Former Brewers and Pro-Yakyu

Also, Craig Worthington was an '88 Oriole who played in Japan.

Brooks-san, you are correct.

At the time of Worthington's arrival, I felt ambivalence to see the third base rivals of the Orioles' organization playing in Central League: Gomez (Chunichi) and Worthington (Hanshin).

From my previous expereience of observing Worthington's career, I was afraid that the Tigers wouldn't benefit very much. Unfortunately, my educated-guess was not far-off.

I felt sorry for Mr. Worthington because his first full season (1989) was impressive, and he helped the Orioles to bounce back from the stressful '88 season.

On the contrary, I was surprised to see Mr. Gomez in Japan because he was at his peak of success when he became a Dragon (Troy Neel also surprised me). You may have a better idea about this, and I am very interested to hear Nichi-Bei fans' opinions.

Thinking of Oriole third basemen, Thomas O'Malley and Jeff Manto also once played with the team.

Yuki Sei (sigbotchan)

Let's not forget Brad "The Animal" Lesley who went from the Brewers to the Hankyu Braves in 1986.

I don't want to be too cynical, but I bet that former Brewers' owner (and current MLB commissioner) Bud Selig made a boatload of money selling his players to teams in Japan back in the 1980s. Being a former used car salesman, Bud undoubtedly knows how to make a quick buck, and I bet you anything he sold his players out to Japan so that he could profit.

Thank you for your comment. I have "Animal's" card when he pitched for the Reds (1983 Donruss), and I did not know Lesley played for the Brewers.

If Selig did not do justice, Taiyo did not do so either. After hitting .290, Loman rejected the team's order to be "daisan-no gaijin" (third foreign player) and left the Whales. Lezcano did not live up to Taiyo's expectations. Even though I was not sure whether or not Loman was able to be continuously productive, restlessly importing "suketto" would not always work. The understaffed Whales brought in Adduci. Things do not make sense. A year later he was gone. The happy era of Ponce-Paciorek also didn't last long when Ponce's production started to decline.

Why is being patient so difficult? I understand teams pay a lot to "suketto" and depend heavily on their bats (or arms), but as a fan of NPB and of MLB, observing this "tsukai-sute" (use and throw away) practice of "suketto" makes me sad. This "tsukai-sute" (sometimes even "tsukawazu-sute" - not use then throw away) has happened with all teams (I'm not particularly blaming Yokohama/Taiyo).

Do you think this problem has been improved? Worsened? Or is the same today? I'm curious to hear your opinions.

Yuki Sei (sigbotchan)

Generally speaking, I don't think the Brewers had any special connection that was all that out of the ordinary. They did seem to have a working agreement of sorts with the Whales it seems, but other than that, most of the other players you list played for other teams after the Brewers (before joining the NPB) or left the Brewers of their own volition. Examples:

Glenn Braggs: Didn't go from the Brewers; went from the Reds. He'd been playing with Cincy for 2 yrs before he went to Japan

Mike Young: Played for the Indians in 1989 before he came to Japan.

Bob Gibson: Came over from the Mets. Played for the Brewers the year before.

Dick Davis: Hadn't played for the Brewers for 2 yrs. Came over from the Jays.

Rob Deer: Left the Brewers in 1990 and went to Detroit, didn't go to Japan until 1996.

Dave Nilsson: Went to Chunichi as a free agent because he wanted to play on Australia's Olypic baseball team.

Randy Ready: Hadn't been a Brewer for 10 years when he went to Japan.

As for "the Animal," he had 1 win in 5 appearances with a 9.95 ERA through 6.1 innings with the Brewers. It's not like he was tearing it up in the States, here. He had a cup of coffee here (I sure don't remember seeing him play here).

Some of those players on your list were indeed sold to NPB teams (primarily the Whales players), but more often than not, I think they were just free agents at the twilight of their careers who saw the chance to extend it as a suketto in Japan.

By the way, the GM at the time was Harry Dalton and, as far as I know, he didn't have any special contacts with any NPB teams which would further lead me to believe that the Brewers just kept finding players they didn't want and the Whales wanted said players (and they were already familiar with the Brewers).

As for how it is now, I think the "helper" is in a really good spot. It seems that teams are willing to give guys longer periods to adjust to life and to baseball in Japan. If they can, you have guys like Rhodes, Cabrera, and Petagine. If not, they come back here to North America. I think the difference is, it's usually on the player's terms, not the team's terms. This stems from the fact that the majority of players brought over are free agents.

hillsy

Patience isn't easy with highly paid players who often are in their 30's and, thus, near the end of their careers. Many teams refuse to give more than one year contracts to gaijin, at least after the initial contract (see Bobby Rose and Tuffy Rhodes for two prominent examples).

