"Asian Celebration" at PNC Park, Pirates vs. Reds, April 16th.

From @GlobalPGH comes news of an "Asian Celebration" at the Pittsburgh Pirates game versus the Cincinnati Reds on April 16th. Events begin at 5:30 on the Southwest Flight Deck, behind the scoreboard in left field, and will include music and performances by, among others, Japanese, Thai, and Filipino groups. The Japan-America Society of Pennsylvania will also be there. Reduced-price tickets are available with the order form here (.pdf file) via Verso Partners.

More after the break.

The Pirates currently have one Japanese player on their team, Akinori Iwamura, the second in the team's history after Masumi Kuwata in 2007. As I've written before, just as Hines Ward put Pittsburgh on the map for Koreans, former Pirates pitcher Kuwata made Pittsburgh more recognizable to Japanese. Kuwata remains well-respected in Japan, but his career progression is unfortunately very typical of the Pirates; from the Baseball Reference wiki:

"1987-1994: The Glory Years," "1995-1996: Injury," "1997-2002: Post-Injury," "2003-2006: Further decline," "To the USA."

I wrote a little about Kuwata on this post about Iwamura's acquisition. I was intrigued to read this comment, on a Japan Probe post about Kuwata meeting the Japanese Prime Minister in 2009:

[P]rops to the Pirates equipment manager who gave him Japan’s “ace number”, 18, which is usually worn by position players in America. Bobby Valentine did the same thing for Takashi Kishiwada when he was with the Mets, and I thought that was a nice touch.

I'm sorry to say, Pittsburgh doesn't much care for Iwamura's kind around here. "Iwamura's kind" meaning, of course, quality baseball players. He's pretty good, and a free agent at the end of the season, meaning you can expect him to be traded for a minor league pitcher and maybe a back-up catcher in a couple months.

The Pirates are getting started on their 18th straight losing season, a record in American professional sports, and most fans in Pittsburgh will tell you baseball's not the reason people go to the stadium. The frequent promotions are one reason, the spectacular view is another.



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