GUNG HO ON BASEBALL : 5 Japanese Players Learn American Way With Miami Marlins

MIAMI —  Japan traditionally imports more professional baseball players from America than it exports, but that rare trade imbalance in favor of the United States may be ending.

While former Atlanta Braves third baseman Bob Horner has made the headlines with the Yakult Swallows in the Japanese major leagues, a small contingent from Japan quietly has laid the groundwork for an invasion of the American minor leagues.

Five young prospects and a seasoned coach from the Tokyo Giants’ system are spending the summer learning American baseball -- and a experiencing a little American culture -- as members of the Miami Marlins in the Class A Florida State League.

The players, who spoke no English when they arrived, don’t have any intention of moving up to the American major leagues. Instead, they plan to use the longer season and higher caliber of play here to improve their chances of making the Japanese parent club more quickly.

“This very good experience,” said Toshimitsu Suetsugu, the former Tokyo Giants star acting as coach to the young players. “American baseball good -- power, speed, very aggressive. Good to learn.”

Though he speaks in clipped English, Suetsugu uses universal body language when working with the non-Japanese Marlins as the team’s hitting coach. Most of the benefits from this exchange program, however, flow in the other direction, from the U.S. system to the Japanese.

The Japanese minor leagues have a 65-game season, while Florida State League teams play 142 games. Even though the Japanese Marlins aren’t fulltime starters, they will get in more on-field work here than if they had stayed at home.

For instance, first baseman Shuji Inagaki, 23, had only 209 at-bats in three seasons in the Japanese minor leagues. This year, he had 148 at-bats with six weeks left in the season.

Inagaki has shown potential, batting .257 with eight doubles, three triples and 12 RBI. Although he has struck out 35 times in 148 at-bats, that pales in comparision to the 34 strikeouts in only 78 at-bats for 19-year-old outfielder Mamoru Sugiura, whose average hovers around .200.

Pitcher Masahito Watanabe, 19, had a 2-1 record with an ERA in the 2.50 range when he suffered a shoulder injury and was shipped back to Japan. He was replaced on the roster by 22-year-old Matsuo Matsubara, 0-1 in 10 innings of relief work. The most successful of the Japanese pitchers has been 22-year-old Hideharu Matsuo, who has a 3-3 record and a 3.00 ERA in 22 relief appearances and spot starts.

“They had the discipline when they came here,” said Marlins Manager Danny Norman. “There’s only been one time all year when one of them failed to get a bunt down when we needed one.

“They were strong in fielding before they got here. Now, the hitters are getting more aggressive at the plate and on the basepath.”

Suetsugu said Giants officials are pleased with the results of the experiment and hope to send more prospects to the U.S. for seasoning in the future.

Marlins assistant general manager Kevin Koffman said he hopes the experiment, which began with a query by Giants officials at a minor league meeting last winter, will become an annual deal. Miami got in on the exchange before any other team because it is one of the few minor league teams unaffiliated with, and without a player pipeline from, a major league franchise.

The Japanese team also pays the players’ salaries and meal money, which helps a struggling operation like the Marlins make ends meet.

The group lives in three rooms at the Sea Coast Towers, right on the ocean at Miami Beach. But Suetsugu said his players don’t have time to enjoy the distractions.

“Apartment, ball park, sometimes Japanese restaurant, that’s all,” Suetsugu said, making a triangle on the table. “No beach, no bar, no ladies.”

Well, almost no beach and no ladies. The players posed on the beach with four bikini-clad women for a picture which ran with a national magazine story.

“You should have seen those guys,” Koffman said. “Their tongues were hanging out and they couldn’t keep their eyes off those girls.”

The Japanese players have told their teammates they are afraid of the outgoing American women. So on one trip, some teammates tried to entice the Japanese players to the motel bar by telling them there was a pretty Japanese girl there, Koffman said.

At first, the Japanese said they weren’t interested. “But a few minutes later, (Sugiura) came walking into the bar all dressed up and smiling,” Koffman said. “The players told him the girl was sitting around the corner by herself.

“He walked by the table and came back and said, ‘Ugly, American girl, no like,’ and went back to his room.”