Scouts from the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays observe players from Department of Defense Education Activity-Pacific schools during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — More than 60 American and Japanese high school athletes took the field for Major League Baseball scouts Sunday during a clinic that’s been on hiatus since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scouts from the Detroit Tigers, Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays offered a touch of professional training to all-stars from Defense Department schools in the Pacific and the Yokohama Bay Boys, a Japanese high school team. The five-hour event took place on Yokosuka’s Berkey Field.
Former Major League pitcher Keiichi Yabu, now a coach for Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, has been part of the event since 2011, when it was started by coach Charles Stark of Nile C. Kinnick High School. The clinic was on hold for nearly four years.
“Coming back after a long time, it is always great seeing young players out here playing their hearts out,” Yabu told Stars and Stripes through a translator near the pitchers’ training area. “Hopefully, we will find some new diamonds here, you know, players that might get drafted later on.”
Stark gets help organizing the clinic from fellow coaches at Department of Defense Education Activity–Pacific schools.
Former Major League pitcher Keiichi Yabu, now a coach for Japan’s Hanshin Tigers, instructs American and Japanese high school players during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Luka Koja, a left-hander from Kubasaki High School at Camp Foster, Okinawa, pitches against Japanese players during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Charles Stark, baseball coach at Nile C. Kinnick High School, chats with Japanese players during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
“It is arguably the most memorable day of the season for most players involved,” he said by email May 9. “The main benefit is getting the chance to show off your talent to the professionals.”
The combine-style training started around 9:30 a.m. and included pitching, catching drills, batting practice and instruction in fielding and hitting.
“For pitchers, scouts look for command,” Stark said. “For everyone, they are looking at how the players carry themselves along with overall skills.”
Colin Schrader, a senior pitcher for E.J. King High School at Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, took instruction from Yabu, whose Major League career spanned nearly five years between the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants.
Milan Prokop, a former World Baseball Classic player for the Czech Republic who's now signed to the Kanagawa Future Dreams, gives tips to high school players during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
Colin Schrader, a senior at E.J. King High School on Sasebo Naval Base, Japan, pitches against Japanese players during a clinic at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo, May 12, 2024. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)
“I think it is going back to the basics of throwing the baseball,” Yabu said. “It is not only the pitchers but also the position players throwing properly and getting it the right way.”
Schrader said he has always wanted to play professional baseball and, if scouted, he’s willing to go anywhere.
“I think it is good learning and, you know, DODEA is small, so not many scouts come watch us, but we have a lot of talent here,” he said on the field. “It is actually fun meeting people and talking about baseball, seeing what they do differently and learning new stuff from them.”
That afternoon, the DODEA players pitted their skills against the Bay Boys in an eight-inning matchup that ended with a close 4-3 win by the Americans. The most valuable player award went to Camp Zama’s Caleb Schmiedel.
The event concluded with a home run derby won by the Bay Boys’ Naito Kakeru.
“Today was fun; I learned pitching mechanics and how to throw from Yabu-san,” Kakeru said through a translator on the field. “There is like a big difference between Japanese and American baseball.”
