 It
seems virtually every Japanese player wants to follow
Hideo Nomo across the Pacific. First Shigetoshi Hasegawa,
then Hideki Irabu and Masato Yoshii. And why not?  Nomo's a national hero, most of
his games are televised across the nation -- something
that didn't happen quite as often when he pitched for the
Kintetsu Buffaloes -- and none of his Dodgers coaches
ever scream, "bakayaro" (stupid, lazy SOB),
when he walks a batter or refuses to pitch between
starts. Nomo has the freedom to think for himself, follow
his own training routine, and do whatever he wants in his
off hours -- unlike most Japanese teams which players
often compare to boot camp.
Not
only can tornado boy test himself against the best
players in the world, but he's earning a generous salary
and millions more in endorsements from Toyota, Nike and
several smaller firms. Wealth, prestige, freedom and
respect--name one Japanese player who'd turn that offer
down.
Masumi
Kuwata.
Though
the whiny Kyojin kid passed up his "dream," he
doesn't really count. Shortly after Nomo found success in
Los Angeles, the jealous Giants hurler implied that he
would be more successful in the big leagues. But years
before that, Kuwata got involved with a shady real-estate
scheme that left him well over a billion yen in debt, but
the Giants bailed him out. Naturally, Kuwata's loans from
the team came with puppet strings attached. Though he
fanned rumors that would bolt for the majors,  the hurler toed the Yomiuri line and signed
a multi-year deal with the Giants in October 1997.
Also
deciding to stick with their teams last year were
Hiroshima shortstop Kenjiro Nomura and Chunichi lefty
Masahiro Yamamoto. Both players are in their early
thirties and voiced a desire to play their final years
before their respective home town fans.
Orix
catcher Satoshi Nakajima tried to join a Major League
team but found no franchise willing to take the gamble.
He must have been hallucinating. A borderline player in
Japan (limp bat but strong arm) and not much of a
prospect at age twenty-nine, Nakajima had little to
offer. The biggest strike against him, he wouldn't be
able to communicate with any of his pitchers, the
majority of whom speak English.
It's
no surprise there's little demand for Japanese catchers
in the Major Leagues. Notice how many foreign backstops
have played on a Japanese team in the last fifty years?
None. A player like Nomura, for whom a language barrier
wouldn't present much problem, could probably have found
at least a part-time job in the states--an option he
evidently didn't think much of.
Still,
the big demand is for a proven commodity. When New York
Mets skipper Bobby Valentine managed the Chiba Lotte
Marines, he once stated that nearly any decent Japanese
lefty could make it in the Majors. Following an expansion
year, many Major League teams may try to address the
imbalance favoring hitters by importing some proven mound
talent.
Already,
several Japanese players have stated their desire to play
overseas. While the Yomiuri Giants lent Takeshi Kashiwada
to the New York Mets, both Shigetoshi Hasegawa and Hideki
Irabu successfully demanded their teams let them go. But
their cases are highly unusual since most other teams are
far less accommodating.
Yokohama's
relief ace Kazuhiro Sasaki asked permission to play
abroad following the 1996 and '97 seasons, but the
BayStars refused, claiming the closer is too valuable to
the team. Since he's already refused a multi-year deal
from Yokohama, once Sasaki becomes a free agent, he may
not remain in Japan much longer.
Rivaled
only by Korean ace Dong Yol Sun as the Eastern
Hemisphere's top closer, Sasaki went 3-0 in 1997 with 38
saves, 99 strikeouts, 17 walks and a 0.90 ERA in 60
innings. His fastball has been officially clocked at 148
kph (94 mph--though unofficially, it's in the 95-97
range), and of the 25 hits he surrendered, only six were
off his big breaking forkball, often described as
"unhittable."
In
Suguru Egawa's Scouting Report '98, the author
gave Sasaki across-the-board five-star ratings in terms
of speed, control and technique, the highest marks given
to any Japanese pitcher.
When
asked if his teammate could pitch in the majors, Yokohama
second baseman Bobby Rose told Mainichi Daily News
columnist Dave Wiggins, "Without question.
Easily."
After
eight full seasons, Yokohama's top star has has compiled
a 40-31 record with a 2.51 career ERA, 716 strikeouts,
206 walks and 165 saves. Since he's led the Central
League in saves the last three years (32, 25, 38), Sasaki
is poised to break Yutaka Enatsu's lifetime record (193)
before the end of the 1998 season. By the time he reaches
that mark, the 30 year old right-hander may not have much
else to prove in Japan. Sasaki will likely become a free
agent in 1999.
During
contract negotiations with the Marines, Lotte relief ace
Yasuyuki Kawamoto expressed his interest in going to the
majors. Though it's not clear whether the remarks were
earnest or an attempt to gain an upper hand in salary
talks, the claim appears credible.
In
1997, the lefty led the PL in saves (25) while posting a
6-6 record with 69 strikeouts, 21 walks, and a 1.96 ERA
in 73 1/3 innings. Though usually working as a set-up man
in the past, Kawamoto took over the closing role when
steady reliever Toshihide Narimoto sat on the disabled
list in 1997.
