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The story
A post titled “Once you watch the MLB postseason, Japanese baseball just isn’t watchable” appeared on 5ch’s Hello! Project board, sparking a mix of comments praising MLB players’ power and skill level and counterarguments that NPB has its own unique charm. During the very game being broadcast at the time, Munetaka Murakami hit a go-ahead two-run home run, and the thread also lit up over a joking “translation” of the broadcaster’s call, “Show Me the Mune.” The discussion expanded to cover whether it’s fair for a team with a losing record to still reach the postseason via a wild card, and broader differences in how fans value result-based stats like win totals.
What people said
Lame uniforms
Lame cheering
Is it really so bad if an idol gets caught on camera going all-out dancing off duty? C'mon, that's fine, right?
Once you get used to seeing laser-like throws made from off-balance positions
you really do feel how far Japanese baseball still has to go
I think the time has come to develop and send out players who can hold their own in MLB, even if it means sacrificing excitement back home
MLB's so low-level that Japanese guys are just running wild out there
Though I'm from the Pete Rose generation myself, half a century back
Wait, are you in your 80s?
Even though it can't even manage to be Asia's weakest champion?
Sumo's doing just fine too, y'know
I'm pushing 60
I just want some sympathy here
Ah, so you're the kid who used to watch the MLB broadcasts on Fuji TV
Murakami just hit a go-ahead 2-run homer
Getting beaten by a guy like Murakami — what a low level lmaooooo
Honestly, the only one who could be called truly dominant this season is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and even he's losing the MVP race to Mijiorowski
Conversely, by your own logic, that means NPB — where a second-tier guy like Reyes who couldn't hack it in MLB can dominate — is way beyond just "low-level," right?
Can't remember if it was Fuji TV, but yeah, that's the one
Also "Diamond Soccer" (a classic old Japanese soccer program)
Glad the commentator's Imanaka though, love that guy (former NPB pitcher Masaaki Imanaka)
NHK, quit it with the double-commentator thing
It just makes everyone miserable
Turns out "Mune" doubles as "money" too (a pun on Murakami's first name, Munetaka)
But the majority of Japanese baseball fans still think a pitcher's win-loss record is worth something when judging their ability
They're just a finished result — not a stat that tells you anything about the future
Even with a losing record you can still make the playoffs — typical of the "Lame-jors" (a jab combining dame, meaning "no good," with "Majors")
Winning a handful of postseason games doesn't exactly make you the league's representative
Yeah, he got traded there this summer
Kind of makes winning the division pointless
The other matchup is the AL East champion Rays against the AL East runner-up Yankees, so…
Background and Key Points of This Debate
MLB’s postseason format lets not just each division’s champion in, but also “wild card” teams that missed the division title — meaning that in some years, a team with a big losing record within its own division can still advance. What split the thread was the clash between the view that, going by individual players’ power and defensive skill, “MLB is simply the higher level,” and the counterargument that “that’s comparing elite players to elite players, not the overall quality of the leagues.” On win totals as a stat, some pointed out that, from a sabermetrics standpoint, they don’t directly reflect a pitcher’s true skill — but that’s a point baseball fans themselves are split on, and the thread’s opinions shouldn’t be taken as representing fans as a whole. It’s also worth noting that the parts of the discussion that branched into comparisons with soccer and sumo weren’t based on any shared yardstick for a sport’s popularity — they were simply individual posters’ impressions.
※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Once you watch the MLB postseason, Japanese baseball just isn’t watchable.”
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