From what I can gather, the position of the gaijin hasn't changed much since the days described by Warren Cromartie's Slugging It Out in Japan and Robert Whiting's You Gotta Have Wa. Both are good books, and worthwhile to read.

Certainly, gaijin are well paid, but they'd better produce, or good-bye. Also, adapting to Japan and the Japanese approach to the game pose significant issues for many players.

Jim Albright

Thank you, hillsy-san and Albright-san.

- To hillsy-san:

I understand that my list only suggests these Brewer stars played for Milwaukee at least once. For example, I remember "Spike" as a Padre rather than a Brewer. Fortunately for my memory-back up, I have his 1986 baseball cards. Therefore, I rely heavily on my oddball collection of Nichi-Bei cards to talk with you (not speaking of my love of baseball cards).

Cards help me in a very interesting way because I am able track which Nichi-Bei players used to play together. For instance, Jimmy Jones (Kyojin), Carmelo Martinez (Orix), and Marvel Wynne (Hansin) were Padres when "Spike" was in San Diego. That team had an intersting cohort of players: Gwynn, Kruk, Roberto Alomer (RC), and Eric Shaw (deceased).

Thank you for reminding me, though. And the same caution should have been given to the list of the former Angels.

By the way, westbaystar-san and I have concluded that my info on Jeff Ballard was my misunderstanding. Therefore, please disregard my comment on Mr. Ballard and Kintetsu.

- To Albright-san:

I have never read the two books of your recommendation. I should try. In terms of my literature exposure, I read two books and have kept BBM "1992-nen Toku-shugou," the Nichi-Bei "suketto" encyclopedia, in my possession. (I bought it from Yahoo! auction. That is the reason I know a lot about "suketto" until 1992, and from 1992 I don't even remember whether or not Orix had Jay Baller - my messed-up memory told me it was Jeff Ballard and I confused Orix with Kintetsu).

Like you have mentioned, I have read about the technical/cultural difficulties against which "suketto" fought. One book I read suggested the early rivalry and friendship between Cromartie and Reggie Smith dealing with the pressure of playing for the Giants. Furthermore, I remember the misfortune of Jeff Manto. People even called him "Tonma" (a fool). That was cruel.

In another book I read, I learned from Bobby Rose's comments that having tremendous success alone would not make him a part of the team. Mr. Rose says that it took him a while to feel like a "nakama" (not from his words). I was surprised. What I watch on TV will not tell very much about real life.

The 1992 "Toku-shugou" says that Scheinblum (known in Japan as "Schein") and Hopkins were surprised by the happy fans in Hiroshima (1975) trying to "thank" them for the two suketto's contributions to the Carp capturing Central League Title for the first time. I hoped Schein and Hopkins were not that terrified by Hiroshima fans. Yet I could understand why Hiroshima fans were so happy in 1975.

High profile MLB stars also had tough experience. Pepitone, Davey Johnson, Don Zimmer., etc. However, the poorest might be Frank Howard who came to have a new career in Japan but was injured during spring training at Heiwadai-stadium. Howard-san, who had not played the outfield for a while in MLB, practiced outfield fielding and hurt himself (was that his ankle?). He played only a few games. His career was over. An article contributer blamed the chronicle ill-conditioned ground. Heiwadai ended a great power hitter's career.

*Heiwadai was the home ground of the Nishitetsu Lions at that time (later Daiei's homeground). Nishitesu also imported better-known stars such as Don Buford and Matty Alou.

Totemo nagaku-narimashita-node, kono-atari-de, ...

Yuki Sei (sigbotchan)

- In another book I read, I learned from Bobby Rose's comments that having tremendous success alone would not make him a part of the team. Mr. Rose says that it took him a while to feel like a "nakama" (not from his words).

From what I've heard from a friend who hung out in Roppongi often, such lack of feeling like nakama was not due to his teammates ignoring Rose. He told me of an instance where he was a few tables down from Bobby in a restaurant and witnessed a number of BayStars go out of their way to say "konnichi wa" to Rose, showing respect for their senpai. I suppose that it is possible that Rose felt the formality of such greetings weren't personal enough to feel a "nakama" type connection, but how receptive was he? And how many foreign players get this kind of special treatment from their teammates?

