Lotte's Guest

Bobby Valentine in front of the famous "Player #26" (the fans) jersey.

I had the great fortune to have been invited to spend some time with the Chiba Lotte Marines yesterday (Friday, June 8, 2007) before the game at Yokohama Stadium. I got to meet the infamous Bobby Valentine and a number of staff members while browsing around in front of the third base dugout trying to listen in on what the Japanese media was asking Saburo.

After getting my guest pass and being led to the third base dugout, the first person there on the bench was Bobby V., wearing sunglasses and a huge smile. I was introduced, as "Michael Westbay from JapaneseBaseball.com," and the reaction by Bobby was, "No kidding?" He remembers all of our correspondence, back to 1995. And he even remembers taking my parents out to dinner while he was with the Mets' AAA team the next year at Norfolk. Whereas I can't even remember the names of all of the people I met yesterday, Bobby has a knack for remembering people and names from many places. There were a number of people meeting with Bobby before the game, and he could name every one, from big-wigs (with whom he spoke in Japanese) to reporters' names. Even if Bobby rubs some people the wrong way, he is most definitely a people person.

One of the main purposes for my visit with the Marines was to learn more about the data gathering system that they use. Much of the innovation in data gathering at Asobos has been implemented at Bobby's request. Regarding the team's data gathering, here's what Ballard-san wrote (mostly quoting SF Giants' Sabean-GM) in his Sports Illustrated article (top of page 6):

Few in Major League Baseball deny that Bobby Valentine can manage. He is acknowledged to be one of the best minds in the game, and few managers work harder to gain an edge on an opponent. (Valentine was famous for studying video, and the cameras he had installed at Shea Stadium led to accusations that he stole signs.) "What was unique about [Valentine] was his game approach," says San Francisco Giants' G.M. Brian Sabean. "He was a top-step guy who watched every pitch. You didn't see him overchecking lineup cards and rifling through matchup stats. He had a general idea what he was going to do on a given day and what personnel he was going to use. But more important, he watched the game. You have to have a feel for that. I don't think he gets quite the credit he deserves."

While it seems that Ballard-san brought up the sign stealing accusations to belittle Valentine-kantoku, if he (or anyone at that time) had bothered to look into how the video was being used, it is clearly for instructional purposes for his own batters. By having video of a batter when he is doing well and when he is struggling, coaches can go through that video and play it side by side to show the batter exactly what differences there are - grip position, leg position, bat angle, etc. He's done the same thing at Chiba Marine Stadium, and Bobby goes over this video with his coaches and players so that they may better instruct and be instructed.

Is the video instruction technology unique to Asobos and the Marines? No. I first saw such systems for instructing was with the Team Oz high school baseball team a number of years ago. But this aspect that Ballard-san and Sabean-GM commented on is just a minor part of what Valentine-kantoku is doing with data. The key for Bobby isn't necessarily the form-review extra cameras. It's these words by Sabean-GM: "He was a top-step guy who watched every pitch."

The biggest thing that Bobby and his staff do is go through not only the TVL (Trajectory, Velocity, Location) data of every batter, but also the accompanying video. They correct any mistakes from the live feeds, the same feeds that power the Yahoo! scoreboard, and have terabytes of combined video and stats that they can call up at will on any player based on any number of conditions. For a stats and database junky, I was left salivating to put my hands on that system. What Bobby and the Marines are doing with Asobos gives watching "every pitch" a totally new meaning.

And it was with the analysis of this data that the Marines have been able to stop the guys you don't want to allow to defeat you; the likes of Wada (Seibu), Matsunaka (Softbank), and Kanemoto (Hanshin) in playoffs and the Nippon Series.

Well, that was my main purpose for going. And let me tell you, I would be in absolute heaven to be able to work with that data. Perhaps I should have gone to work for Asobos?

Anyway, back on the field, the press was gathered on the path back to the dugout from the batting cage where Saburo was finishing up his batting practice. Saburo came through the throng of cameras, made a short comment, and disappeared through the dugout door leading to the locker room. The media crews looked severely disappointed, some looked worried that they wouldn't have their quote for their headline story. I chuckled at the scene.

For those of you who only know about what's happening in Tiger country, Saburo was riding a 9 consecutive at bat hitting streak going into the game. His last at bat on Wednesday was a base on balls, before which he went 9 straight plate appearances with a hit.

Much to the relief of the camera and newspaper reporting crews, Saburo came back out and took questions. I wondered over in that direction in hopes of hearing some of the questions and answers, but now I understand why so many crews have mics on long poles. There were too many people crowded in, and being a guest, I wasn't going to shove my way through. So I apologize, but I was unable to get any pre-game quotes by Saburo to entertain you with.

I also played Deanna and took a ton of pictures. I'll try to post them all eventually.

As for the game? Well, from the BayStars' point of view, it wasn't very good. Katoh was knocked out after two innings, while Shimizu went the distance for Lotte. The BayStars finally managed to score in the 9th on a pair of two-out doubles. But the one run looked rather sad against the 12 runs Yokohama had given up.

So, all in all, mixed emotions for this game. My stay with the Marines was absolutely out of this world. That they can so easily trounce my 'Stars, ummm.