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2.29.2008

the future of major league coaching

For the most part, Americans have gotten used to the fact that there Japanese baseball players in the major leagues. The novelty has sort of worn off, and with six Japanese players in their first major league training camps this season, it's pretty much the new status quo. The players have proven they can hang with the big dogs. But is Major League Baseball ready for a Japanese coach?

We're still probably several years away, but Masato Yoshii, formerly of the New York Mets, has become the first of the 31 Japanese players who have played in the major leagues since Hideo Nomo made his debut in 1995 to return to Japan and become a coach. And he's hoping the experience will one day lead to a coaching opportunity in the MLB : Hoping to Become the Next Hot Baseball Export From Japan. But first he's probably got to work on his English.