They Use A Smaller Baseball in Japan? (1 Viewer)

[pantagrapher]

Was reading up on Kenshin Kawakami today and came across this:

Like all pitchers coming from Japan, he'll also have to adjust to the larger baseball used here.

linkWikipedia confirms this.

Am I the only one who didn't know they use a smaller ball?

 

[ScottNorwood]

I had no idea. Wild stuff.

 

[Tom Servo]

I didn't either.

 

[Spartans Rule]

I just learned that earlier this year while reading up on Kawakami.

Japanese pitchers have said that it's not so much the size of the American ball that gives them problems, but the slipperiness.

 

[MrPhoenix]

That might have something to do with why Japanese players are good average, but low power guys when they come to the US.

Very interesting.

 

[PIK95]

I knew that. Its why the Gyro ball won't work here.

 

[NY/NJMFDIVER]

I did.

Fans also eat noodles at the game, which somehow bugs me out more.

 

[SofaKings]

No idea either!