In less than 3 weeks, the Tokyo Olympics will take place and it’s the first time that baseball is back to the Olympics since the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Unfortunately, international spectators are not allowed to attend. Thus, I won’t be able to watch a baseball game in the Olympics again this year.
I watched a baseball game in the Beijing Olympics in 2008. It was a game between team Japan and team Netherlands. Team Japan won the game. For me, it was a great experience.
Looking back at Japan's roster for the 2008 Olympic games. There are several players who later made MLB.
Firstly, let’s start from pitchers. Kenshin Kawakami began his career with the Chunichi Dragons and he pitched for the Atlanta Braves for two seasons. He tossed more than 200 innings and posted a 4.32 ERA in 2009 and 2010.
Masahiro Tanaka was only 19 years old when he played for the team Japan in 2008. It was his second year with the Rakuten Golden Eagles and he joined the Yankees in 2014. Tanaka has been selected to the All-Star game two times. In his 7 seasons in pinstripes, he tossed more than 1000 innings with a 3.74 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. Tanaka is going to play for team Japan in the Tokyo Olympics.
Back in 2008, Yu Darvish was the ace of the team Japan. However, he was not pitching as well as expected in the Olympic games and took a loss against Cuba. Darvish joined the Rangers in 2012. By far in his career, Darvish already tossed 200 games in the MLB and threw more than 1500 strikeouts. He’s selected to the 2021 All-Star game and it’s his fifth time.
Koji Uehara was the 2013 ALCS MVP and won the 2013 World Series championship with the Red Sox. He was playing for the team Japan in 2008 and he joined the Orioles the next year. In total, Uehara spent 9 seasons in the MLB.
Tsuyoshi Wada was an important left-handed pitcher for team Japan in 2008 and agreed to a deal with the Orioles in 2011. He spent 4 seasons in the minors and made his MLB debut on July 8, 2014. He made 20 starts for the Cubs in 2014 and 2015. Wada returned to Japan in 2016 and he is currently playing for the Softbank Hawks.
Kyuji Fujikawa was a hard-throwing reliever and he made his MLB debut on April 1, 2013. In total, Fujikawa made 29 relief appearances in the MLB.
Secondly, let’s look at infielders. Tsuyoshi Nishioka played 71 games for the Twins and Munenori Kawasaki played 276 games in the majors from 2012 to 2016. An interesting case is that Hiroyuki Nakajima signed a two-year deal with the Oakland Athletics in December 2012. However, Nakajima never made it into the big league. Finally, let’s take a look at outfielders. Norichika Aoki is a good contact hitter from Japan. He joined the Brewers in 2012. Aoki spent 6 years in the MLB, hitting .285/.350/.387. He has 774 hits in the majors.
On the 24-man roster for the 2008 Japan National baseball team, 10 players signed with the MLB teams later in their careers and 9 players did play in the big league. Masahiro Tanaka will play in the Olympic games again. However, I’m just wondering if he will be pitching in the majors again. Additionally, will any of his current teammates of Samurai Japan play in the MLB in the future?
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