Tournament wrapup

USA Team Wins Japan Senior Title

Jan. 1, 2002 – Senior Softball-USA

FUJINOMIYA, Japan ˆ Team USA swept 5 games straight to win the All Japan Championship Cup International Tournament here on Nov. 24-25 for the second year in a row.

The senior softball tournament, which was held in the shadow of Mount Fuji, drew 22 teams ˆ twice as many as last year. The Tournament, sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Health and Sports, the Kenko Softball Company and Waseda University, is designed to promote senior softball throughout Japan.

"Our All-Japan Slowpitch Softball Association was established in 2000," said Prof. Tradashi Yoshimura of the University of Waseda. "We hope to make slowpitch softball, which is one of the most popular sports in America, equally as popular in Japan ˆ especially for our seniors."

The Japan Ministry of Health and Sports has been working with Senior Softball-USA and the German Baseball/Softball Federation for the past several years to lay the foundation for an international series of tournaments to help promote the sport in Japan and Europe.

This year, the Japanese tournament officials invited a number of countries to field teams to play senior teams from throughout Japan in the tournament, which was held in a new $12 million softball stadium complex in Fujinomiya. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, however, undermined the travel plans of many of the international teams and only teams from Germany and the United States were able to make it to compete against the Japan teams.

"We are honored to represent the United States at these games, we are overjoyed with the victory and we look forward to building international senior softball competition on this foundation of friendship and friendly competitiveness in the years to come," said Terry Hennessy, manager of Team USA.

Team USA, which was the heavy favorite to win the tournament, displayed booming power and a strong defense, chalking up 49 runs in the 5 games and giving up only 2 runs.

Many of the Japanese teams gathered to watch Team USA play ˆ and some even took notes. After the games, US players were surrounded by their friendly opponents and peppered with questions before the inevitable ˆ and innumerable ˆ group photos were taken.

"One of the purposes of the trip is to help develop the sport in Japan, which has a strong baseball history, and that entailed displaying the way senior ball is played in the United States," said Hennessy. "We thoroughly enjoyed being ambassadors for the sport and getting to know the Japanese and German players."

One of the driving forces behind the Japan government's interest in senior softball is a chronic health problem among the older Japanese people.

"As the aging population grows and the number of children diminishes, it is no exaggeration to say that health care expenditures will eat up a considerable amount of our national budget," said Hitoshi Tamari, chairman of the Japanese Federation of Health and Sports.

"In the United States, although the population is twice as large as Japan's, the number of bed-ridden elderly people is only one-fifth of the number in Japan," he said.

Tamari cited three reasons for the healthier older US population: a strong sense of independence, doctors and patients are very active in rehabilitation, and individuals tend to participate in some sport from childhood to old age.

The All Japan Championship Cup is one of the initiatives sponsored by "Health Japan 21," which is designed to promote healthy lifestyles.

"I expect slowpitch softball will progress rapidly in Japan in the future because it is fun, healthy and safe to play," said Tamari.

Team USA, which also played exhibition games in Tama City, near Tokyo, named John Chacon of Fremont, California, Most Valuable Player. Chuck Towne of Houston was chosen as Best Offensive Player and Bill Winter of Seattle was named Best Defensive Player. Other players on Team USA included: Bill Ruth, Jim Sherman, Tom Adams, Bill McDonald, Wayne Grimes, Bob Rizzetto, and "Moon" Mullen.