It's my understanding that Rose preferred to keep his personal and professional lives apart, and tended to distance himself from his teammates. I don't think that anyone was going to force Rose to allow them to be his friend. It's a two way street.

- Yakult: Bob Gibson, Jim Tatum, Danny Walton

Danny Walton never played for Yakult. He played for Yokohama Taiyo Whales.

In the last few years, the BayStars had no big changes for their lineup. They lost Tanishige but got T. Woods.

The biggest thing missing from your lists of players is the year(s) they played in Japan. I've never heard of most of them as I don't really pay any attention to foreign players until they've proven themselves. Sadly, most don't.

-Westbaystars-san

Thank you for your comments. I left my main sources in Yamaguchi. I'll ask my parents to get them for me.

I have heard about the privacy policy of Rose. Obviously, Bobby Rose is not Matt Winters (do you rememeber his "hara-odori"?).

It's very difficult to suggest exact years of service without my 1992 tokushugou, but I can give you some sense of their services.

Taiyo:

1985 Leon Lee
1986 Ponce/Loman
1987 Ponce/Lezcano (Adduci)
1988-89 Ponce/Paciorek
1990 Ponce (Meyer)/Paciorek

Hiroshima

1987-88 Rich Lancelotti/Randy Johnson (3B)
1989 Rod Allen/Wade Rhodon
1990 Rod Allen/Rhodon (Mike Young)/T.L. Van Barkleo

Yakult

1986 Leon (?) Lee/Brouhard
1987 Leon Lee/Bob Horner/Brouhard
1988 Doug Decinces/Terry Harper
1989 Larry Parrish/Bob Gibson? (Pitcher)
1990 Floyd Bannister/Dwayne Murphy/Juan Eichelberger?
1991 Johnny Ray
1992 Ray/Jack Howell

Kintetsu

1986 Dick Davis/David Green
1987 Davis/Ben Oglivie
1988 Davis (Ralph Bryant)/Oglivie
1989 Bryant/German Rivera (both from Dodger org.)
1990 Bryant/Traber

Orix

1987 Boomer Wells
1988 Boomer Wells/Dallas Williams
1989 Jim Colborn Coach/Boomer/Guy Hoffman
1990 Boomer/Hoffman/Don Shulze (?)

Lotte

*Lenn Sakata Coach came with Valentine-Kantoku

Kyojin

1985 Cromartie/Keith Comstock
1986 Cromartie/Sanchez (maybe Comstock, too)
1987 Cromartie/Sanchez/John Pacera (P)
1988-89 Cromartie/Gullickson/Roo Min Soo (Ro Meishi)
1990 Cromartie (Final season)/Mike Brown (OF)
1991 Phil Bradley/Chuck Cary (?)

Hanshin

1985-86 Randy Bass/Rich Gale
1987 Bass/Matt Keough
1988 Bass (Ruppert Jones)/Keough
1989 Keough/Whiggs
1990 Keough/Larry Parrish (later retired)

Seibu

1986 Kaku Taigen/George Vukovich
1987 T. Kaku/Vukovich
1988 T. Kaku/Tyler Lee Van Barkleo
1989 T. Kaku/Barkleo (Orestes Destrade)
1990 T. Kaku/Destrade/Raymond Young

Nichi-Ham

1987 Tony Brewer
1988 Brewer (injured)/Mike Easler/Bryan Dayett
1989 Brewer/Easler/Dayett
1990 Brewer (?)/Dayett/Matt Winters
1991 Bill Bathe/Winters

Westbaystars-san, I understand your comment on most players not proving themselves. However, NPB teams used to bring lots of veteran players whose MLB career had already been finished. For example, Benjamin Oglivie had successful two seasons with Kintetsu, but after two seasons he was already in his late 30's. Ironically, the Brewers wanted to sell him cheaper back in 1985 to the Seibu Lions, but the teams did not come to agreement. Sooner or later, Oglivie-san was destined to play in Japan.

Matt Winters, however, had right age, right skills, and right attitude. He could not make it in MLB until he was 29.

By the way, my childhood interest in NPB faded during the early 1990's, so I would like to ask anybody who excels in the early 1990's for help. My post-1995 memory further relies heavily on Westbaystars-san's list. Thanks to my tokushugou, I have pretty good idea of "Who's Who" of Nichi-Bei players until 1992.

