[新聞] Igawa Searching for a Way Back to New York

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Igawa Searching for a Way Back to New York
By RAINER SABIN
Published: June 20, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. —


Shrieks of laughter and loud claps echoed through the dingy visitors’
clubhouse at Harbor Park last weekend. A group of players from the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees had their eyes trained on the scene
unfolding in front of them. A Norfolk Tides equipment manager was
swaying side to side, bouncing on the balls of his feet, and carrying
out each step of the Soulja Boy dance as the hip-hop song that
popularized it boomed in the background.


Everyone was watching the impromptu performance; everyone except Kei Igawa.

Igawa, instead, was facing his locker, where he was busy scarfing down his
postgame meal of stir-fried vegetables and rice. It appeared as if there
was some place he would rather be.

He certainly did not imagine he would be here, toiling in the minors and
playing games of little consequence in half-empty ballparks. Neither did
the New York Yankees, who spent $26 million just to negotiate with Igawa
and $20 million more to pry him away from the Hanshin Tigers of the
Central League in Japan two years ago.

“We would like him to help our big-league club right now and we think he’s
making progress,” the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre pitching coach Rafael Chaves
said. “But it’s not as fast as we would have hoped.”

Igawa, a left-handed pitcher, will turn 29 next month, and there are no
signs he will be a contributor to the Yankees any time soon. He was not
even seriously considered as a replacement for starter Chien-Ming Wang
when tests revealed Monday that Wang, a right-hander, would miss at least
10 weeks because of a sprained ligament and a torn tendon in his right foot.

In no uncertain terms, the signing of Igawa has been viewed as a major
catastrophe by outsiders.

He has pitched in 15 games for the Yankees, and his only start at the
big-league level this season lasted three innings after he surrendered
11 hits and 6 earned runs during a 6-5 defeat to Detroit last month.
He has as many wins — three — as losses, and his career earned run
average of 4.46 has not inspired confidence.

Igawa’s failures have only been magnified by the success of his countryman
Daisuke Matsuzaka, who plays for the rival Boston Red Sox and has become a
fan favorite in New England.

Before injuring his right shoulder, Matsuzaka won his first eight games
this season after finishing 15-12 in 2007, his rookie year. The Yankees
had also pursued Matsuzaka, but their bid to win negotiating rights failed,
forcing them to explore other options. Igawa had decided that off-season
that he wanted to play overseas. The fact that it took such a big
investment by the Yankees does not weigh on him, he said, even though
he is aware of his detractors.

“I don’t feel the pressure,” Igawa said through his interpreter,
Yohei Fukuda. “It was tougher with the Hanshin Tigers when we were
losing. All I can do is go out and pitch.”

This season, Igawa has done that in relative obscurity. On Tuesday,
when he took the mound, only 7,770 people were in attendance at
Harbor Park. They watched Igawa allow nine hits over seven innings
and yield three runs in a 4-3 loss to Norfolk.

Of the 90 pitches he threw, Igawa, who relies on a slurve, fastball
and changeup, never unleashed one that traveled faster than 91 miles
per hour.

“He didn’t look like he was overpowering,” Norfolk Manager Gary Allenson
said. “But he’s got deception.”

Igawa’s ability to fool hitters with his smooth, compact delivery has
led to positive results in the International League. With
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, he is 6-4 with a 3.74 E.R.A. and has advanced
as far as the seventh inning in his last five starts.

But during his stints with the big-league Yankees, Igawa had a tendency
to fall behind early and leave his pitches up in the zone, according
to Chaves. It is one of the problems Igawa has attempted to overcome
since arriving in the United States, where his goals are considerably
more modest than when he arrived.

“It’s got to be hard on him,” Scranton starter Jeff Karstens said.
“You put me in another country, where I don’t anybody and don’t know
the language, it would be tough. But I can’t really talk to him about
anything.”

The interaction between Igawa and his teammates is limited. He spends
most of his time with Fukuda, 24, who began serving as his interpreter
during spring training. They are rarely separated, and Fukuda is treated
like a player. He has his own locker stall, and when the team is taking
batting practice, he shags fly balls. Fukuda says Igawa has mixed feelings
about his current situation.

“Wherever he goes, he tries to keep a positive attitude,” Fukuda said.
“He says he is pretty comfortable here, but that doesn’t mean he wants
to be comfortable here. Obviously, he wants to be comfortable in the
major leagues.”

Earlier this year, there was a news media report that Igawa wanted to
return to Japan after supposedly telling Yankees officials his indulgence
of baseball wanderlust proved unsatisfying. Igawa denied the rumor and
said he intended to fulfill the terms of his five-year contract.

But whether he will do that with the Yankees or their Class AAA affiliate
remains to be seen.

“I can’t predict the future,” Chaves said. “But Kei is willing to learn.
He’s willing to get better. It’s just taken too long.”

Igawa, more or less, agrees.

On Tuesday, after his start, he dressed quickly and flashed a rare smile
as he departed the clubhouse. He was headed to New York — not to pitch
for the Yankees but to see his wife. Everything important in life to him
is there, he has discovered, except him.

http://tinyurl.com/5hoto9

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◆ From: 140.109.23.24
推 Yifong:不期不待
推 bb4l:全隊都在看表演　只有他一個人面對置物櫃吃便當　很悶阿
推 Beretta:不想再看到他上場  乖乖當3A ace吧
推 tchky:跟張99一樣的期待感
→ cyp001:我也不期待, 不過還是希望他加油
→ cyp001:本來下週雙重賽以為他會有機會, 結果好像要讓胖松上?
推 TomCourtenay:我想到對著置物櫃吃便當那個畫面就哭了O_O 加油 好嗎
推 gdgy:依卡娃加油啊！
推 solitaryff:「Igawa denied the rumor」
→ solitaryff:之前為甚麼會傳出他希望回日本 冏
推 fluffywow99:這個記者可以去寫小說了,結尾寫得好不悽涼
推 ferrarii:還以為他要回日本了.......