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| The Cover of Slugging It Out in Japan |
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Buy this book at Amazon.com |
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| The Cover of Slugging It Out in Japan |
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Buy this book at Amazon.com |
As a companion text to Robert Whiting’s You Gotta Have Wa, this book is a very interesting text written about one of the most influential and trail-blazing professional baseball players to wind up in Japan. This is the story of Warren Cromartie.
Cromartie came to Japan during the heady days of the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s. He was a force to be reckoned with in the Japanese baseball league. Most baseball players who wind up in Japan are usually guys who had a number of good years in the major leagues, and when they started to slip, started to head down that long hall to the locker-room for the last time, got a final gasp of “professional” ball playing in Japan.
Come along on a journey of a first-person narrative, a tale told by a man who came to Japan to live a dream, a dream that he didn’t know that he had. Like many, he is one of these guys that winds up over here, not really knowing why or how, and finds purpose and direction along the way.
Don’t get this reviewer wrong. This is not a Tom Cruise-esque tale of someone who comes to Japan to find out why everything here in Groovy Nippon is perfect and why the West is decadent, repulsive, foul-smelling, and evil. This is a mostly well-balanced account of a man who tells you about his life living as a major-leaguer here in Japan. It’s a very fun read too.
The author’s voice is one that comes through nicely, despite being “ghosted” by Robert Whiting. On one hand we can hear how this man was quite self-obsessed about his abilities and role in whatever team he played for. On the other hand, he is also quick to point out where he erred, what mistakes he made, and where he was arrogant or wrong-headed. I like that. I think that no account of living in Japan is not without “pilot error”. Japan can be a hard place to live sometimes, but there are times as well where expatriates do not make the living here any easier on themselves.
Highly recommended fun reading for those who enjoy sports autobiographies coupled with overseas travel journals. A great companion book to You Gotta Have Wa.
Mark Groenewold
September, 2004
This page is copyright © 2004 Mark Groenewold