Mike Piazza was in ecstasy when he got his first look around the Tokyo Dome during a workout Sunday. While other Mets clucked about the two rows of seats in the dugout, the chain-link backstop and the lack of a warning track, Piazza had eyes only for a left-field fence that stands 317 feet from home plate.
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Series of the week |
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Major League Baseball plays its first regular-season games outside North America next Wednesday and Thursday when the Cubs and Mets square off. The teams left Friday for Tokyo. They play exhibitions Monday and Tuesday against Japanese teams before opening the 2000 season.
The Mets are starting Mike Hampton and Rick Reed against a Cubs' team that has been weakened by injury. Jon Lieber starts on Opening Day for the Cubs in place of Ismael Valdes, who should return next week after going on the disabled list with a stiff shoulder. In addition to Valdes, the Cubs have Glenallen Hill and Willie Greene on the DL.
Mark Grace doesn't want to hear any excuses. He says he's going to Japan to win games, not take pictures. "You are going to see one pissed off human being if we come back 17 hours (on a plane) with an 0-2 record," Grace said.
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"The ball flies, at least when Mike hits it," teammate Todd Zeile said.
This scene was old hat for Bobby Valentine, the Mets' lightning-rod manager. He had seen the place before.
The season-opening trip to Japan has returned Valentine to the scene of one of his greatest adventures. Between major-league managing jobs with the Texas Rangers and Mets, Valentine directed the Chiba Lotte Marines for one season in the Japanese Pacific League.
"I went there thinking I would be there for many years," Valentine said. "I put everything I had into it. I gave it my all, trying to establish a baseball exchange between the two cultures. Instead, I became the only guy to be fired in both major leagues."
Valentine was selected by former Tokyo Giants shortstop Tatsuro Hirooka to resurrect one of Japan's perennial doormats. In Japan, the field manager runs the entire organization. But Hirooka had convinced the Marines' owner to let him serve as general manager, a position he felt was needed after studying Major League Baseball.
Valentine calls Hirooka "a terrific baseball man." Hirooka was sold on Valentine after watching him manage the Mets' Triple-A team in Norfolk in 1994.
With help from gaijins Pete Incaviglia and Eric Hillman, they delivered a rare winning season for the Chiba Lotte franchise. But Valentine, who had been given a two-year contract, was fired just before the season ended with the Marines 69-58 and in second place. It would wind up as the only winning season in the '90s for Chiba Lotte.
"He did the A-B-Cs like Dodgertown in the '50s," Valentine said of Hirooka. "He had figured it all out. The only problem we had, and it's a cultural situation in Japan, is this: change is the thing people dislike the most in life, and Japanese dislike change more than most of the cultures I've been associated with."
|  | | Bobby Valentine probably wouldn't have ended up with the Mets if he hadn't been fired in Japan. |
Valentine's interaction with Mets GM Steve Phillips is constantly a source of media speculation. It was the same way with him and Hirooka, except their relationship also included a language barrier.
"By the end of the season, three Japanese coaches wanted to resign because they couldn't work under Valentine any more," Hirooka told the Tokyo bureau of the Chicago Tribune. "In the end, it was the owner's decision to fire him. Valentine often gave lip service to the Japanese press and was popular for his smile. ... What he told me and what he told the press was completely different. I guess that's how he has survived through his career in the States."
Valentine now says his biggest mistake was winning too soon, because it made his Japanese predecessors look bad. Hirooka says Valentine took too short-term of an approach with the Marines, who he was trying to bring along slowly.
"When he was a manager of a minor-league team, Valentine was very eager to work closely with players," Hirooka said. "So I asked him to do the same in Japan. But he managed the weak Lotte Marines as if he were a major-league manager. This was, I think, the biggest problem we had."
American players who move to Japan are often shocked by the long, highly structured workouts that are held on a daily basis, even during the season. Teams sometimes stay after games for more batting practice and detailed discussion of the game they just played.
"It's that old thing -- more of anything is better," Valentine said. "You name it. If you do it more, you will do it better. That's not right, of course, but it is what Japanese believe. There's a law of diminishing return. Sometimes you have to take a breather."
Valentine put the Marines on a more relaxed pace. He got results, but the winning record was not enough to convert his boss to the Americanized way.
"From the start of spring training in Peoria, (Ariz.), his attitude caused concern among Marines players," Hirooka said. "Valentine relied on American-style training, and it was over by noon. Many Marines players wanted to practice more in the afternoon to improve their individual skills. He, however, didn't provide them with enough time, thinking it was nonsense."
