MLB players who played in Japan

I'm afraid that I don't have such a list. But Albright-san, in his "All-Time Foreign Born Team" article mentions quite a few. He also mentions his source of Carlos Bauer

One place you can start Bernard, if you can read Japanese, is a site called Pro Yakyu Kiroku Hakubutsukan. Note, though, that it's in Japanese. But trying to compile the records of hundreds of foreigners who have played in Japan since 1936 is beyond what I or most of the other amateur Pro Yakyu fans have time to do. I have this fantasy of being able to put together a kind of Elias Sports Bureau for Japanese baseball, but that isn't going to happen unless someone comes up with some real major dollars and one can gather the manpower necessary to do that. My advice to you, Bernard, would be to learn the Japanese baseball terminology and take a shot at it yourself. Jim Albright is really the only one I know of right now doing consistant statistical analysis of Japanese baseball history and in my reports for Baseball Guru I can provide anecdotes and occasional stats from what goes on day to day, but what you want is just too large a project at this point.

I will say this, though: if you use the correct English search terminology, you can sometimes come up with basic stats from the English side of the NPB website that will have recent season foreigner stats. Use Google, since they have a lot of stuff cached from pages no longer available.

If you need info on specific players stats, I can do that for you, with proper attribution, of course, if you publish the results somewhere. You can e-mail me and let me know who it is you really need info on. Keep in mind, though, that like others, I have a day job and then my responsibilities for Baseball Guru, so it might take me a few days to get around to your query.

- [...] if you use the correct English search terminology, [...]

Excellent Suggestion. These search results show 97 very promissing pages. And I see that the old site is still up. It's just the entry page that redirects to the new NPB-BIS site.

- If you need info on specific players stats, I can do that for you [...]

I can, too. At least, for any player from 1995 on. I plan on someday having all of the data I have on paper entered into my database, but am doing it one player at a time as the need arises. It is my goal in life to provide more complete data than NPB-BIS does, showing that a volunteer effort can compare to large commercial interests. My philosophy on the topic is explained on the top of the Players page. And that's why your questions have me thinking about how I can revise the database to better serve needs like extracting foreign and/or former MLB players.

It would take too long to list the years and the teams, but I've got a pretty comprehensive list in my head. I will exclude the Japanese players in the MLB since all of them with the exception of Mac Suzuki played here in NPB.

Lou Merloni-Red Sox
Willie Banks-Red Sox
Lee Stevens-Expos
Darrell May-Royals
Chris Donnels-Diamondbacks
Dave Hansen-Dodgers
Tony Tarasco-Mets
Eduardo Perez-Reds
Alan Zinter-Astros
Travis Driskill-Orioles
Timo Perez-Mets
Alfonso Soriano-Yankees
Julio Franco-Braves
Elmer Dessens-Reds

That's all I could come up with now. There are a few more who were playing in MLB this year but have been sent to the minors like Mark Johnson of the Mets and Jose Parra of the D-backs. If I think of any more players I will add to that list.

I forgot to put Giovanni Carrara-Dodgers on that list.

[Player link added by: westbaystars on Jun 23, 2002 2:57 PM JST]

There are 3 more players that I forgot about:

Bill Selby-Indians
Kevin Jarvis-Padres
Orlando Merced-Astros

BTW, I interpreted the original question as current MLB players who played in Japan, but the responses made me wonder if the original question was asking about every MLB player who ever played in Japan. Either way, it's fun to follow MLB players who once played in Japan.

I had interpreted the original question as wanting to know what former MLB players had played in Japan and what Japanese teams (and years) did they play for? To help with those ends, I've entered batting and pitching data for the above players. Just click on those that have links for their respective Japanese lifetime stats.

The data only represents 1-gun games played, so in some cases, a player spent more time in Japan than listed with these stats. I hope that even with this deficiency that it is useful.

I need to add a few more names that I forgot to the current MLB players who played in Japan list.

Doug Creek-Devil Rays
Mike Fyhrie-A's
Chris Haney-Red Sox
Yorkis Perez-Orioles

I have more names to add as there are more players that I fogot about.

Matt Stairs-Brewers
Ryan Thompson-Brewers

It's hard to believe, but I had completely forgotten about long-time big league veteran Stairs who had a cup of coffee with the Dragons back in '93. He once hit over 30 HRs in a season with the A's, but he's only a part-time player now. I wouldn't be surprised to see him back in Japan sometime in the near future.

Also, I made the mistake of listing Eduardo Perez as a Red. He's with the Cardinals. I guess I was thinking about his dad when I wrote that.

