The Billiken's Bluff

Two things happened this weekend that involved the Japanese getting the business end of a boot.

Donnie Brasco played on network televison...



Donnie:

"Hey Sonny my old man was in the war and because of them I had to grow up in a fuckin orphanage, I'm not takin off my shoes for that jap bastard."

And the US played Japan in the World Baseball Classic in California:

The play began innocuously enough. United States left fielder Randy Winn made the catch, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka tagged up from third base. Winn's throw drifted up the third-base line and Nishioka scored to give Japan a 4-3 lead. Nishioka did not even have to slide.

The United States appealed, claiming Nishioka left early, but such appeals are generally considered formalities after Little League. They are rarely granted and are often considered acts of desperation. Brian Knight, the second-base umpire, who had rushed over to third, rejected the appeal and signaled that Nishioka was safe.

Only then, when the play was over, did it get interesting. Buck Martinez, the United States manager, ran out of the dugout — not to Knight, but to the home-plate umpire, Bob Davidson. Martinez insisted that Nishioka left third base early. Davidson talked it over with the rest of the crew.

Perhaps the loudest cheer of the day went up when Davidson called Nishioka out, erasing Japan's run and keeping the score tied. Sadaharu Oh, the Japanese manager, who is also the leading home run hitter in professional baseball history, bolted from his dugout, wagging his index finger at Davidson. Oh was trailed by an interpreter, presumably to help him argue more convincingly with an American umpire.

Although the inning was over, Japanese players refused to leave the dugout, their own quiet show of protest. It took three umpires, waving their arms angrily, to finally get them out onto the field.

Japan, already defeated in spirit, lost the game in the bottom of the ninth when Alex Rodriguez singled with the bases loaded and two out.

"It's unimaginable that this could happen in the United States, where baseball is so famous and popular," Oh said through an interpreter.

Japan's Ichiro Suzuki, commented on both incidents, through an interpreter:

"It's such a shame. It's such a pity."