Long forgotten manuscript reveals challenges foreign players face to succeed in Japan

TOKYO — I was cleaning out my storage locker the other day and came across an unusual find. Excerpts from a book about the Yomiuri Giants of 1979 by American pitcher Rick Kreuger, who played with the team that year.

Kreuger was a 6’2” 185-pound left-handed relief pitcher who played parts of four seasons in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox and the Cleveland Indians and did not do very well. He pitched a total of 44 innings in 17 games with an ERA of 4.44,  and at the age of 29 was shipped off to Japan where he was equally unimpressive. He threw 29 innings in 18 games with an ERA of 4.66 and was released at the end of the season — one of the worst in Giants history as the team finished in fifth place, 10.5 games out of first place under manager Shigeo Nagashima, the famed baseball legend.

Kreuger thus fell into the junk heap of history, one of several hundred ex-major league players who had come to Japan to play baseball and failed to make the grade. But, unlike most others, Kreuger kept a diary and wrote a book about his experiences. It was never published but it still made for some interesting excerpts which were very revealing.