BASEBALL IN JAPAN. MY EXPERIENCE

Playing baseball in Japan was a very unique and interesting experience to say the least. It was very trying at times, and tested my character to the fullest. Playing baseball in Japan requires an open mind and a willingness to adapt to their way of playing baseball.

It all started when I was with the giants. I was being heavily scouted by scouts for the Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan. After my second year with the giants they made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I was off to the land of the rising sun.

I did a lot of studying about baseball in Japan before I stepped foot in their country. I learned a lot about their baseball league and players. It is quite a tradition to play over their and if you do, you are part of a special fraternity that only americans that have played their truly understand.

The first shock for me was how early spring training started over there and how long they practice each day of spring training. We had to arrive at the end of January to the island of Okinawa. Once I was there to play baseball in japan, I was met with a flurry of media, cameras, flashbulbs, etc. I was there to bring the team to the promised land and it was no mystery to the people of Japan. Everybody familiar with baseball in Japan already knew who I was.

Baseball in japan was different.We would start our days with a team warm up session that consisted of walking and stretching followed by a team breakfast and than off to the field for practice. The food was hard for me to get used to. They would have out a buffet of japanese food. This is how I started my career of baseball in japan The tables had hibachi's with fish on top of them. Most of the stuff is served almost raw. The bacon for example was hardly cooked. They would put raw eggs on top of their rice and mix in a nasty substance called 'nato'. Nato is a bean curd that is an acquired taste.

Needless to say,it was not only baseball in Japan that I had to adapt to.

Sitting at the table with the hibachi I would remove the fish and replace it with the bacon. At first the teammates sitting next to me would look at me like I was nuts. I would put the bacon on the hibachi and it would start cooking , throwing up grease, until it was crisp. The first day I shared it with my teammate next to me. Than the second day, two more. This went on until I had most of the team following my lead and cooking bacon on the hibachi. It was fun to watch and to know that I had corrupted them somewhat with my american ways.

As they adapted to some of my ways, I too, adapted to baseball in japan. I learned to really like japanese food and to experience their culture and their way of baseball in Japan. I studied the language and got quite proficient at it. By the second year, I was speaking almost fluent japanese. I was also downing my share of sushi!

But my favorite food over there was definately the 'yakiniku'.This is a Korean barbeque also called 'bulgogi'. The taste is unbelievable. It was Kolbe beef marinated in sesame seed oil and roasted sesames and thinly sliced than cooked quickly over a hot grill. Ymmmmmmmmmm! If I had stayed over there I would have become a sumo wrestler.

As far as baseball in Japan, it was an experience. It involved many adaptations for me. I had to learn to practice most of the day. To hop, skip, and jump my way through the day and than to take way too many cuts at the plate. I also had to learn how to handle the media who would question my abilities after every loss. They would often ask me why I didn't hit a home run to win the game. It became very frustrating.

I think the biggest adjustment was dealing with their strike zone. It was wider and higher and lower. It was very inconsistent. For a former major leaguer who had mastered the strike zone, to come over there , and get balls called strikes was simply frustrating and hard to deal with.

They play the game differently in Japan. They like to bunt a lot. Baseball in Japan is definately conservative. You could be down 3 runs in the seventh inning and the lead off hitter gets on, the manager will have his next batter bunt the guy over instead of playing for the big inning. The manager would rather give up an out with only a few outs left to give. This is one way they like to play.

Another thing I found interesting was how the managers made their moves. If the opposing manager would make a move, the other manager felt compelled to also make a move even if he didn't need to. It was a battle of managers. I saw our manager make moves because the other manager was doing so, and ran us out of back up players by the 5th inning. We had a saying over there, "if it doesn't make sense, it makes sense". It was our way of keeping an open mind to their way of playing ball.

There are only allowed 2 foreigners on each team. That is a rule. They want us to come over there and help there team win, but not do so well as to dominate the game. Most players that go over there are only on 2 year contracts with an option for a third. The reason for this is purely business. They can promote you before you arrive and create excitement.

If you help them win, than you are a foreigner that helped them win. If the team doesn't make it to the playoffs but you still do well, they can say that you weren't the right guy for the job and let you go. Than create excitement all over again. It is a constant cycle for baseball in Japan and a way to keep the fans excited about bringing someone new in. And if they lose, they can blame you. It is the way it is and if you are ready to except that, than you can play over there.

There are exceptions to this. There are players that have lasted longer than the proverbial two or three years. But they are few and far between. I will say this, I was glad to have had the experience of playing over there and experiencing Japan. I will cherish it forever. I am definately part of a fraternity of americans that had the opportunity to play in the Japanese major leagues. I can even say that I hit 3 home runs over 2 years against Hideo Nomo, now playing in the united states. At that time, he was there number one pitcher. Sayonara! If you have more questions about Japan and how it was, email me and I will respond. It was the chance of a lifetime.

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