2024-09-27 20:08:35
He has completed his first few tens of hours in the Japanese metropolis. “I know from previous engagements how the initial days and weeks can be extremely hectic and confusing. The Japanese are precise about this. First impressions? Great,” gushed the twenty-five-year-old native of Český Dub.
He went through the training complex, the match complex is dominated by the famous Tokyo Dome with a capacity of almost 50,000. “Splendid. There are countless nutritionists, fitness trainers, various technologies at bat that I have never seen. Plus a spa with a hot tub and a sauna on the playground and accommodation. And I will discover a lot more,” he smiled. However, he also chose to live near the field so that he could go practice batting in the cage at any time.
From an early age, he dreamed of playing in the MLB one day. “That was the biggest dream, it’s the most watched. But as I got older and saw what the conditions were like in Japan, I wanted to play professional baseball somewhere,” he says.
But thousands of players all over the world have such a wish. Chlup was helped by a successful Czech performance at last year’s World Baseball Classic, precisely in the Tokyo Dome. “At that time I didn’t even think that it would be possible to play here. I was 24, I was in my last year at school, I thought I was ending my career,” he recalls. And the locals remember him again.
“Just today I had about five people introduce myself, the first thing they said was that I hit Sasaki’s pitch. You can see what a legendary pitcher he is and what a good impression we left here with the national team,” says one of the best batsmen in Czech history.
And since then, Giants scouts have focused on Chlupa. Without knowing it. “I asked at the very first meeting how they found me,” he admits. And he learned that just after the Czech team’s match with the Japanese, the team manager ordered them to watch him. So the scouts went to the Lake Country DockHounds matches, where Chlup worked.
“But I didn’t notice it at all. There were a lot of people there, I didn’t notice any scouts in the stands, but it was also unprecedented that they didn’t contact me during the season. Mostly scouts write, or call, or we met during the season, nothing here. They went a bit into the unknown,” he described.
When Chlup got an offer, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. “This is what I’ve worked for all my life,” he knew. By the way, when they prepared a card for him in America at the beginning of this season and asked about his favorite team, he reported the Giants. “I had no idea that I could play for them,” he recalls with amusement. Now they really are his employer.
Marek Chlup on the strength of Czech baseball, its popularity in Japan and the path to the MLBVideo: Sport.cz
Only, according to the rules, he could not tell the happy news for a long time. It wasn’t until the club announced it on social media that thousands of congratulations jumped on his phone.
“I wanted to answer each one because as a little kid I imagined playing big time baseball in front of the fans. Now it’s here, so I want to give it back to them,” he explains. Three dozen local journalists arrived at the press conference.
But Chlupa still has a hard time waiting for him to fight his way into the elite team, in which there is currently no European. He is currently on the 35-man roster of the third, so-called development team. “The Giants have invested in me, they’ve seen me play and they believe I can get there,” says Chlup, who will acclimate to a different style during the fall.
“Japanese pitchers are different here than in America. The first step is to get on the roster of 70 players, then I can jump into the main team at any time, if someone gets injured or doesn’t do well, luck plays a role there,” he knows.
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