It's great to see Major League Baseball teams and fans embrace their new Japanese signings. When I was in Seattle last summer, reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki's mug seemed to be everywhere, from the cover of the club's fan magazine to T-shirts being hawked on the streets to huge banners adorning the outside of Safeco Field.
Sasaki was featured prominently in TV and radio spots promoting the team, and the Nintendo-owned Mariners Web site could even be accessed in Japanese.
The M's latest Japanese addition, Ichiro Suzuki, already has his portrait plastered on his new home park as well, and he has yet to play an official game with the club. He was also greeted by cheering Seattle sports fans at a Sonics basketball game last November when he was introduced to the crowd, and God only knows what kind of adulation awaits Ichiro if he lives up to his vast potential on the diamond this coming season.
A bit of a contrast to the way many foreign ballplayers are treated over here. Viewed almost as a necessary evil by most Japanese clubs, the imported players are much more likely to get the blame if things go wrong as opposed to a share of the credit if they do actually help their teams.
Admittedly, this attitude may be due in part to some of the less-than-admirable antics and a take-the-money-and-run (or simply trot, in some cases) mindset displayed by a few past gaikokujin players.
But for every major bust here (Kevin Mitchell, Mike Greenwell, Dave Nilsson come to mind), you'll find several cases where Japanese teams/fans/media have failed to give foreign ballplayers the credit they deserve.
Nippon Ham slugger Nigel Wilson may hit three homers in a game, but don't expect to see any banner headlines feting the accomplishment (other than on these pages, of course). Wilson has a couple of factors working against him: he's not Japanese and he doesn't play for the Giants.
Prior to last season's Japan Series, we here at the JT sports section scoured the local photo wires for a picture of Daiei Hawks closer Rod Pedraza, but to no avail. All Pedraza had done during the regular season was set a Pacific League record with 35 saves. It is not uncommon for an import to hit around .300 with 20-plus homers and still find himself out of a job at season's end. It happened to Tom O'Malley -- twice! O'Malley was with Hanshin from 1991 through 1994, where he hit .307, .325, .329 and .314, respectively. He also averaged just under 20 longballs a year. Not good enough for the Tigers, however, as O'Malley was released after the '94 campaign. The Yakult Swallows then took a "chance" on big Tom, who hit .302 with 31 HRs in 1995 and .315 with 18 dingers the following year -- his last in Japanese baseball.
Current Yomiuri slugger Domingo Martinez found himself out of a job in 1998 after two seasons with the Seibu Lions in which he hit 31 and 30 home runs and averaged a shade under .300. The Giants plucked him from the Mexican Leagues midway through the 1999 season.
So, good luck to Ichiro and his compatriot Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who will be joining the Mets, this coming season. Enjoy your time in the bigs, fellas, and may the force be with you! If you hit .300 with 20 HRs in the majors, you can bet that the fans in North America will open their hearts to you and the teams will open their wallets.
A few other items of interest from the sporting world as we enter a new century:
* First off, a question for former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, who stands accused in court of ordering the murder of his pregnant girlfriend to avoid paying child support: Ever thought about wearing a condom? Carruth, who already supports one child he has fathered out of wedlock, also reportedly threatened to have another pregnant ex-girlfriend murdered if she didn't have an abortion, which she (apparently wisely) did.
Carruth's wandering ways may not be a problem for him much longer, however, as he faces the death penalty if found guilty. Until then, it's highly unlikely that any possible jailhouse sexual encounters will result in another unwanted pregnancy.
The evidence may be piling up against Carruth, but that doesn't seem to mean much these days. If Carruth is able shed this murder rap like some would-be tackler, perhaps he and the "Juice" can get together and track down the evil killers who seem to be targeting the ex-spouses and girlfriends of NFL players in recent years.
* A quote of note: "You know it's going to hell when the best rapper out there is white and the best golfer is black" -- former NBA star Charles Barkley in the January 2001 issue of Spin magazine, referring to Eminem and Tiger Woods.
* Talk about your harsh punishment! While most people are aware of the stiff (can you say "firing squad?") penalties getting caught with drugs in Singapore can bring about, German soccer player Lutz Pfannenstiel discovered that fixing an S. League soccer game can be pretty costly as well. Pfannenstiel was recently sentenced to five months in prison for accepting bribes from a bookie.
* Maybe this shouldn't be too surprising, considering you can be fined for chewing gum or spitting on the street in Singapore. But in light of the fact that several of the world's top cricketers, who were found guilty of similar match-fixing offenses, were simply banned from the game, it seems like a bit of an overreaction.
Banned for life from cricket a form of punishment? You gotta be kidding!