The site still needs some tinkering, but all the parts are working.

Espineli’s parents are immigrants and he and his siblings were born and raised in Houston. He’s a relief pitcher for the Giants who was just called up from the minors.

Lincecum, a starting pitcher, was recently featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and is one of the rising stars for the Giants.

There have been a number of Big League players who’ve been part Filipino. Benny Agbayani is a recent one who comes to mind.

It’s great to see more Asians and Asian Americans in the majors, though the players from Asia still outnumber those from the United States. I’ve always been curious about this and have never come up with a reason why there wouldn’t be more Asian Americans baseball players.

This post is also published on Hyphen magazine’s blog.

The Cubs tried stopping sales of the shirts after Fukudome came out and said they were offensive. The people selling them, they’re making a buck so they don’t care much what Fukudome or anyone else says. And apparently some fans are wearing those straw rice paddy hats to games as some sort of homage to the Cubs’ first Japanese player.

I can sort of see why some people might not “get” that the shirts or the hats are offensive. If they’ve never been ridiculed for their skin color or the way they talk, or if they’ve never been the target of racism, then everyone else is just too sensitive or being PC. These are the most ignorant people and probably nothing will change that.

This post was originally published on Hyphen magazine’s blog.

Bisher doesn’t seem to like the fact that Daisuke Matsuzaka, “who didn’t grow up in Wampole,” was the starting pitcher for the Red Sox, and he makes several more xenophobic references throughout a column that does make some valid criticisms of the influence of big money on baseball.

My former colleague Kerwin Berk blows some holes in Bisher’s logic in this column posted on the Asian American Journalists Association website. The AAJA also sent a letter to the Journal-Constitution’s editors criticizing Furman’s column.

Some great points made by Berk:

“Using Mr. Bisher’s logic, Atlanta should never have been awarded the 1996 Olympic Games because of Georgia’s history of slavery and segregation.”

“I can only assume Mr. Bisher was outraged when Dirk Nowitzki, a German, won the NBA’s MVP award for the 2006-2007. If my memory serves me correctly, we fought Germany in World War II. I’m sure Mr. Bisher didn’t forget to mention Auschwitz when writing about Nowitzki.”

It’s hard to say if Bisher is racist but I would say his column was written from the point of view of someone who has a narrow, antiquated view of what it means to be American.

This post can also be found at Hyphen magazine’s blog. 

There seems to be more talk about Wakamatsu being a manager than there was for Wendell Kim, who was a coach with the Giants, Red Sox and Cubs in recent years.

Wakamatsu is a former catcher who played briefly in the Big Leagues. His father is Japanese and his grandparents were interned during World War II.

The A’s also have Hawaii-born Kurt Suzuki slated to be their starting catcher this season.

As a big baseball fan, I think it’s great seeing more Asian Americans in the majors. I’ve often wondered why more Asian Americans haven’t made it to the Big Leagues. The generalization would be that Asians don’t have the physical attributes. Certainly you have to be physically gifted for baseball but it’s not like basketball, where being tall helps, or football where size does matter.

And if it’s that Asian Americans aren’t big and strong enough to play, how does that explain the players coming over from Asia and making it in baseball? The imports are the best of the best from their countries, but where are the best Asian American players? (And don’t say they’re playing ping pong!)

This post can also be found at Hyphen magazine’s blog.

James won our Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Plus league last year, beating 2005 champ Gavin Tachibana and a strong field.

Congratulations, James, but enjoy it while you can. The bobblehead (or whatever Yahoo gives out next) is mine this season.

Ken Wong keeps one in the park at AT&T.

Sunday was San Francisco Giants Season Ticket Holder Appreciation Day, and my brother-in-law Ken crashes into the wall trying to make a great play in left field. Ramie and I, Ramie’s sister Debbie, and of course, Ken, took advantage of the Giants allowing season ticket holders onto the field after the game.

Here’s a Flash audio slideshow of our afternoon on the field.

He showed some pop in his bat, going 5-for-10 with three doubles, a triple and three RBIs in four games after being recalled from the Giants’ Double A team in Connecticut last Thursday. In his first major league start on Friday, he went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs against Colorado.

Ishikawa had a short stint earlier in the year, again filling in for Niekro.

His performance will probably earn him another call up if Niekro goes down again or if the Giants need another bat. It’s nice to see some U.S.-born Asian baseball players doing well.

This posting is also on Hyphen magazine’s blog.

Gavin Tachibana, for winning the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league I was the commissioner for last year.

Pitchers and catchers report in about a month, and Yahoo leagues start forming in early February. See you on the field and online.