Early '90s Gaijin

Sorry, my database only goes back to 1996. I started it in 1995, but overwrote it the next year. (I learned my lesson there.)

NPB-BIS used to have older information on a lot of the foreign players, but that didn't survive their remodelling this season.

I plan on buying the Encyclopedia this coming off season (when I believe the next release is). I hope to be able to better answer these questions next season. (I know, not much consolation now.)

If you can read and type Japanese, there's always Google.

With the exception of Ozzie Canseco (did he ever play a game at the big club level with Kintetsu?), you can find info in Japanese about all those players at:

http://www.lint.ne.jp/~lucky

You probably have this already, but here are his career MLB stats. Just a cup of coffee here and there over 3 years.

Who do you guys think had the best combo of foreign everyday players, say, in the first half of the decade? My own memory is a little fuzzy, but I remember Jim Paciorek and "Ponce" forming a nice duo for the Taiyo Whales. Ralph Bryant and Jim Traber were a nice power combination for the Buffs (got to see them at Seibu... believe the Lions won 9-8, even with Traber's grand slam... great game, great seats, no stupid dome... also saw Bryant's "nintei" home run at the Tokyo Dome, the one where he hit the speaker... but I digress). Tom O'Malley was a great hitter here, but I can't say the same for Hensley Meulens. Did Rex Hudler and O'Malley play together?

The Giants, on the other hand, after Cro (and until Maru-chan), seem to have strung together a number of foreigners (one at a time) who all underachieved (Jesse Barfield, Shane Mack, Henry Cotto). This year they're doing it with no foreigners starting for them. Think they're trying to protect the "integrity" of Japanese baseball? I know they have foreign pitchers, but nobody they really depend on at all. I wonder why they even bother...

OH YEAH... anyone else heard the rumor that Nakamura, the third sacker for Kintetsu, will join the Giants as a free agent next year? If Matsui does go to the States they'll need Nori's bat. If Hideki stays, then Etoh will see less playing time, plus they have insurance against Kiyohara's annual 3-month injury-triggered sabbatical...

O'Malley and Hudler were team mates when they played for the Expos in 1988. The Giants do not even need to get a non-Japanese position player. Paciorek and Ponce formed a nice duo for the Whales in the late 1980's (circa '88-'89). Larry Sheets did a nice job for '92 Whales.

Rod Allen currently does television commentary
for all the Arizona Diamondbacks broadcasts
in the Phoenix area. He makes frequent reference
to his ball playing days in Japan.

I was going to mention the same thing because it's kind of ironic that the D-backs have both Rod Allen and Jim Traber doing color commentary on their telecasts. Traber also talks frequently about his experience in Japan.