By Sally Tippett Rains
The news that Lars Nootbaar has broken ribs and will be out for a while has traveled through Cardinal Nation but it has gone much further than that—his fans in Japan are clamoring to get the latest news on one of their favorite players.
Nootbaar’s rise to stardom on the world stage ever since his appearance on the Japanese team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) last year has made him a regular hero in Japan. According to Kyodo News Agency, Nootbaar was the first player named to represent Japan in the WBC solely through his ancestry.
March 21 will mark one year since Japan defeated the United States 3-2 in the finals of the World Baseball Classic — and that was when the people of Japan discovered Lars Nootbaar was one of them. On March 11 last year (2023) Nootbaar played his first game in WBC, and fans wondered how did a guy with a name like Nootbaar qualify for the Japan Team. Anyone who read the Cardinals media guide would have seen his middle name to get a hint.
Since then, Nootbaar has endorsements and his picture is plastered all around the country. Those who cover MLB in the Japanese media have been working even harder than ever to get coverage of Nootbaar who is part Japanese by way of his mother, who was interviewed during the World Baseball Classic.
Of all the people who are amazed at Nootbaar’s meteoric rise to fame in Japan, he himself is the most surprised.
“I knew baseball was huge over there,” said Nootbaar, “My mom kind of gave me a forewarning of what was going to happen, but in terms of what ended up unfolding, I don’t think I had any idea that it was going to happen.”
Once the Japanese media saw how personable the affable Nootbaar is, companies started approaching him for endorsements. He is shown in the photo, left in an ad for Zoff, a Japanese eyewear company
The background of the story is his Japanese mother, Kumiko Enokida (nicknamed Kumi) married his American father of Dutch descent, Charlie Nootbaar. They gave him a name that represented both cultures and he grew up in El Segundo, California with his brother Nigel and sister Nicole.
With the name Nootbaar, it might just be assumed he is Dutch as that is a Dutch name: “Noot” meaning “note” in Dutch and “Baar” meaning “able”—so his name means “notable.” Lars Nootbaar is certainly notable—and on two sides of the world.
Nootbaar’s middle name, Taylor-Tatsuji, comes from Kumi’s father (his grandfather) Tatsuji Enokida, who lives in Saitama.
While before 2023, Cardinals fans hadn’t been introduced to his Japanese heritage, his family has always honored it. They have a place for people to take off their shoes as they enter the family home like it is in Japan and they were served many traditional Japanese meals including ramen and pot-sticker dumplings. He lived the traditional American life with his Japanese heritage sprinkled in.
Nootbaar is topping the list for interview requests these days, but he is not the only one. Japanese baseball fans have been watching MLB for years.
Today’s MLB game (Wed. March 20)was played in Seoul, South Korea between the Dodgers who have Shohei Ohtani and the Padres. Baseball, and Ohtani have become so popular, ESPN cut away from the game to show a watch party (shown right) in Japan. They went further than just watching it on TV, they had organized watch parties.
Currently, there are 11 Japanese players in MLB. The Japanese media cover those players very diligently, and because of the interest in those players there is a great interest in the game of baseball as a whole in Japan.
To remind the readers about some of the great Japanese player who have played in the major leagues—and why the Japanese people are so interested– one must start with pitcher Masanori Murakami, who was the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball when he was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 1964.
It was not until Ichiro Suzuki signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001, and became the first Japanese position player to sign with an MLB team—that the big interest in the Japanese ballplayers began.
According to AsianStudies.org,” By 2015, over fifty Japanese players had played in the major leagues.”
Some of the most famous Japanese players nationally along with Ichiro were: Hideo Nomo of the Dodgers 1995-2008, Hideki Matsui of the Yankees 2003-12, Yu Darvish of the Padres 2012-present, and Shohei Ohtani, 2018-present. Darvish started for the Padres in the game today so Japanese fans got to see two of their heroes.
Ichirō holds both MLB records for hits in a single season with 262 and the longest consecutive season streak of 200-hit seasons at ten.
Cardinals fans have had two Japanese players who have won over their hearts: Outfielder So Taguchi who debuted with the Cardinals in 2002 and played in St. Louis until 2007, and now Nootbaar.
“I’ve got a pretty good relationship with those who cover baseball for the Japanese media,” said the Cardinals outfielder. “I’m thankful for it.”
“This spring I shot a commercial for protein bars– just in Japan,” said Nootbaar. “There is easily more stuff going on over there (than in U.S.). I’m just taking it in stride and enjoying it.”
At this point, his biggest deals are for protein bars and for the sunglasses company, but he also did an ad for candy, shown left.
“ I did a handwash ad and a couple other ones,” he said.
A lot of unexpected Cardinals news overlaps into the interest of fans in Japan, for instance the day it was announced that Sonny Gray’s opening day start for the Cardinals was in question (he is now out and Miles Mikolas is the starter).
When Gray was taken out of his start against the Nationals in West Palm Beach after feeling an injury on his last pitch, it was announced that he had a hamstring injury that put his scheduled opening day start for the Cardinals in question.
So how would Sonny Gray’s injury be of interest to the Japanese baseball fans? Besides the fact that Gray is No0tbaar’s teammate, that game will be played on the road at Dodger Stadium and it’s Ohtani’s first game there, so the change in plans involving that game was newsworthy from that standpoint. The scheduled starter now is Mikolas who signed with the Cardinals after pitching in Japan.
The same day the Sonny Gray news was announced, Nootbaar’s manager from the World Baseball Classic was visiting him in camp, so that was also of interest to the Japanese fans.
Nootbaar, who is great with the American media is always accommodating, to the Japanese media. We heard from one media member that he is so willing to accommodate them, he has even been known to ask if there is any way he can help them.
