An American pitcher's trip to and from Japan is known as a "baseball gaijin."

July 17, 2024

An American pitcher's trip to and from Japan is known as a "baseball gaijin."

In 2015, Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo was a hive of activity during a pivotal period in Japanese baseball history. In a postseason series, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows had just defeated the Yomiuri Giants, their opponent. The teams shared Tokyo for decades, but not much else. The Swallows struggled to finish below.500, while the Giants, who were compared to the New York Yankees, were the elite team in Japanese baseball. As the Swallows advanced to the Japan Series, the Nippon Professional Baseball championship round, retaliation was imminent. Tony Barnette, the American closer for the Swallows, was among those in celebration. The reliever performed a sequence of spectacular leaps that went popular on Japanese social media, riffing on a team postgame routine.

Barnette had more cause for celebration. He had accepted a chance to play in Japan because he was dissatisfied with his development in the minor league system of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He didn't understand Japanese, so his chances of going back to the US to play in MLB were slim—especially because he hadn't played in the majors before—but the money was greater than Triple A. He was demoted to the minor leagues during his debut season with the Swallows in 2010 and did not receive a new contract offer at first. Then came another opportunity, which he seized, turning around from a poor starter to a dominant reliever, winning postseason games, and, following six seasons in Japan, at last fulfilling his MLB dream with the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. Sports writer Aaron Fischman's new book, A Baseball Gaijin: Chasing a Dream to Japan and Back, tells his journey.

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"It will inspire people who aren't even baseball fans," claims Fischman. They'll be interested in learning about someone who overcome enormous obstacles to fulfill a longtime desire and even what it's like to be a foreigner in a place they don't even know the basics of. Despite my predisposition, I adore the story.

The story of Japanese athletes migrating to the US and Major League Baseball is widely recognized, thanks in part to the careers of athletes like Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu, Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki, and current AL MVP Shohei Ohtani. However, Fischman claims that the trek of American players to Japan has received much less media attention.

He claims that "it really was a draw for writing the story." "The activities of American or other foreign players in Japan are not given nearly as much attention."

The preface was written by Don Nomura, Barnette's agent and the stepson of a well-known Japanese former player and manager, Katsuya Nomura. Don Nomura is the son of an American Jewish father and a Japanese mother.

Fischman states, "I found [Don Nomura's] knowledge and insight invaluable." "He's such a trailblazer and pioneer. He was a major factor in the arrival of Japanese athletes in the US. He undoubtedly played a crucial role in assisting Tony go to and return from Japan.

The word "gaijin" in Japanese means "foreigner," and the island nation has a rich and complicated history with gaijin ballplayers. Several well-known American major leaguers have played in Japan, including Cecil Fielder, who used his time with the Hanshin Tigers to launch a successful comeback into the major leagues. Nonetheless, the nation is proud of its domestic talent, which includes the illustrious Sadaharu Oh, and has a strong baseball history. At 84 years old, Oh set a single-season Japanese home run record of 55 and currently owns the record for the most home runs in history (868). (American-born Tuffy Rhodes tied the number in 2001; Alex Cabrera duplicated the feat in 2002; Curaçaoan-Dutch Swallows teammate Wladimir Balentien, who played for Barnette in 2013, set a new record with 60.) There is a maximum of four gaijin on each NPB squad. After being freed, Barnette benefited from this in the end. The Swallows were not only giving him another look, but they also had a position available after releasing a foreign player who didn't pass a physical.

When Barnette rejoined the Swallows, he was more open to speaking with team interpreter Go Fujisawa.

According to Fischman, "Tony did not use Go as much as he should have the first year." Tony desired to solve problems on his own. Tony didn't want to interrupt Go's leisure time or cause him any trouble. "Tony should have just bothered me," Go remarked. He had to be on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, even when he was asleep.

The horrific Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear calamity of March 2011 disrupted Barnette's second season in Japan. That day, fellow reliever Kenichi Matsuoka attempted to notify Barnette of an earthquake warning while he was taking a shower in the Yokohama training room. When the room began to tremble, there was an obvious communication even if neither player could understand the other. Barnette and the majority of the Swallows' gaijin were eventually removed from Yokohama. Hillary, his former lover who had accompanied him to Japan, went to the US for a while. Barnette remained with his group in spite of the deteriorating circumstances.

Many people, notably Swallows pitcher Yoshinori Sato, who lost his former high school catcher, Izumi Saito, in the tsunami, "did have personal connections to the tragedy," according to Fischman.

According to Fischman, there were worries in Japanese society about how effectively the government and media were informing people about the public health emergency, as well as if sports were returning too soon.

Fishman explains, "I wanted to get more macro." "Things like that are more significant than a recreational game." Sports, he continues, "could be very inspiring, serve a significant purpose, allow the Japanese people to heal" during disasters. He mentions women's soccer as well as baseball, with Japan defeating the US in the Women's World Cup final that year.

For Barnette, the season was bittersweet since their mother, Jackie, suffered a heart attack and was sent to the intensive care unit; later that spring, their brother Randy passed away.

Under the guidance of his bullpen coach, Tomohito Ito, Tony Barnette gave up on his dream of being a starting pitcher and switched to a relief role on the mound.

According to Fischman, "success begat more success." It had a cascading impact. His confidence became stronger and stronger. He continued to improve over the remainder of the season.

Tony and Hillary were married after the season, despite the fact that they lost to the Chunichi Dragons in the playoffs. (He and Hillary eventually separated from one another; they would go on to have two kids together.) His career in Japan appeared to be headed in the right direction in 2012 as he won the closer position, showed off on the mound, and was awarded a $3.2 million two-year contract.

Barnette was now comfortable enough to go on nighttime bike rides with Hillary around Tokyo, where they rode past landmarks like the Imperial Palace and Aoyama Cemetery. When it became apparent that he wasn't in it for the short term, unlike many gaijin, the team's fan base took to him.

According to Fischman, Tony began to gain recognition in Tokyo "starting in his second year - really even, especially, in his third season, 2012, when he became a dominant closer."

In the end, a Rangers scout who was watching a Swallows game also saw. Barnette ultimately signed a contract with an MLB organization after considerable haggling. He made his Rangers debut in 2016. One of Barnette's best games of that season was when he shut out a strong Boston Red Sox lineup. Additionally, he apologized profusely after inadvertently hitting Los Angeles Angels star Albert Pujols in the head. He pitched brilliantly out of the bullpen in an ALDS defeat to the Toronto Blue Jays, finishing the season with a 2.09 ERA.

According to Fischman, "He wanted to be a successful major leaguer; he did not want to be a major leaguer." "He desired to go down in major league history as a decent player. I believe he succeeded in that.

After an unsuccessful season with the Rangers the next year and an injury-plagued stint with the Cubs, Barnette was back at work with the Swallows after retirement. (The Swallows, who won the Japan Series in 2021, had a strong stretch.) He now works as a scouting consultant for the same team that gave him an opportunity, but in the US.

Fischman claims that the man is attempting to emulate Tony by scoping out the next generation of gaijin who will travel to Tokyo to play for the Swallows. "Not many people can accomplish that degree of success and do exactly what he did."

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An American pitcher's trip to and from Japan is known as a "baseball gaijin."

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