By Mike Dunn, GM of the Niihama-shi Ghosts
Sunday, July 24, 2011

If there's one thing that reading Bill James attending college statistics class taught me, it is not to trust perceptions.  Look at the numerical data that lie below the surface, I was taught to see if they conform to the perception.

So when my Head Trainer Kuniaki Suzuki handed me the latest Ghosts’ injury report, it could have fueled my perception that the Ghosts season has been the most injury-plagued of the entire league.  The report details two serious injuries -- stud middle reliever Yataro Kawaguchi had ruptured a tendon in his finger and is most likely done for the year, while RF Tokugawa Okamoto strained his medial collateral ligament and is out for six weeks.

Okamoto, in fact, was the fourth regular Ghosts outfielder to suffer a serious injury in a span of just one month.  Since June 28 ^th, Tatsuchiki Suzuki, Sadakuno Ishikawa and Tameyoshi Watanabe had gone down with injuries of 3, 5 and 4 weeks, respectively.  All this on the heels of the season's start, in which three regulars went down in the span of three days.

So from my vantage point, the Injury Gods were dumping big time on the Ghosts, who have nonetheless managed to stay in contention in the Shining Star Group.  My first inclination was to again go whining to reporters and others, "Wa wa wa, my team keeps getting hurt."  Fans will call into the talk shows to bemoan the fates.

But was this perception true?  Perhaps my view was skewed; perhaps other General Managers and coaches were also looking regularly at horrendous injury reports.  Bill James My college prof called out to me: “Look at the numerical data, damn it.”

So I sat down and tabulated the number of serious injuries that have struck all teams in the LRS since the start of Spring Training.  For purposes of this analysis, I defined "serious injury" as any injury estimated by team trainers to last three weeks or longer.  Any injury estimated at 2-3 weeks would also be included; those 2 weeks or less (unlikely to prompt a DL stint) would not.

By Mito Hasegawa, Hiroshima Times

7/16/2011: Kure, Japan – Kure Arsenal officials found themselves in damage control mode shortly after placing oft-injured centerfielder Xavier Salinas on the disabled list for the 3^rd time during the 2011 season.  An unnamed Arsenal player apparently made comments during an interview with a local paper that questioned the work ethic of the popular player, who has appeared in just 36 of the team’s 66 games.  The player goes on to suggest that steroids may have been the secret to Salinas's success during his 2010 All-star campaign with the Naha Shisa.

The comment was printed in the Kure Shimbun the day following the announcement that the was putting Salinas on the DL after he sprained his thumb while making a defensive play during Kure’s 7-6 loss to the Niihama-shi Ghosts on July 14^th.

“At some point you have to question a player’s desire,” the unnamed player said.  “You don’t want to point fingers, and the environment is fragile enough as it is… but when you look around the locker room and you look at your teammates… and no one is happy about losing… but pretty much everyone is giving their best effort.  Nearly everyone is trying to make the situation better.  But then, well, some people just aren’t.  Some people aren’t even here most days.”