| March 5th
My family has arrived in Fukuoka safely and instantly I am a happier man. It was a long five weeks without them. Now that they are here, my life will feel as much back to normal as it possibly can living halfway across the world in Japan.
My kids -- Matthew is 7 and Brooke is 5 -- are really excited to be in Japan. I was concerned that they would shut down being in a foreign place where everyone looked and spoke differently. But it has been the complete opposite. My kids have been constantly telling me how much they like it here, though it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet.
I took Matthew to the Dome today. We were off, but some of the starting pitchers came to work out. It was the perfect scenario for him to see the Dome and meet a few people. He got to practice his “ohayo gozaimasu” (good morning) and his “hajime mashite” (nice to meet you). The latter still needs some work. I brought him into the weight room and made him count my repetitions in Japanese. He picked it up pretty quickly. After I was done we played Aerobie on the field. That’s the flying ring that works like a Frisbee but goes much further. Moments like these at the ballpark with my son are priceless. I hate how Mastercard has made using that phrase sound ridiculous.
Rick asked me if I thought Matt would want to go in the team shower with us. The shower room at the Dome has about a dozen Japanese sit-down-style showers along with a large hot tub, cold tub and sauna. It is different than I am used to, but is really quite nice.
I thought for sure there was no way Matt would want to go in because there are no bathing suits in the team shower room. I didn’t think he would be comfortable. But after Rick showed him the room, Matt came up to me and said, “Daddy, I know you are probably going to say no, but can I take a shower in there please?”
Getting your children to take a bath or shower can sometimes be a real pain, so I was shocked my son wanted to take his second shower in as many hours. I let him have at it and to my surprise he was not the least bit conscious about being naked in front of a few guys he just met.
When he got home he couldn’t wait to tell my wife about the cool shower at the Yahoo! Dome. I think it had more to do with the pool (hot tub). Matthew likes to swim so much that he is willing to do it naked if he has to, so I have just learned. Equally surprising was that my daughter told me she took a shower while we were gone, which was her first ever. We have a Japanese-style shower room in our apartment. And she had an ear-to-ear smile and was gleaming with pride. Who knew all we had to do to get her out of the bath and into the shower was travel 7,000 miles?
I pitched the seventh inning in our exhibition game yesterday and threw a 1-2-3 inning, so I did not get the chance to show off all the hard work I’ve put in on not balking.
I threw to the same catcher as the last time I pitched, Katsuki Yamazaki. We recently had a chat about pitch selection, and he said he wanted me to use my fastball more. I have really worked hard over the past couple of years to develop my game plan on the mound and have been very satisfied, but I am willing to change. I realize this is a totally different baseball environment and I would be foolish to think I should pitch batters the same as I would at home. There just aren’t as many power hitters here, so my approach probably should be a little different.
Yamazaki had asked me if I would allow him to call my entire outing next time I threw. “No shake,” he said, referring to me shaking off his signs. I decided to give him the chance. So I imagine he may have been more satisfied with my 1-2-3 outing than I was. I didn’t shake him off once and needed only 12 pitches to get out of the inning. And I even struck out there three-hole hitter, who hits lefthanded. I told Yamazaki after the game he earned my trust and that I was now a Yamazaki believer. He was very appreciative.
Mr. Oh seemed very pleased with my outing as well. He knew my family was about to arrive, so he gave me an extra day off after the team off day, giving me two days to help get them settled. I was completely shocked by his offer. I have never heard of anything like that at home. What made it even stranger is that in Japan there’s a work-first, family-second mentality. So this just goes to show you what kind of man Mr. Oh is. But I just couldn’t take both days off. I had to work out today and I’ll probably go in tomorrow and just leave early. When you get older, days off hurt more than they help, I think.
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March 7th
For the most part my family has been settling in pretty well in Fukuoka, all things considered. But sometimes I still have to remind myself this is all very, very new to them. Having been here for five weeks, many things that have become normal to me is not so normal to them, to say the least.
I took my wife to the mall and grocery store today and she was a little overwhelmed. It’s pretty difficult to read the labels. I told her about 80 percent of the grocery store is going be useless for us, at least for now. She feels bad she can’t communicate with anyone just yet and seems to be a little fearful. I keep reminding her the people in Fukuoka are nice and patient with foreigners. They have really made my time here very easy. I’m confident she’ll get used to everything.
When you check out of the grocery store, the clerk tells you how much each item costs (I think) as he or she scans your items. So there is a lot of chatter at the grocery check out line. I understand none of it, shake my head yes and dig into my yen when the total comes up on the register. My wife, meanwhile, was in a mild panic and said to me, “What is she saying?” I, of course, told her I have absolutely no idea.
We also visited the international school that Matthew and Brooke will be attending beginning next week, and we were pleased. The school situation is a key part to making this experience a success for my family, and they will certainly be exposed to a culture they never would have had they been schooled in the United States their whole lives.
We met both Matt and Brooke’s teachers and they seemed very nice. They were both westerners, Brooke’s teacher is from California and Matt’s I can’t remember. Each teacher has a Japanese teacher’s aide, which is great. When we went to Matt’s classroom, the teacher stepped out in the hallway to greet us -- and all her students followed. They were very excited about their new first grade classmate and Matthew instantly warmed up to them. They were already talking about what they were going to do on the playground.
