In an era long before pro ballplayers ached to move to Japan to boost their careers back home, Greg "Boomer" Wells went from exile to icon, as the nation's baseball community adopted him and made him a member of its close-knit family.
Sold by the Minnesota Twins to the Hankyu Braves in the Pacific League in 1983, Wells set out to prove himself. In 1984, he became the first imported player to win a batting triple crown in Japan, leading the Braves, the predecessors of today's Orix Buffaloes, to the Pacific League pennant.
In a recent online Kyodo News interview from his home in Georgia, Wells said that MVP season created a demand for his services. Japanese teams, he said, began asking him to advise new imports on how to adapt, while major league teams wanted to sign him.