Sasaki content to remain just part of game

FUKUOKA, Japan — The mound belonged to Daimajin again.

Former Mariners closer Kazuhiro Sasaki dug his spikes into the dirt. He positioned his fingers around the ball and he stared in at the plate. His gaze was returned by none other than Ichiro, who rhythmically rocked his body weight slightly between his front and back foot trying to set his timing to the delivery.

Finally, Sasaki lunged forward with a hard fastball and Ichiro uncorked a majestic fly ball to the outfield. It was a baseball fan's fantasy — the two have never faced each other in a regular-season game in Japan or the United States. They were teammates for three seasons in Seattle and played in different leagues during their time in Japan, when interleague games weren't yet part of the schedule.

But no one was there to savor the matchup. The 35,000 seats of Skymark Stadium in Kobe were completely empty, but it sure made for great TV, and that's exactly what it was.

Sasaki retired from baseball last year, two seasons after abruptly leaving the Mariners with one year left on his contract about a month before 2004 spring training. At 38 years old, he's now embarking on a new career as a commentator for TV and radio and a columnist for a sports daily.

On that recent afternoon at Skymark Stadium, he was shooting a feature on how Ichiro was training for the World Baseball Classic, and giving his viewers the keenest insight by personally throwing batting practice. He looked good unleashing about 45 pitches, going two to three times longer than he was accustomed to in a typical outing during his prime.

One of the perks of Sasaki's new media job will be occasional trips to the United States to follow the Mariners and other baseball stories. In fact, he'll be in Peoria, Ariz., this week covering Team Japan's workouts leading up to the second round of WBC games in Anaheim, Calif., where he'll sit in the analyst's chair for some of the broadcasts. He realizes he gets to start off with a plum assignment.

"I can't wait to get back," he says with a smile. "I'm so looking forward to seeing the guys I played with, as well as all the people behind the scenes who treated me so good. The schedule works out great because the Japanese team works out and plays at night, so I can see the Mariners' camp during the day.

"That might be a conflict with golf," he says with a big laugh. "But I'll figure out a way to work both in."

As much as he's looking forward to his return, Sasaki insists he made the right decision to leave the Mariners.

"I have no regrets about coming back to Japan," Sasaki said. "The issue was always my kids and not wanting to be separated from them. It was tough to maintain the same level of motivation after playing in front of the Seattle fans for four years. The way they'd cheer and raise the noise level to a crashing thunder when I'd come out of the bullpen is so different than the way crowds enjoy games in Japan.

"Once you've experienced that level of excitement, it's hard to play without it. In the end, I couldn't motivate myself to the level I thought I could, and that helped me decide to retire."

Injuries also played a role in his decision. Both seasons back with Yokohama, the only Japan League team he has ever played for, were cut short by surgeries.

The 2004 campaign began with promise. Although there was a drop in his usual velocity and his devastating forkball didn't have quite the bite it used to, he was getting it done with the craftiness that clever veterans use to thwart the aging process.

Through mid-July, he was 1-0 with 19 saves. But both personal and team fortunes began to sour in August. Blown saves and losses began to mount and talk of retirement surfaced. He finally decided to have season-ending surgery on his pitching elbow in early September.

He admits to contemplating retirement then, but the allure of pitching one final healthy season with the full power of his vaunted forkball helped persuade him to come back in 2005.

Frustration surfaced much quicker that season. After just nine appearances, in which he went 0-3 with four saves and his ERA swelled to 9.00, he had knee surgery in May. He did come back, but only for a ceremonial retirement in which he made one final appearance.

Retirement or not, Sasaki has enjoyed being more of a father to the two kids whom he came back to be with in 2004. Daughter Reina is 13 and enjoying her first year of junior high school; son Shogo is 11 and already follows his father's interests by playing baseball and golf. He was a fixture in the Mariners' clubhouse during Sasaki's four seasons (2000-03), adeptly mimicking the motions of major-league pitchers and hitters. Now, he's imitating them on the field, where he pitches and plays shortstop.

Sasaki has remarried after divorcing his wife Kaori last March.

Because Sasaki's new job is offering expert commentary, it would only be appropriate for him to share some of that insight here.

The first topic, Kenji Johjima's attempt to become the first Japanese catcher in the major leagues, with the Mariners:

"He knows how to build a pitcher's trust, whether he's playing in Japan or anywhere else," Sasaki said. "I expect him to go out there and just catch a lot of the Mariners pitchers' pitches and keep doing it until he feels he has an understanding of each of them, what each guy likes to throw and when he likes to throw it. I don't think the language difference will be an issue because he'll have their baseball trust."

As for Team Japan and the WBC, he says, "Ichiro makes a huge difference on the Japan team. He's really their centerpiece. They've gathered a lot of guys around him with terrific speed, like [Norichika] Aoki, [Munenori] Kawasaki and [Tsuyoshi] Nishioka. Japan doesn't have the kind of power the American team has, so they'll rely on speed and a high-quality defense. They also have great pitching. They're bringing the aces of Japanese baseball. They've got some guys who can throw hard, and the overall quality of the pitching staff is high."

While Sasaki remains the Mariners' career saves leader with 129 and their season record-holder with 45 in 2001, his major records have been surpassed in Japan.

An expanded schedule helped Hitoki Iwase save 46 games for the Chunichi Dragons last year, besting Sasaki's record by one. He's no longer Japan's career saves leader, either, being surpassed by Shingo Takatsu of the Yakult Swallows, who left briefly to pitch for the White Sox and Mets before returning to Japan this offseason.

But the mark Sasaki left on Japanese baseball is unmistakable. During a four-year stretch in which he led the league in saves from 1995 to 1998, he also led Yokohama to its first Japan Series championship in 38 years. Even in retirement, his popularity keeps bringing him back to the mound.

He was atop one again Saturday night in Tokyo, throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Japan's WBC game against Chinese Taipei.

Perhaps it was merely a warm-up for one of those times when his media work brings him back to Seattle this season. The sight of Daimajin ascending Safeco Field's mound one more time for a first-pitch ceremony might briefly bring back some of that electricity that both he and Mariners fans remember so fondly.

Brad Lefton is a St. Louis-based journalist who has spent his career covering baseball in Japan and America. He often covers Ichiro and the Mariners for Japanese media, and he interviewed Sasaki in Japanese for this article.