They speak English in the classrooms but the head master told us all bets are off during free time (recess, lunch, etc.). That is going to be great for my kids. They will have to learn to communicate with their friends in a new way. The kids were so excited they asked us if they could start school tomorrow, but we decided to wait until Monday.
This worldly experience does come at a cost. We decided to pay the tuition for the remainder of the school year (through June, like home) in one shot. The total for three months of school was just over $10,000 USD. A little steep, no doubt, but we really feel good about this and expect it to be well worth the investment.
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March 8th
Rick was scheduled to start today’s game, but unfortunately he sliced his finger trying to cut some block cheese in his apartment. The cut was not too bad, so he probably could have pitched, but the team wasn’t having any part of it. They gave him the night off.
Mr. Oh called a team meeting to address the situation. He seemed a little upset and reminded us we have an obligation to this team to take care of ourselves. He believes too many injuries are the result of a player acting carelessly or not preparing properly to play. I initially thought he overreacted, but the more I thought about it, he made a good point. I think about all the potentially bad decisions I make in day that could cause an injury.
I bowl with my family occasionally. There is a bowling alley right next to the Dome, so I had been planning to take them there this year. I still might, but I won’t bowl with them. All I need is to suffer an injury from bowling. Accountability is especially important here, and I don’t want to give the team any reason to get mad at me.
Rick was a little upset because he knew he could pitch if he had to. I understood where he was coming from. Nobody ever wants to miss a game and when you think you are good to go, you really want to play. It’s really frustrating when the team shuts you down.
The game went pretty well for me. I pitched the seventh and didn’t feel great, but I still tossed a 1-2-3 inning to protect a 3-0 lead. Yamazaki was my catcher again and I allowed him to call every pitch. He now has two perfect innings under his belt with me. I think if I keep building him up I can blame him when we have a bad inning. I’m always trying to limit my liability, and I think this is a good way to do it.
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March 9th
We had another day off today, which worked out really well for me. That’s because today is my 24th birthday. Ok, ok, not buying it? How about 27? 30? Fine. I’ll come clean. I turned 34 today. So I am officially in my mid 30s. Megan, who is just a year younger than me, did not like hearing me use that term. She tried to tell me mid 30s don’t start until you are 35. We then had a really interesting conversation about what exactly constitutes early, mid and late regarding decades.
Our day began with some errands and Taka, one of our translators, accompanied us. Our first stop was to have my family apply for government I.D. cards. If you stay more than 90 days in Japan, you must have one of these cards. The application process went smoothly and we were told everyone’s cards would be ready in about 2 weeks.
We then checked out a gym. Another key ingredient to my wife’s sanity, which equates to my happiness, is her ability to work out. I checked out a gym before she got here and it was OK. It was a little dated and had kind of a Bally’s-in-the-1980s feel to it. It would have been fine, but I was hoping to find something a little better. Taka found a place on the Internet that was close and looked pretty nice. We tried to check it out on Friday afternoon, but it was closed. That’s one weird thing I’ve noticed here. Some places run unusual hours. Why would a gym be closed on a Friday afternoon?
The next stop was an electronics store because I wanted to find an electronic English-to-Japanese dictionary. They had a ton of these, at least 40 models, but all of them returned your entry in kanji, which of course I cannot read. I need one that returns your entry in the Roman alphabet so I can pronounce it. We go to Tokyo next week and I’m told I will probably have better luck there because Tokyo is much more westernized than Fukuoka.
Before heading home, we went to the Dome because I wanted to show my family where Daddy works. We saw where they are going enter the stadium for games, toured the family lounge and took a look at the stadium from the field.
It was an optional off-day but some of the young guys came in to practice . We stood off in the distance and took a quick look, but Mr. Oh saw us and came over to meet my wife and kids. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate since he was observing practice, but he didn’t seem to mind. He is such a nice man and I appreciated him doing that. While he shook hands with my wife and kids, seven photographers hustled over and started snapped away. That was a first-time experience for my wife, for sure. Surprisingly no photos showed up in the newspaper the next day, at least from what I saw.
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March 10th
Today we’re starting a nine-day trip that features seven games against seven different opponents in seven different stadiums. It sounds grueling, and I am sure it will be. The upside is the first four days we’re taking a bullet train everywhere, which I am excited about. We don’t take many bullet trains during the season because we are the further south than any other team in the league, so we travel mostly in the air.
I heard some rather surprising news after the game. One of pitchers, Takeoka, was sent to the minor leagues. “Take” is the guy who pitched for the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A team in 2001 and 2002. His English is pretty good and he has been a great help and friend to me. He had a rough game tonight. We were up 2-1 late in the game and he hit a batter then walked two more. He was pulled and two of the runs scored; we lost, 3-2.
The surprising thing was that Take had a strong season last year; he had a 1.88 ERA in 22 major-league games. I have heard through the grapevine this team will make quick roster moves if we lose in poor fashion. And now the stakes have just been raised a little. This team is serious about winning and will do whatever it takes to win a championship. Seeing Take sent down was a reminder of how important it is to stay on your game.
My first bullet train ride was fun, though it was a little crazy getting to our train. Fans have complete access to us. There is no special security. Getting haggled for autographs as I tried to navigate myself through a Japanese train station for the first time was a bit overwhelming. It took us about an hour to get to Hiroshima. I was told we reached a top speed of around 185 mph. It may have even been more; my source was a little shaky.
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