In last week's column, I mentioned five key players who have triggered the phenomenal start this season by the Yomiuri Giants: second baseman Makoto Kosaka, outfielder Kenji Yano, first sacker Lee Seung Yeop, starting pitcher Jeremy "J.P." Powell and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda.
We should add one more newcomer to the list: American starting hurler Gary Glover.
Gary Glover, who joined the Yomiuri Giants this year after
seven seasons in the major leagues, notched a 5-4 record for
the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005.
The right-hander who came over this year from the Milwaukee Brewers has so far made three starts, and the Giants have won all three of Glover's games, though he left with a no-decision in his first appearance on April 2 against the Yokohama BayStars at Tokyo Dome.
Glover was the winner against the Chunichi Dragons in Nagoya on April 9 and beat the BayStars in Yokohama on April 16.
"Mr. Sunday" is 2-0 and, although his ERA is high at 5.94, that shows the run support he's gotten from his hitting teammates. That ERA figure is expected to be going down as he gets more and more used to pitching in Japanese baseball.
Glover played seven seasons in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Anaheim Angels and Milwaukee, and he posted a 5-4 record and a 5.57 ERA in 15 appearances with the Brew Crew in 2005.
Coincidentally, Glover achieved three MLB milestones against the team for which he cheered before turning professional. He was born and raised in Cleveland and was an Indians fan until he signed with the Blue Jays.
In 1999, with Toronto, he made his first big league appearance at Jacobs Field in Cleveland and with the White Sox in 2001, he got his first major league victory (in relief) against the Indians.
Later that year, he made his first start, once again against the Tribe.
He now makes his off-season home in De Land, Fla., near Daytona Beach.
In its April 5 edition, the hometown paper Daytona Beach News-Journal ran a feature on Glover's indoctrination to life in Japan and the idiosyncrasies of Japanese baseball.
Glover himself says he's made the transition across the Pacific just fine and looks forward to many seasons helping the Giants win pennants. He knows about the history of club and says, "I realize the Giants are a great organization, and I feel fortunate to be playing for Yomiuri."
His motto is "Take one pitch at a time," reflecting the philosophy that you might as well forget about the deliveries already made because you can't take them back, and you can't be thinking ahead, either.
"The most important pitch is always the next one," he says.
His longest outing here so far is 6 2/3 innings, last Sunday at Yokohama, during which he threw 102 pitches. "I can go 120 though," he said, indicating that would be within his "comfort level."
One of his nicknames while with the Brewers was "G.G.," and those initials will likely play prominently in a faceoff next month against upstart slugger G.G. Sato of the Seibu Lions.
"I faced him at Seibu in an exhibition game, and he raked me for a couple of hits," Glover said.
Glover should get another crack at the other G.G. during interleague play when the Giants visit the Lions May 12-14 and when Seibu comes to Tokyo Dome June 2-4. Both are weekends so, if the Sunday trend continues, Glover will take the hill in both series.
As for starting every seven days, that's fine with him, but he indicated he would also not mind pitching more frequently, a preference most foreign hurlers have here in Japan.
Glover's main goal this season is to stay healthy, be ready and give his team a chance to win every time he's given the ball.
So far, he's done that, and if the seven-day rotation continues, Giants manager Tatsunori Hara will most likely call on Glover to start again on Sunday night, April 23, at home against the archrival Hanshin Tigers.
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Finally this week, reader John Rucynski Jr. of Nishinomiya asked if foreign players in their first year in Japan are eligible for the "Shinjin Sho" or Rookie of the Year award. The answer is no.
While Japanese players such as Ichiro (Suzuki), Hideki Matsui, Tadahiro Iguchi and Kenji Johjima can win the major league best rookie prize, foreigners here are not considered for that honor, and that is how it should be.
I am on record as saying that, because the Japanese players such as those mentioned were seasoned veterans with several years' professional experience in the Central or Pacific League, they should not be considered as "rookies" when they join an MLB team.
Also from the e-mail bag, and referring to the mention in last week's column about TBS Radio offering a prize to a lucky listener of 10,000 yen times the uniform number of a player who hits a home run, reader Shinichi Yoneda of Tokyo informs us the station said it will still pay a fan 10,000 yen if a player wearing number 0 or 00 goes deep.
In this case, 10,000 yen times zero is 10,000 yen. Nice.
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Contact Wayne Graczyk at: [email protected]
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