Tom O'Malley

One of the most admired foreign players of the 1990s, Tom O'Malley played six years in Japan (1991-1996), the first four with the Hanshin Tigers and the rest with the Swallows. A part-time Major League infielder from 1982-90 with the Giants, White Sox, Orioles, Rangers, Expos and Mets, O'Malley finally got a chance to play regularly when he came to Japan.

Making the most of that opportunity, the 31-year-old New Jersey native batted .307 with 21 home runs and 81 RBIs his first year in Hanshin pinstripes. Though batting .325 and .329 the next two years, O'Malley received his walking papers after hitting .314 with fifteen home runs in 1994. Defensively, the third-baseman proved his worth by picking up a gold glove in 1992. The most popular Tigers import since Randy Bass, O'Malley ingratiated Hanshin fans by singing on the team "fight song" CD.

When the Swallows lost Jack Howell and Katsumi Hirosawa to the Giants after the 1995 season, Yakult went shopping for a foreigner who could play first base. With O'Malley, whom Swallows manager Katsuya Nomura watched from the opposite dugout and admired for four years, on the market, the team didn't have far to look. Joining the Swallows in 1995, O'Malley made a pre-season statement that he hoped he would have the kind of year that would make the Tigers regret releasing him.

That he did. Helping the Swallows hold first place from wire to wire, O'Malley earned the Central League MVP award while batting .302 with 98 RBIs, 31 home runs and leading the circuit with a .429 on base percentage. Hitting .529 in the 1995 Japan Series with a double, two homers and four RBIs, the vindicated first baseman also seized the series MVP.

Perhaps slipping somewhat the following year, O'Malley still had a great final season in Japan. Finishing with a .315 average and .407 on base percentage while slugging eighteen home runs and 97 RBIs, the affable infielder still hit better than almost anyone in the Central League.

But since the Swallows fell from first place to fourth in 1996, and no one wanted to blame the Yakult pitching staff or injured home-grown all-stars Takahiro Ikeyama or Atsuya Furuta, O'Malley was selected to take the fall. Probably figuring the move would be unpopular, the Swallows announced O'Malley's release on the same day the BlueWave clinched the Japan Series, a tactic that assured the least press scrutiny.

Though he tried out with the Texas Rangers and hit near .300 during spring training, O'Malley received his release when the Major League team opted to fill their last open spot with a pitcher. Turning down offers to play in the minors and several leagues outside the United States, the teamless journeyman actively tried to come back to Japan with any team that would take him. But no one made an offer.

During the 1997 all-star break, O'Malley returned to Tokyo to both promote an educational baseball video for kids and to remind any interested teams that he was ready and willing to return to Japan for one more season. During his six seasons playing for the Tigers and Swallows, the right-handed infielder compiled a .315 batting average with 152 doubles, 123 home runs and 488 RBIs.