Brazil - They Play Baseball There?

In what is probably the world’s largest soccer nation, baseball has managed to form its own identity.It still not only comes in behind soccer as an event in the country, but it also seems to rank behind basketball and auto racing.Realistically it’s more of a second tier sport in the country, much like hockey in the US, but that hasn’t stopped many from getting involved and trying increase its popularity.



Unlike most Latin American countries which have an American baseball influence, baseball was brought to Brazil from Japan. Currently Brazil has the largest population of Japanese descendants anywhere outside of Japan, with about 2 million people back in 2007. As a result of this diverse population, 16 of the 20 players who were on Brazil’s Pan American roster back in 2007 were of Japanese ancestry.



The Brazilian Baseball Confederation is attempting to make baseball more popular and better known across the country and not just in the three states that have a bulk of Japanese population. In an attempt to improve the level of play on their National team, Confederation officials have been bringing in coaches from Cuba. The Cuban coaches are optimistic in regards to the growth and development of the game in Brazil, as their players’ posses an interesting mix of Latin flair and Japanese dedication and discipline. There are an increasing number of scouts flocking to Brazil to evaluate their players then there ever have been before, upwards of a half dozen teams scouts.



Major league baseball has a knack for finding talent anywhere they can. To that point, the Blue Jays story of the signing of Brazilian National team ace Jo Matumoto is a unique one. Matumoto who for many years had been an ace pitcher for the Nippon Blue Jays, an industrial league team in Japan, was founded by fellow Brazilian and former Pirates prospect Jose Pett. After six years in Japan where he was never given the opportunity to pitch for an A league Japanese team, he packed it in and came back to Brazil to pitch in their league and for their national team.



Through some interesting occurrences, Matumoto was given the opportunity to work out for an independent league team in the US while he tried to fulfill his dream of playing major league ball. His agent and the scout where so impressed with his major league quality arm, that they managed to get him a work out with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays were also so impressed that in February of 2007 he was signed by them to a minor league contract. Currently he is pretty much past his prime where he would have been of benefit to the major league club, but he has been putting up respectable numbers for the Double A New Hampshire Fisher Cats and even got a taste of Triple A earlier in the season. If you happen to get the chance to see the Fisher Cats play, take in the opportunity as you may get the see the Brazilian legend in action.



Besides Matumoto, there are a few other Brazilian players currently playing in the US for professional teams. One of the players with the most upside is Phillies pitching prospect Heitor Correa. Correa was one of four Brazilian players the Phillies signed back in 2006 for a reported total of $200,000. From the material I have read about him, he profiles much like their super pitching prospect, Venezuelan Carlos Carrasco between his pitches and his build. It seems like many people tend to think of him as a “sleeper” prospect and one who has the potential to make a huge impact for Philadelphia a few years down the line.



So in answer to the question, Yes Virginia there is baseball in Brazil. It’s not flashy and fancy nor is it the popular national past time that you see in Venezuela or the Dominican Republic and it probably never will be BUT it is making strides. It has come along way in a short time and is definitely a country that is worth keeping an eye on and a scout within. At the present time, it doesn’t look like the Pirates have any scouts there but maybe under the new leadership they just may see fit to “expand their international foot print” and try and get in on some of the talent there before most other teams do.



Jo Matumoto in 2005 South America Championship