While
Kawamoto relies on his powerful fastball most of the
time, he also has a moderately successful forkball and
curve. Having completed six seasons, the 31-year old
hurler will be eligible for free agency after three or
four more seasons. If his desire to play overseas is
sincere, however, the Marines may decide to trade him
while they can still get something in return. That may
have been the same reason Orix decided to trade
middle-reliever Takahito Nomura.
Reportedly,
Mets' skipper Valentine wanted to acquire Nomura who,
posted a 0.98 ERA the same year the American managed
Lotte. Orix reluctantly agreed to a trade with the Mets
but the deal fell through when the Major League
Commissioner's office, reacting to the
Lotte-Padres-Yankees Irabu mess, ordered a temporary
freeze on acquiring players whose rights were currently
held by a Japanese team. Since Nomura was neither a free
agent nor had he been released, he became a victim of bad
timing.
Undeterred,
the Orix hurler demanded to be traded to another Japanese
team. Since the BlueWave probably knew that Nomura would
skip off to the majors as soon as he became a free agent,
the team agreed. Now he's the Yomiuri Giants' disgruntled
problem.
A 29
year old lefty with a career 18-16 record since 1992,
Nomura has compiled 34 career saves with 379 strikeouts,
122 walks, and a lifetime 2.68 ERA.
Before
inking a contract with the Mets, Yoshii had scarcely
hinted that he was interested in pitching in the major
leagues. Like him, there are surely many others Japanese
players quietly waiting for free agency. One of those
might be Orix superstar outfielder Ichiro Suzuki.
Preferring
to be called by his given name, Ichiro has denied that he
wants to be traded but left the door open as for his
eventual free agent plans. Winning four straight batting
titles since his 1994 breakthrough, the lanky slap-hitter
has compiled a career .348 average. With 2307 at bats
since 1992, if Ichiro bats a mere .300 for the next three
or four years and tallies 1700 more at bats, he'll become
Japan's career batting champion--at roughly the same time
he becomes a free agent. After that, what else is there
to prove in Japan?
In
addition to being able to hit his way on base, Ichiro has
the power to club 41 doubles (1994) or 25 home runs
(1995) and the speed to steal 49 bases (1995). A
three-time MVP and four-time gold glove winner, he can
nail home plate from deep right field on one bounce.
Ichiro is already playing one level above most of his
colleagues . . . on either side of the Pacific.
Japan's
answer to Mark McGwire, Giants center fielder Hideki
Matsui is well known for dropping fastballs into the
Tokyo Dome's upper deck, almost 500 feet from home plate.
Nicknamed Godzilla because of his
"cratered" complexion, Matsui is arguably one
of the top five players in Japan. Though he's no threat
to win a gold glove, the big lizard has already pounded
128 home runs before his twenty-fourth birthday.  When he becomes a free agent after the 2001
season, the Giants will probably offer a big league-sized
contract to keep him.
Of
those position players who've voiced no opinion about
playing in the majors, Ichiro and Matsui are the two who
could make the easiest transition to almost any club.
Other players not mentioned here might still be of use
filling specific needs and roles.
Of
the Japanese pitchers who have shown Major League
potential, several may become free agents in the next few
years. A 28-year old right-handed reliever for the
Kintetsu Buffaloes, Motoyuki Akahori has won high
pitching marks with his combination of fastball, forkball
and slider. Since 1989, he has compiled 139 saves, a
51-37 record, 515 strikeouts, 225 walks and a 2.37 ERA.
Traded from the Lions after the 1997 season, Nippon Ham
hurler Takehiro Ishii has used a wide range of pitches to
compile a career 66-46 record with 707 strikeouts, 238
walks and a 3.12 ERA since 1989.
Pitching
for the Lions since 1990, 30-year old right-hander
Tetsuya Shiozaki has posted a 2.63 career ERA with a
58-33 record and 55 saves. Though he doesn't throw very
hard, Shiozaki offers a wide selection of pitches with
which he went 12-7 in 1997 with a 2.90 ERA.  Orix right-hander Koji Noda gets a lot of
strikeouts (1322 since 1988) while Hiroshima's Shinji
Sasaoka, who won the 1991 Sawamura Award (17-9, 2.44
ERA), has developed into his team's top closer (21 saves,
2.65 ERA in 1997).
Despite
being injured in 1997, 27-year old Chunichi southpaw
Shinji Imanaka has been overpowering in the past. In
1993, he earned the Sawamura Award (Japan's Cy Young)
while posting a 2.20 ERA and leading the league with a
17-7 record and 247 strikeouts (against only 59 walks) in
249 innings. Though three straight years of fourteen-plus
complete games may have taken the edge off his pitching,
Imanaka has compiled an 89-60 career record with 1072
strikeouts, 371 walks and a 3.02 ERA.
A
24-year old lefty plagued by arm trouble in the past,
Yakult's Kazuhisa Ishii came back from arm surgery in
1997, pitched a no-hitter, compiled a 1.91 ERA with a
10-4 record and 120 strikeouts (in 117 2/3 innings), and
won two Japan Series games, the first by striking out
twelve and shutting out the Lions on three hits. Compared
favorably to Seattle's Randy Johnson, Ishii has a 151 kph
(95 mph) fastball, a big breaking slider and a strong
forkball.
How
many of these players are considering a jump to the
majors may remain a mystery, but with more and more
Japanese players drifting overseas every year, the
chances are quite good that North American fans will see
many of them in the near future.
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