Much has been written here about Major League Baseball and the various Japanese stars who moved over to the United States from Japan to continue their careers and hopefully break new ground.
Hideki Matsui, Hideo Nomo, and Ichiro Suzuki are three of the most successful Japanese players to migrate here and have great success in the big leagues. The flipside of the influx of Japanese talent over the past twenty or so years has to do with those players who fizzled out in the US. Not every Japanese player achieved success, international fame and fortune after bringing their talents to the MLB. The stories of these players are often a bit sad, as their once-promising careers ended up being big disappointments.
One of the biggest busts in the history of Major League Baseball’s involvement with Japanese players is Kei Igawa. The New York Times recently printed a lengthy article about Igawa, who has spent the last three years basically in exile on the New York Yankees’ various minor league affiliates on the East Coast.
It’s a fascinating read for baseball fans, as Igawa was a much-heralded signing by the Yankees in 2007. They picked him from a Japanese all-star team and agreed with him on a 5 year, $20 million deal before he threw a pitch over here. That $20 million, combined with the money the Yankees had to pay to negotiate with him, made him a $46 million investment.
After only 16 pitching appearances with the Yankees, Igawa was banished to the minors. Pitching coaches and staff members had encouraged Igawa to drastically alter his delivery, something he wasn’t comfortable with. Soon, after he spent some time in the minors as a one of the highest-paid AAA players ever, Yankees GM Brian Cashman met with Igawa, trying to get him to agree to go back to Japan, which would rid the Yankees’ of his contract obligation. He refused, and since then he’s bided his time in the minors.
His deal will be up after 2012, and there’s no telling if any other Major League teams will be interested in Igawa’s services. He’s considered one of the worst mistake signings in baseball history.
The New York Times piece is well worth the read, as it provides some intimate details about Igawa’s lifestyle now, as well as some of the hardships he faced as an outsider in New York City:
During his first years in New York, Igawa struggled to find Japanese food stores, especially ones open late, and he lost weight. It bothered him that he might go weeks without hearing his native tongue. The winter temperatures were new to him so he remained inside. If he felt lonely and missed Japan, he would visit an electronics store because examining all the new models and emerging technologies reminded him of something he would do at home.
Lost in the discussions of the great Japanese stars who experienced success in the United States are the stories of players such as Igawa, making the NY Times piece that much more provocative and worth your time.
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