Major League Baseball Players in Japan - Strangers in Paradise

The final match-up of the World Baseball Classic featured two teams from

countries where baseball is a beloved sport – Cuba and Japan. Both countries

are noted for producing fine players, some of whom are enjoying stellar careers

in America. Presently, Ishiro and Matsui from Japan are two of the best and

most consistent players in the majors. Making it in the big leagues in America is

a big deal in Japan, a country that loves baseball and embraces its own

professional teams.

American teachers first introduced the game to the island country in the 1870’s,

and it firmly took root. By the turn of the century, it was a sport throughout the

nation and in 1936 the first professional teams were established. The current

professional structure was created in 1950, with teams playing in either the

Pacific League or the Central League.

The exchange of players between the Japanese leagues and Major League

baseball is not a one-way street. The first American to play baseball in post-

World War II Japan was Wallace Kaname Yonamine, a Nisei Japanese

American who had played NFL Football but never had a spot on a Major

League Baseball club. Yonamine had a Hall of Fame career in Japan.

When major leaguers from America first started to compete in the Japanese

League, they were often at the end of their careers. In 1962, right-handed

pitcher Don Newcombe became the first MLB player to sign and play with a

team in Japan. During his 10 years in the majors, Newcombe posted a 149-90

mark, with 1129 strikeouts and a 3.56 ERA. He is still the only player to win

Rookie of the Year, MVP and the Cy Young. Newcombe was the first of

many Americans to go to the Far East to play what many consider “the”

American sport.

In the past decade something has changed concerning the emigration of

professional players from America to Japan. The men who go to the Japanese

League are no longer at the end of their careers. They are now, more often than

not, mid-career players who can’t seem to find an everyday role on a major

league team. Often, these players decide to go to Japan because they will have

a chance to contribute every day.

Some players find a home away from home in Japan, while others go and get

some daily experience and come back to parlay that into a starting role in

MLB. Still, others struggle in their foreign environs and come back looking to

play in the big leagues, even if it’s as a utility player.

Alex Cabrera is an example of the first type of player, while Lou Merloni

seemed as though he might fit the bill for the second category but didn’t quite

get a break in Japan or make the cut when he came back to his homeland.

Gabe Kapler illustrates a player in the final and least desirable of the three

groups.

First baseman Alex Cabrera, who spent nine seasons in the minors with the

Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Arizona Diamondbacks, finally got

his chance to play Major League Baseball in 2000. In 31 games he hit 5 homer

runs, scored 10 runs, knocked in 14 RBI and accumulated a .262 BA. Then, in

2001, the Seibu Lions of the Japan Pacific League bought his contract from the

Diamondbacks. For Cabrera it was the perfect move at exactly the right time.

Cabrera immediately became a star in Japan. In his first season he hit .282 with

124 RBI and 49 HR. In 2002, his second season, he won the Pacific League’s

MVP award and tied the single season homerun mark (55) set by the Babe

Ruth of Japan, Sadaharu Oh. (Tuffy Rhodes, another former MLB player also

tied the record in 2001.)

In 2004, Cabrera hit two homeruns in game three, including a grand slam, and a

massive dinger in the seventh game of the Japan Series to help the Seibu Lions

defeat the Chunichi Dragons 7-2, leading his team to their first championship

since 1992.

Cabrera totes a .308 BA with 413 RBI and 147 HR in his first four years with

the Lions. Life is great for the first baseman and he loves Japanese ball. Except

for one thing. In an interview with ESPN.com he acknowledged his frustration

at not being allowed to break the record set by Sadaharu Oh.

Cabrera noted, “All my teammates wanted me to break the record. A lot of the

players on other teams wanted me to break it, too. The pitchers want to throw

me strikes but the managers and coaches don’t let them.”

“They didn’t want me to get the record,” he acknowledged. “All records are for

the Japanese. The last 20 at-bats of the season, I think I only saw one strike.”

There are aspects of the game with which MLB players have difficulty. Cabrera

said it very clearly, when he complained, “Here, if you hit a home run your first

at-bat, they walk you the next three. In America, you get a chance to hit more

home runs. They challenge you.”

In the same article, former Japanese player and present Yankee Hideki Matsui

observed, “In the past there has been more of that sort of unfairness,” Matsui

said, sympathizing with Cabrera. “But it has been decreasing in the last couple

years and I just hope that in the future it will get better.”

Although Cabrera has found a home with the Lions, he’s certainly willing to

come back and play in America. In fact, he’s anxious to prove that he can hit

big league curveballs – something scouts claim he can’t do – and pound 40-plus

round trippers per season in the majors.

Lou Merloni and Gabe Kapler both did their time in Japan for the same reasons

and with similar results. Merloni and Kapler were enticed by the chance to play

every day, something that had eluded them when they were both with the

Boston Red Sox.

In 2000, Merloni went to the Yokohama Bay Stars with the understanding that

he would be the team’s regular third baseman. But the player he was supposed

to replace decided to stay with the team, and so Merloni spent much of the

season on the bench. Although he found it to be a frustrating season, he also

thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience.

The game is pretty much the same, except there’s a rule prohibiting tie games

from going more than 3 extra innings, which means the game ends in a tie. First,

there are the pre-game workouts and warm-ups, lasting hours. Then there’s all

the cigarette smoke – Japanese players light up a lot. Also, there’s the fact that

when the club is on the road everyone has to dress for the game at the hotel

because there are no visiting locker rooms.

The media never tired of asking the third baseman if he’d like to marry a

Japanese woman. When Merloni answered questions, he often felt his translator

was editing his comments along with reporters’ queries.

Along with the possibility of being an everyday player, there’s the bump in

salary a player who’s been in the states realizes. Usually they’re making six to

10 times what they made in MLB! That’s quite a payday. After Japan, Merloni

came back to the Red Sox and played for them and the AAA team for the next

three seasons before going to various other major league clubs. He seemed like

he might have found a starting role with San Diego part way through the 2003

season, but after 65 games, they dealt him back to the BoSox.

Gabe Kapler was offered a similar opportunity in 2005, and like Merloni, he

took it. With a contract valued at approximately $2 million, the utility outfielder

was excited about getting to play every day and experience an entirely different

culture. But after being a part of Boston’s first World Series winning team in 86

years, Japanese ball seemed to lack the spark of the game played in his

homeland.

Missing were the overly expressive fans, the rich heritage, and the knock ‘em

down rivalries. Kapler also didn’t perform up to expectations and found himself

sitting on the bench by the second-half of the season. When he got back to the

states and was signed by Boston for the rest of the 2005 season, he was

overjoyed as were many Red Sox fans, who always admired Kapler’s hustle,

work ethic and intelligent play.

In a strange twist of fate, the outfielder, who was on first base when Tony

Graffanino hit a homer, ruptured his Achilles tendon after rounding second. As

Kapler lay in the base path unable to get up and in agonizing pain, it was clear

that his 2005 season was over.

In 2006, he was no longer on a major league roster and neither was Merloni,

who had played a utility role with Cleveland in 2004. For both players, Japan

never panned out, while Alex Cabrera has achieved more than most Japanese

players. The irony for Cabrera is that despite his winning ways, the Japanese

League will never accept him. That non-acceptance, which seems to affect

every foreign player, is one thing that definitely separates baseball in Japan from

baseball in America.

Major League Baseball Players in Japan - Strangers in Paradise