could be a consideration. He is about to turn 30 -- thereby entering a wear-and-tear period for catchers -- and sustained a broken leg in September.
...

The defensive adjustment could be difficult. It can take big-league catchers a full season, sometimes longer, to learn hitters after changing from the American League to the National League, and vice versa. That would become more difficult when changing countries and cultures all at once. He is learning English, but the language barrier could be problematic."

 The Link

also,

"Jojima, 29, would face a unique language barrier communicating with major-league pitchers, but he caught two foreign pitchers per season during his 10-year career in Japan, and his transition would not be unlike what American-born catchers face in handling pitchers from Japan, Korea and Spanish-speaking countries.

Jojima's agent, Alan Nero, says that Jojima understands English and can speak "baseball language," but needs work on his conversational skills
The Link

So, he would love the Mets.
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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #19 on: November 11, 2005, 01:14:34 pm »
Quote:

So, he would love the Mets.



The steM were supposed to get Iguchi last year, too, but that fell thought and the White Sox snagged him cheap, so ya never know.
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L.I. Bill

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2005, 02:01:19 pm »
Actually it was two years back that the Mets were looking at Iguchi, but he decided to remain in Japan at that point and they went with Matsui instead.

From today's NY Daily News on Jojima:
[agent] "Nero is slated to hold a press conference in Chicago next week to outline the process for Jojima's courtship."  
 link

Mets have apparently talked to Nero briefly but not yet to Jojima.  They're definitely looking for a catcher so of course press stories will connect the two - but there's no sense right now about how sold (or not) they are on the guy.
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utastro

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #21 on: November 11, 2005, 03:22:11 pm »
Quote:

Jojima's agent, Alan Nero, says that Jojima understands English and can speak "baseball language,"



So he knows how to cuss in English.  That's a start.
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HudsonHawk

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #22 on: November 11, 2005, 04:38:38 pm »
Quote:

Quote:

Jojima's agent, Alan Nero, says that Jojima understands English and can speak "baseball language,"



So he knows how to cuss in English.  That's a start.



I guess that means he can say "awww shitfuck!  Pound the ol' Budweiser!"
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JimR

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #23 on: November 11, 2005, 05:02:51 pm »
"let's get two."
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lc_db

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #24 on: November 11, 2005, 05:08:01 pm »
Quote:

"let's get two."



Sake-fice Fly??
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Andyzipp

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #25 on: November 11, 2005, 06:34:26 pm »
[racist statement]Ret's get Roo! Ratta Roy![/racist statement]

Or is that Scooby Doo?
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NeilT

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #26 on: November 11, 2005, 07:17:31 pm »
Quote:

[racist statement]Ret's get Roo! Ratta Roy![/racist statement]

Or is that Scooby Doo?



I think it's Chinese.  Jojima's Japanese.
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Reuben

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #27 on: November 11, 2005, 07:51:47 pm »
Quote:

Quote:


So he knows how to cuss in English.  That's a start.



I guess that means he can say "awww shitfuck!  Pound the ol' Budweiser!"



Hey! Joe Schultz!
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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #28 on: November 14, 2005, 07:44:07 pm »
Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Let me channel HD for a moment:

Drayton McNeck will never allow a player of Japanese ancestry to play in Houston.



Didn't Bruce Chen play for a short time in Houston two years ago?  He sucked, we got rid of him. Yeah I know, Chen was not Japanese.



Chen is Panamanian. The Astros have had a few other Panamanians play for them. What's your point?



My point was that the implication that "McNeck" is a cross burning good ol'boy that wouldn't dare allow an asian on his team is bullshit.


'Course if he were black, Asian, and non-Southern Baptist all rolled into one, then you'd have the makings of a red flag.  Unless Tiger Woods were the guy.
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homer

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #29 on: November 18, 2005, 11:30:20 am »
Kenji is going back without a deal. The steM apparently cancelled their meeting with him. His team back home upped their offer to $10 mill/year.

The Link
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HurricaneDavid

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #30 on: November 18, 2005, 12:08:48 pm »
Is Kenjie Jojima related to Benjie Molina?
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Tralfaz

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Re: Kenjie Jojima
« Reply #31 on: November 21, 2005, 03:24:26 pm »
ESPN reporting he has signed with Seattle.
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