Safe in the knowledge that his family and friends have escaped serious harm from last week's deadly earthquake, Kei Igawa returned to the United States on Sunday to rejoin the New York Yankees.
"My family home is OK so I have peace of mind and I don't have any friends who are unaccounted for," Igawa told reporters before departing from Narita airport.
"All I can do is play the best baseball I can and just try to keep abreast of developments in Japan."
The minor league left-hander had made an emergency departure from the Yankees training complex in Tampa, Fla., to try to locate his family in Oarai, Ibaraki Prefecture.
"There was more damage than I thought on the coast," Igawa said. "There is not enough water and