It's amazing that there are now about 25 ex-NPBers currently playing in MLB. I remember a time when you only had a handful of players who once played in Japan playing in the major leagues. From the late '70s thru the early '90s, you could count the number of ex-Japan players in the MLB with one hand. Davey Johnson, Bobby Jones, Terry Whitfield, Keith Comstock, Cecil Fielder-that was about it.

I remember when Terry Whitfield signed with the Dodgers in '85 after a successful stint with the Lions, one leading sports publication said that Whitfield was the first player to ever come back to the major leagues after playing in Japan. It wasn't true, but that's how rare it was.

Ex-Dodger and long time Nippon Ham Fighter Tony Brewer once said in an interview that once an player goes to Japan, that player is finished in the eyes of major league teams and he can forget about trying to play in the major leagues again. How times have changed.

Thanks for your help.

It is easy to get the players' MLB teams. I wanted to find their respective NPB teams.

I'm glad I was able to help you out, but if you want their respective NPB teams, I suggest you go out and buy Wayne Gracyzk's Japanese Pro Baseball Handbook-you know, the one he puts out every year for 1000 yen or so. That's where you can get the info you want. Otherwise, I'll try to list these player's Japanese teams when time permits. However, it's going to take a long time to list both the team and the years that these guys played here in Japan.

Tony Tarasco has recently been linked to Mets pitcher Mark Corey's marijuana debacle. No wonder Tarasco's Japanese career went up in smoke. He was probably more interested in getting baked than getting on base.

I've always had a big problem with Tarrasco and was suprised that he was able to get signed in Japan. He used to run with street gangs as a kid and, in fact, when he gets into the batter's box, marks out an initial of one of his gangster buddies who was killed in a gang related shooting. He may still be rolling with his gang buddies for all I know. As far as I'm concerned, Tarrasco is a scumbag.

That's interesting-I didn't know that Tarasco was a gangbanger. However, I'm not surprised such a loser ended up with Hanshin. They just never learn. Mike Greenwell was bad, but I bet we haven't seen the worst yet. I'm surprised they didn't go after Kevin Mitchell after his Daiei release.

Maybe Carl Everett would be the next logical signing for them.....

I wonder if that may have been the failings of the organisation in previous years. Tarasco was last with the Hanshin Tigers in 2000.

Check through the archives of this site, and you'll find a short exchange about agents through which overseas players can try to sign with teams in NPB. The enquirer is warned off signing with the Hanshin agents of previous years, and I think it is significant to note that Hoshino-kantoku has his own people.

Oscar Melendez - Texas Rangers
Juan Carlos Melendez - Seatle Mariners
Leo Gomez - Baltimore Orioles

Well, remember Cecil Fielder...

Felipe Crespo played in Japan in 2002.

Roy White: NY Yankees - Yomiuri Giants.

Please also add Mexican Players who were Major Leaguers and played in Japan.

Narciso Elvira LHP - Brewers
Miguel Del Toro RHP - San Francisco Giants

I saw something in a post about Mike Greenwell, that seemed to go with an unflattering stroy. Can anybody shed some light on his days in Japan?

Here's what I had to say about Greenwell in an interview [Link]

Just mention the name "Mike Greenwell" to a Hanshin Tiger fan and you'll be lucky to escape without a good beating. Greenwell was signed for 3.3-oku yen in 1997 and was hyped up as being a "true big leaguer." Well, he played a total of 7 games before pain and a message from God told him it was time to retire. I don't think he will ever be welcomed in Japan again, except maybe as a pro wrestler. Then I'm sure Hanshin fans would pay big to watch him battle Tiger Mask.

To put Greenwell's 3.3-oku yen into perspective, that's more than Ichiro made that year. There were jokes about how much each at bat cost Hanshin.

In short, after all the hype, Greenwell had a conversation with God, and God told him to take his 3.3-oku yen and raise cattle.

Yes, but I don't think he got to keep the whole 3.3-oku. As I understand it, there was a negotiated settlement, so that figure could well have been reduced significantly.

Thanks for the info on Greenwell. I always liked him here in the States. Sorry he did not pan out in Japan. I follow Japanese baseball as close as possible, but it's kinda tough here in the U.S.A. to do so. I'm a fan of Nigel Wilson and Karl Rhodes, to name a few. It's nice to see guys who did not catch on in the States able to go over seas to play the game they love. And it's refreshing to see the treatment of them by the Japanese fans as well.

If anybody knows, how were Cecil Feilder's days in Japan? Was he well recived?