Big in Japan Softball Club

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Big in Japan is a club softball team based in Washington, D.C. Big in Japan has existed in some form since 2005. The team plays in the competitive Congressional Softball League [1]. For the last three seasons, Big in Japan have been one of the elite teams in House softball, making the 1st Annual House Softball Tournament in 2006 [2] and again in 2007 [3]. Big in Japan is heavily favored to again make the tournament, held each year in Clifton, VA [4].

1 History
2 Origins of the team name
3 Uniform Emblem
4 Trivia
5 Former NCAA Athletes on Big in Japan
6 Previous Season Records
7 Current roster

[edit] History

Big in Japan was the brainchild of Jason Levine, a then staffer for Governor Pataki of New York [5]. Levine formed the club team in the spring of 2006 out of the ashes of his former team, Varying States of Confusion, which disbanded due in part to its aging players and the demands of their personal lives. Looking for a fresh start, Levine took several VSC players with him to form the nucleus that would become Big in Japan.

As Big in Japan was taking shape, a new Congressional Softball League was being formed [6] by Anthony Reed [7]. As a player/coach, Levine steered the young team to a 12-6 regular season record for their maiden season [8].

[edit] Origins of the team name

The team name is typically pronounced "BIG-IN-jaPAN", but their one-time player/manager Jason Levine called them by the old-fashioned colloquial pronunciation "BIG-uh-IN-JApan". Newspaper writers and other teams in the league also often referred to the team as "B.I.J." during their early days.

The impetus behind the "Big in Japan" name is hotly contested. Some fans point to young catcher Kelly Blakemore's burgeoning art career [9] by asking her:

'Unknown: Have you ever sold any of your work?

'KB: One piece, to the Japanese Consulate...'

'Unknown: So...you're pretty huge in Japan then?'

'KB: Yeah, you could say that'

Other experts indicate that the sheer youth and skill of the team in 2006 led others to believe that they had played together for much longer- perhaps in another softball playing country such as Japan.

[edit] Uniform Emblem

Over the past three seasons, the Big in Japan uniform has typically paid homage to their awesomeness to some extent. During the 2006 season, uniforms featured "Big in Japan" spelled out in script across the front while the logo featured a tattooed, snarling, muscle bound pirate. Pitcher Chandler Lockhart had several attempts summarily thwarted as he attempted to change the logo to a sweet, howling wolf. Additionally, the jersey featured the year of team’s inception, 2006.

In 2007, the team wore home uniforms with "Big in Japan" spelled out in ghoulish script and a graphic of a young child in the shadow of Godzilla, said to represent "the sleeping demon that is found in everyone and capable of powering us all." Third baseman Andy Levy employed the image in the midst of a lengthy design debate. The 2007 jerseys were red with black logos, scripts, numbers, names and ringers around the neck and sleeves.

Jerseys for the 2008 season feature a return to the traditional white jersey with red ringers. The 2008 jerseys also incorporate a design that works on multiple levels- employing the image of a snakehead fish. The snakehead has become an invasive species in the District of Columbia [10] and decimates other species, much like the team [11].

[edit] Trivia

Outfielder Stephen Milbank frequently wears eye-black and the maximum number of league approved wristbands.

Catcher Erin McCurdy makes frequent trips to the pitchers mound to address eccentric pitcher Chandler Lockhart [12] and "talk him down from the ledge" as the "delicate mechanisms of his sanity/effectiveness are precariously balanced." These visits often end in McCurdy striking Lockhart in the buttocks with her catcher’s mitt.

Big in Japan has traditionally utilized a Jewish male at third base.

DUNK-O's are a prominent feature at home games. Most famously, in 2006, catcher Erin McCurdy and second basewoman Jillian Carroll performed the infamous Fighting Mermaid Double Dunk-O.

Previous gags include a bagpiper hired to perform a tournament “pump-up jam.”