Thank you,

Yuki Sei (sigbotchan)

Glenn Braggs: Baystars '93-'96
Mike Young: Carp '90
Bob Gibson: Swallows '88
Dick Davis: Buffaloes '84-'88
Rob Deer: Tigers '94
Dave Nilsson: Dragons '00
Randy Ready: Marines in '96
Brad "the Animal," Lesley: Braves '86-'87
Kevin Reimer: Hawks '94, '95
Joey Meyer: Whales '90
Jim Adduci: Whales '87

(info courtesy of Japan Pro Baseball 2000 Media Guide by Wayne Graczyk)

According to Whiting-san's You Gotta Have Wa, Ben Oglivie was let loose by Milwaukee after the '86 season and signed a free agent contract with Kintetsu (Oglivie mentions how he would have gone back to the States to play in MLB again, for just half of what the Buff's paid, but noone would even touch that). If Milwaukee was indeed shopping him around, they should have gotten something done, because they would have at least gotten something in return for him then.

hillsy - who misses the days when the Brewers could actually compete.

In answers to your questions on who supplied most of the import players to Japan, especially Kintetsu and Taiyo (Yokohama), they all were sent to Japan by the same person. Ray Poitevint, who is with the International Baseball Bureau and is noted as the super scout and top advisor on Japanese baseball. In the 1980s, Ray Poitevint was Vice President, Scouting and Development director for the Milwaukee Brewers. He also worked for the same general manager, Harry Dalton, in Baltimore, where he signed Eddie Murray (Hall of Fame), Dennis Martinez, Rich Dauer, Doug Decinces, Rob Andrews, and thirty one more players that played in the Major Leagues. He also sent players to Japan through the California Angels. The following players were sent to:

Yakult Swallows:

Mark Brouhard OF
Bob Gibson RHP
Doug Decinces 3B

Taiyo Whales/BayStars

Doug Loman
Glen Braggs
Bobby Rose
Mike Bierbeck
Carlos Ponce
Skip James
Sixto Lezcano
R.J Reynolds
Jim Paciorek
Pat Mahomes
Jim Adduci
Rafael Betancourt
Joey Meyer

Kintetsu Buffaloes

David Green
Jessie Reid
Don Money
Lee Stevens
Dick Davis
Luis Aquino
Larry Wolf
Chris Donnels
Terry Lee
Phil Clark
Tuffy Rhodes
Nigel Wilson
Vic Harris
Phil Leftwich
Jim Traber
Rob Mattson
Bob Milaski
Carlos Valdez
Bombo Rivera
Narciso Elvira
Ben Oglivie
Ralph Bryant
German Rivera

Hanky Braves

Brad "the animal" Lesley

Chinichi Dragons

Dion James

Orix BlueWave

Guy Hoffman

Chiba Lotte Marines

Mel Hall
Hensly Meulens

Yomiuri Giants

Dan Gladden
Jimmy Jones

Nippon Ham

Bernardo Brito
Rafael Orellano

Hiroshima Carp

Andy Sheet
Greg Larocca
Eddie Diaz

California Angels

Max Venable
Alvin Davis

Baltimore Orioles

Larry Sheets

Boston Red Sox

Robinson Checo [from Hiroshima]
Tomokazu Ohka [from Yokohama]

Along with these players there are about 125 more. Just too many to list. Plus he has signed seventy plus amatuers that have gone on and played in the Major Leagues. Over the past 30 plus years he has trained scouts and front office personnel as well as general managers and presidents for teams in Japan. He married into a prominent family in Japan and has studied Japanese culture as as philosophy for many years in Japan. Ray may be the most respected and trusted judgement of talent in Japan.

I really like this website: Where are foreign suketto now? [in Japanese].

Basically it's a list of foreign players in Japan, organized by team and the years they played there. It's pretty comprehensive, as far as I can tell. It goes back to the pre-war league and includes the nissei-jin as well.

By the way, Ben McDonald is another former Oriole who played in Japan. But he may have started in America a year or two after Worthington, Schu, et al.

Ben McDonald? The former no. 1 pick out of LSU? No, he never played in Japan. He hurt his arm with the Orioles and never regained his form and had to retire. Maybe you're thinking of a lefty named McDonald who pitched for the Hanshin Tigers in the late 1990s. Big Ben was a righty.

Ah, you're right. I was mistaken about my McDonalds. Thanks for setting me straight. I could've sworn that there was a McDonald who played for Daiei in the late 1990's. Was he the same guy who played for Hanshin?

- I could've sworn that there was a McDonald who played for Daiei in the late 1990's. Was he the same guy who played for Hanshin?

I don't know of a McDonald playing for Daiei. However, Bob McDonald pitched for Hanshin in 1997.