Striking coincidence: U.S., Japanese managers meet again

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BEIJING -- Davey Johnson remembers the first time he faced Senichi Hoshino. Johnson was a power-hitting infielder in his first year of Japanese baseball after a 13-year All-Star career in the U.S. major leagues. Hoshino was a standout pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons. And, in Johnson’s first at-bat for the Tokyo Giants, Hoshino struck him out.

‘That wasn’t the only time I struck out in Japan,’ Johnson said with a laugh. ‘I had many sanshins over in Japan.’

Now he and Hoshino and getting to ready to square off again, with Johnson as manager of the U.S. Olympic baseball team and Hoshino as manager for Japan. But lest anyone get the wrong impression, Johnson insists it’s nothing personal.

‘He’s a great manager. He was a great player,’ said Johnson, who managed the New York Mets to a World Series title 22 years ago. ‘But it’s my players competing against his players.’

Oops. That may not be a good thing for Team USA, whose roster is composed entirely of college players and minor league prospects. The Japanese, meanwhile, are bringing an All-Star team of 24 players culled from its two professional leagues. And it’s arguably a stronger team than the one which won the first World Baseball Classic two years ago.

The U.S. didn’t even make the semifinals there.

‘Certainly Japan showed what a quality team they [can] put on the field,’ Johnson said. ‘We’re going to be competing against a globe that is much more advanced than it has been in the past as far as the level of play.’

Leading Hoshino’s players will be right-hander Yu Darvish, an Iranian-Japanese pitcher who obtained Japanese citizenship earlier this year, allowing him to compete in the Games.Darvish, who will turn 22 in the middle of the tournament, has a devastating slider, which he had used to fashion an 11-4 record and 2.07 ERA this summer, striking out 150 in 156 2/3 innings for Nippon Ham of Japan’s Pacific League.

Hoshino also has the two best closers in Japan at his disposal in right-hander Kyuji Fujikawa (32 saves) and left-hander Hitoki Iwase (27 saves). And just in case no one is impressed by the numbers, Johnson has set out scouts to get a first-hand look on what to expect when the baseball competition begins next week.

‘Without getting into specifics, I have my spies out there getting into things,’ Johnson said. ‘To be able to have a chance to win a gold medal, I think everybody knows the significance of it. And we’re going to be competing against a globe that is now much more advanced than it has been in the past as far as the level of play.’

Johnson isn’t the only American in uniform with experience against the Japanese. Former Ventura College pitcher Brandon Knight spent three seasons playing there before returning home -- and almost retiring.
‘As I sit here right now, it’s just been unbelievable. I was literally a phone call away from retiring last year,’ said Knight, 32, who started a game for the Mets last month. ‘To just be in this position and get a chance to go to the big leagues, to go the Olympics, all of the things, it is a whirlwind. My head spins sometimes just trying to think about it.

‘It is an amazing thing and it is really one of those stories that I can always tell. The power of perseverance, what it means -- and this means the world to me. It means the world to my family and through them that this is really possible. If I was on my own, I would probably be coaching right now.’

Now he has a chance at a gold medal. Perhaps the last gold medal to be awarded in baseball since the sport has been removed from the calendar for the 2012 Games -- and may be voted out permanently when the International Olympic Committee reconvenes next year.

‘Certainly it would be unfortunate if that is the case and I would like to be optimistic and hope that in 2016, we will have a chance again,’ Knight said. ‘It maybe carries a little more responsibility to really show how important baseball is, not only to America but also to the Netherlands, to Cuba. It is a great sport and it’s a great way for us to show some American pride, obviously with it being our pastime.’

-- Kevin Baxter