Foreign ballplayers in Japan don't much like it, but they are often referred to as "suketto" in Japanese. The term means helper and it more than implies the hired hands from North America are not necessarily being counted on to lead their team but rather to temporarily "help" the fan-favorite local stars win some games and maybe even a pennant.

Two of the foreigners playing here this season are doing just that, playing the role of suketto in the true sense of the word. Left fielders Alex Ramirez of the Yakult Swallows and Pedro Valdes of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks have been in their respective teams' starting lineups almost every day, and chances are high the pair could be "suketto-ing" against each other in this year's Japan Series beginning Oct. 20.

Venezuelan Ramirez has played in all but two of Yakult's 115 games through Sunday, posting statistics that rank about average among Swallows starting players. As of Sept. 10, he was hitting .277 with 23 home runs and 72 runs batted in, and that is right about where he expected to be, according to his own predictions made a month ago.

On Aug. 10, prior to a game against the Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyo Dome, Ramirez was batting .277 with 18 HRs and 58 RBIs, and he said his goal was to finish the season with an average between .280 and .290, 25-30 roundtrippers and 80-90 ribbies, and there is one more accomplishment he would like to achieve.

Counting his pennants before they're clinched, Ramirez also said he expects to hit two homers in the Japan Series and predicts they will come against the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes, the team he said (prior to the All-Star break) would win the Pacific League championship.

One of the reasons for Ramirez's success this season, at least in the spring, may be the presence of "Pedro," a monkey doll given to him earlier in the year by a female fan of the Swallows. At first, Pedro was a good luck charm, sometimes "sitting" on the team's bench before a game, having his photo taken for one of the local sports newspapers and appearing in a video commercial publicizing Yakult games on J Sky Sports of SKY PerfecTV! But, when Ramirez went into a slump, Pedro seemed to disappear.

"He wasn't doing his job," joked Ramirez. "So I sent him to the farm team."

Actually, he's been in the player's locker in the home team clubhouse at Jingu Stadium, apparently trying to regain his "good luck" charm and hoping to be recalled soon.

As for those two homers Ramirez expects to hit off Kintetsu pitchers in the Japan Series, he's confident because of his experience as a clutch postseason player. He's been on four minor-league championship teams in North America and was named MVP of the playoffs one year in Venezuela. In the first game of the 1998 Triple-A playoffs, he hit for the cycle for Buffalo against Durham.

He also won't have to face three Central League pitchers who have had his number this season. Ramirez struck out four times in a row against Koji Uehara of the Giants, eight consecutive times against Chunichi Dragons lefty Shigeki Noguchi, and he was whiffed nine straight times by Hiroki Kuroda of the Hiroshima Carp.

But will Pedro be back in time for the Japan Series? "Well see," said Ramirez about his own personal suketto.

Actually, the Swallows could use some luck right now after having been swept in a three-game series by the Giants over the weekend. Yakult still maintains a 51/2-game lead over the Giants and a magic number of 17 for clinching the CL pennant, but losing those three in a row has placed just a bit of pressure on the league leaders.

Meanwhile, Valdes quietly does his job and compiles his share of hits, runs and homers, but he's not the Daiei club leader in any offensive category; far from it. Through games of Sept. 9, the former Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers player had compiled stats of 20 homers, 74 runs batted in and a league eighth-best .308 batting average for the two-time defending Pacific League champions.

Actually, being a suketto on the Hawks is not all that difficult, as the team is loaded with native hitting stars such as first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka (.326 avg., 33 HRs, 100 RBIs), third sacker Hiroki Kokubo (.288, 38, 107), catcher Kenji Jojima (.255, 27, 82) and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (.249, 25, 86).

Taking a turn as the hero of a recent game, the soft-spoken Valdes said during the post-game interview, in true suketto form, he was just happy to help the team win. Should the Hawks take a third straight PL pennant, Valdes will help out during the Series and, considering his impressive performance in his first Japanese season, it would seem likely Fukuoka will want the Puerto Rican native back to lend some more assistance in 2002.

Yankees Day update: Haagen-Dazs Japan will join AIWA and Continental Airlines as a sponsor for Sunday's Yankees Day at the Tokyo Dome. They'll be giving away 20 ice cream gift tickets as door prizes, added to the list of AIWA stereo units and a round trip to New York on Continental, the official airline of the New York Yankees. Hope you got your tickets. Get there early for the 1:30 p.m. game between the Nippon Ham Fighters and Chiba Lotte Marines. See you there.