Samurai Baseball?

Is baseball in Japan just "baseball" or is it a unique insight into national character, "samurai baseball"? There is an important debate over this issue between Robert Whiting, a long time student of Japanese baseball and, among others, William Kelly, an anthropologist who studies baseball in Japan. My piece on Frog in a Well goes into these issues: "Samurai Baseball: Off Base or Safe at Home?"

It is also posted, with several nice graphics, at Japan Focus