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December 18, 2009 09-10 Offseason Joe Janish

Igarashi May Sing God Bless America

We may have to start a Ryota Igarashi series to chronicle all the plans, activities, and goals developed by the Mets’ newest free agent signee.

Check out this tidbit that was posted earlier this month on our new favorite Japanese blog, YakyuBaka.com:

Ryota Igarashi still doesn’t have an MLB home, but that hasn’t stopped him from thinking about singing “God Bless America” during his press conference (whenever and with whomever it might be with).

“I’m going to sing a song. God Bless America would be nice. Everyone in the US knows it and it’s a really famous song. I think it’ll show people how much I love the US,” said Igarashi.

I’m posting this item today because “God Bless America” seems to be a hot topic. Thomas Boswell recently suggested 10 ways to speed up baseball, which included removal of the playing of the song at games. Boswell’s list was subsequently analyzed by Rob Neyer, and Neyer agreed with Boswell’s recommendation regarding “God Bless America”. And as the world wide web turns, Ted Berg also supports the idea.

Whatever happens with “God Bless America” during ballgames is up to Bud Selig, but I’ll go on a limb and guess that Igarashi’s rendition won’t be heard after his press conference — if it’s heard at all.

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Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. metsstem December 18, 2009 at 6:26 pm
    Why would you want to get rid of God Bless America?

    I would have to say that anyone that thinks in a time of war and change that we need less patriotism, is an idiot and wrong in their assessment. Get out from behind your computer and live a little. 3 minutes for God Bless America is not holding baseball back in any way. nuff said.

    At least our newest Met, Ryota Igarashi, understands why God Bless America is important, he’s gotta be a winner. Now all we need is Sheets, Bedard, Jacobs, Guerrero and Delgado!

    Let’s Go Mets!