Japanese players serve up star power

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/03/2019 (2706 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TOKYO — The two players and their manager walked through the tunnel that took them from the basement of the Tokyo Dome to the banquet room floor of the Tokyo Dome Hotel. The three chatted a little as a series of MLB and Mariners staff members served as chaperones for the short trip.

The two Japanese stars knew what was going to happen once they walked through the doors and what/who was awaiting them.

The manager? Yeah, not so much.

This wasn’t your ordinary news conference. Mariners manager Scott Servais found that out quickly as he followed Ichiro and Yusei Kikuchi into a room where mass of photographers, television cameras and reporters —more than 100 —waited for them.

The staccato sounds of cameras snapping photos became overwhelming, flashes made Servais’ eyes squint. The Mariners and Athletics may be playing two exhibition games against teams from Nippon Professional Baseball and then squaring off for two regular-season games to open the 2019 season, but for the people of Japan, Major League Baseball’s latest foray into Tokyo is all about Ichiro and Kikuchi —the decorated, declining star and the talented newcomer.

“I heard that from a media standpoint, it was going to be a kind of like a World Series,” Servais said. “I can’t imagine a World Series news conference having more people in the room. You sort of expect it, but until you get into it and realize the impact (Ichiro) has had on Japanese baseball and how excited people are to see him, and Kikuchi as well, it’s just going to be fun. It will get loud here as the week goes on. It should be exciting baseball.”

The news conference offered an interesting juxtaposition of the two Japanese stars. The difference in their age and their MLB experience, as well as their immediate future, was the impetus for the varied responses.

Ichiro made a few random jokes and sarcastic comments about dealing with jet lag, his teammates and himself, and then became introspective in other answers.

“I didn’t do well during spring training,” Ichiro said without mentioning his .080 average in Cactus League play. “Based on that, I shouldn’t be here. But fortunately, I am Japanese. So I am at advantage in that sense, right?”

Conversely, Kikuchi was honest and direct, if not verbose, about everything in his answers.

“I am very excited,” Kikuchi said. “When I signed with the Mariners, I was told that our opening series will be in Japan. I was very excited and prepare myself for this series. I hope I can play well.”

That innocence is something Ichiro pointed out.

“You are very earnest, Kikuchi,” Ichiro said unprompted after a Kikuchi answer.

Kikuchi jokingly responded: “Please give me advice to respond to this kind of question.”

Kikuchi mentioned taking advice and suggestions from Ichiro, among others, about playing in MLB. A few seconds after, Ichiro pointed out: “I advised him only because he asked me for my advice, so I never volunteered it for him, OK?”

Later, Ichiro reminded the media to actually ask questions to “his manager” too.

Ichiro is the most accomplished baseball player in Japanese history — a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer. Yet, there is no real certainty as to when you can start planning for his election and induction, because he won’t officially retire. Like his news conference at spring training, he has no interest in discussing when he might retire.

“I am not used to questions like this,” he answered to the second query of his future.

And yet, he did speak of the opportunity to play in Japan with the Mariners:

“This is great for me. So I will treasure every moment here on the field. And one week after this event, I will be reflecting back on these days so I will make sure I remember every moment here in Japan.”

Was that a hint to something more?

In the Mariners’ previous trip to Japan, in 2012, when Ichiro was a still an everyday player and a star based on more than just past accomplishments, he did not participate in news conferences open to all media.

Given his reluctance to discuss a future that will be imposed on him against his will, it was surprising that he did relent and participate in the news conference. Perhaps in his mind he knows and accepts what he is unwilling to say in public: that an end is near.

Multiple Mariners sources have said he will be removed from the Mariners’ active and 40-man roster sometime after the Japan trip and before the home opener at T-Mobile Park. But Ichiro wasn’t about to discuss such an ending.

The A’s found out just who is the focus of this trip in their own news conference on Saturday morning, which kicked off MLB’s six-day baseball showcase in Japan. Instead of being asked about replicating their magical 97-win season from a year ago, they were mostly asked questions about Ichiro’s place in baseball and their expectations for facing Kikuchi — the latest Japanese star to come to MLB in search of success at baseball’s highest level — in the second game of the series.

“We got off that plane and there were cameras everywhere,” reliever Hunter Strickland said. “It’s surprising, but at the same time, they are legends over here, which they fully deserve.”

It continued at the Tokyo Dome. Two youth teams from Tokyo had the chance to be on the field for batting practice. In their full uniforms, they waited for Ichiro and Kikuchi to appear on the field after the news conference. When Ichiro finally walked out of the dugout and onto the field, pandemonium ensued. The kids and photographers converged on him — the kids wanted autographs, while photographers tried to chronicle it all.

“They are gods over here,” said Wade LeBlanc, who spent the 2015 season in Japan with the Seibu Lions. “I can’t imagine what’s that like to walk around the city and try to go out to dinner. They are bigger than rock stars are in America, and it’s crazy to think about and it’s hard to wrap your mind around it.”

And it will only continue for the rest of their time in Japan.

— The Associated Press