La Jolla Youth Baseball is awarded Friendship Games partnership with Japan

La Jolla Youth Baseball has been awarded a Friendship Games partnership with Japan, an exchange program that will bring young Japanese baseball players to La Jolla this year and send LJYB players to Japan next year. The alternating trips will go on for the foreseeable future.

“This is one of the highest honors that Pony Baseball International bestows upon a league. … This is beyond thrilling,” LJYB President Scott Blumenthal said.

La Jolla Youth Baseball fields teams in the Shetland (6 and younger), Pinto (7 and younger), Mustang (9 and under and 10 and under), Bronco (12 and under) and Pony (14 and under) divisions.

In coming weeks, representatives of Japan will come to La Jolla to meet with the LJYB board of directors to further formalize the process.

What is already known is that in August, 56 players from Japan ages 13 and under will come to La Jolla to play a series of exhibition games, tour San Diego, attend a Major League Baseball game and more.

“Next year, we will send a [24-person] 13-and-under team to Japan, and this process will then repeat itself back and forth into the future,” Blumenthal said. The visit to Japan will include tours of multiple cities.

Twelve of the 24 players will be from LJYB and the others will be from South Bay Pony Baseball in Manhattan Beach.

“Japanese players like Yu Darvish [of the San Diego Padres] and Shohei Ohtani [of the Los Angeles Angels] have really reignited that connection to Japan through baseball and have heightened the appreciation for the game,” Blumenthal said. “It is the national pastime for both the United States and Japan, so this exchange provides opportunities for players to experience a cultural building exercise through baseball.”

Cliffridge Park, where La Jolla Youth Baseball plays its games, will welcome players from Japan in August.

(Elisabeth Frausto)

To welcome the Japanese players, many LJYB families have agreed to house them, provide interpretation and translation services and more.

La Jolla resident Masae Benson, a native of Japan who has two sons playing in LJYB, said she’s willing to help however she can.

“It’s amazing to have opportunities for international relationships in our local community … and I think it’s great for younger people to learn about other cultures,” she said. “Japanese people have a different culture of discipline when it comes to baseball, so I hope our players learn from them and see how other cultures approach baseball and reach higher levels.”

Benson said she thinks the Japanese athletes will enjoy playing in La Jolla. “So much work has gone into improving the field, and it overlooks the ocean, so I think they will have a great time here.”

She added that she’s looking forward to “entertaining the players and introducing them to local food and culture.”

LJYB parent and La Jolla resident Henry Isakari said he’s also looking forward to “showing off La Jolla as the baseball-loving, spirited community that it is.”

“It’s such an exciting opportunity. I was floored when I found out,” he said. “I think it is going to be huge for the kids. When you think about what they have been through over the last few years, things are getting back into the norm, but you still see them glued to their phones. So with this exchange, kids are going to be pumped because they can play more games against new opponents and make friends.”

He said LJYB provides “camaraderie and a community of not just local players but kids from out of town. It has meant the world to my son [Kent] for the last five years. It’s all good fun.” ◆