Valentine says he learned much in Japan. He appreciated that many of his long-held beliefs about baseball were challenged, forcing him to either prove them or consider a different approach.
But to Hirooka, Valentine seemed inflexible. "He didn't want to listen to Japanese, perhaps because of his pride," Hirooka said.
Had Valentine returned for his second season with the Marines, he probably would not be with the Mets today. He replaced Dallas Green in August of '95, when he otherwise might have been trying to get the Marines ready for the playoffs. But he still has a bitter taste in his mouth.
"I have major regrets it ended the way it did," Valentine said. "It was a job that was incomplete. If I was going to go over for one year, I would have done my job a lot differently that year. I submerged myself in my job and in the culture, made it my life's challenge. I wanted to open that gate, and instead it went sour."
He hopes this week's journey is more fulfilling.
Spotlight: Jim Edmonds
Edmonds wouldn't have been named Mr. Congeniality in the Anaheim clubhouse, but he will improve St. Louis' chances to overtake Houston in what figures to be a three-team NL Central race. If he's healthy -- and we'll assume he is, since he was hitting .405 for the Angels this spring -- he should elevate the Cardinals to the level of the Astros and Cincinnati Reds.
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Fun stuff |
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Clearly overconfident: It was only March 16 that Ruben Sierra declared, "I'm close to being the superstar I used to be." The Indians released him three days later.
Self-esteem issues: Marlon Anderson can't feel too good about his job status after his latest endorsement from Phillies manager Terry Francona. "Marlon is the second baseman until he isn't the second baseman," he said.
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"Edmonds is a great ballplayer when he wants to be," former Angel Randy Velarde said last week. "The question with him is always when does he want to be? ... He's one of those guys that needs to be patted constantly."
There's no better place in baseball to get daily gratification than St. Louis' Busch Stadium. "A different environment, a more positive environment, should be more positive to him," general manager Walt Jocketty said.
Shoulder surgery and other injuries limited Edmonds to 55 games last year, when he hit .250 with five homers and 23 RBIs. But two years ago, he batted .307 with 25 homers and 91 runs batted in while winning his second Gold Glove. Don't forget this is the last year of his contract, too.
Edmonds, the 10th former All-Star added to a Central team since the World Series, will play center field with J.D. Drew moving to right. That gives Tony La Russa the luxury of bringing Eric Davis along slowly. Edmonds gives La Russa some flexibility in the lineup, too. He hit him second in his Cardinals debut Saturday but could drop him to fifth against righthanders and sixth against lefties.
Spring surprises: Gary Gaetti and Benito Santiago
When spring training began, the two members of the '98 Cubs were nowhere men. But both Gaetti and Santiago have emerged as significant players on potential contenders.
Gaetti, 41, is a platoon DH and part-time first baseman for the Red Sox. He called 30 teams over the winter looking for an invitation to camp, and the Sox were the only ones who took the bait. "It's going better than I expected," said Gaetti, who has had knee surgery since hitting .204 with the Cubs last year.
Santiago, who hit .249 with seven homers last year, has won a job as No. 2 catcher with Cincinnati. "I think he's playing very close to what he did when he left us in '95," GM Jim Bowden said. "I think there are a lot of clubs that made a mistake not pursuing him this offseason."
Careless whispers
Braves GM John Schuerholz has scouts looking for pitching help. There isn't much available, but never underestimate Schuerholz's ability to get a deal done. ... It's hard to see how this helps the Braves' rotation, but the rumors of a John Rocker-for-Ugueth Urbina trade are hot again. ... White Sox shortstop Jose Valentin has been one of the biggest surprises in Arizona. He's motivated to stay in the lineup as his contract gives him $470,000 plate-appearance bonuses at 525, 550, 575 and 600. If he gets them all, he turns a $1.32 million contract into $3.2 million. ... With none of the college prospects standing head and shoulders over the crowd in early games, the teams picking at the top of the June draft (Florida, Minnesota and the Cubs) are spending a lot of time watching prep lefty Joe Torres from Gateway High in Kissimmee, Fla. ... Tom Hicks, who paid $250 million to buy the Rangers from George W. Bush's group, just sold TV rights in the Rangers and NHL's Stars for $550 million. And he's opening the season with Tom Evans at third and a platoon of Frank Catalanotto and Luis Alicea at second? ... The Krispy Kreme donut shop in Tempe, Ariz., is the rage of the Cactus League. One player is alleged to have eaten eight of the sugar-coated concoctions before leaving the parking lot. Tony Gwynn has reportedly looked into purchasing a franchise.
Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a website at www.chicagotribune.com. | |
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