Hasegawa Gets His Chance

Some guys want to be like Mike. Angel pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa has a new idol, one whose face is not plastered on billboards across America.

“I want to pitch like Dickson,” Hasegawa said, referring to Angel rookie Jason Dickson, who shut out the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. “If I can have the same curveball, same slider, same changeup, that would be great.”

Hasegawa will become the fourth Japanese player to play in the major leagues tonight when he starts against the Cleveland Indians in Anaheim Stadium. The 7 p.m. game will be televised live in Japan, meaning it will air at noon Sunday in his native country.

“I didn’t know that,” Hasegawa said. “I’m excited but a little bit nervous . . . I know the reputation of the new players Cleveland has. They’re a great hitting team.”

Hasegawa, who played six seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in the Japanese Pacific League, actually faced two current Indians in Japan, Kevin Mitchell and Julio Franco. He couldn’t recall how he did against them, but he thought the pair combined to hit about .200 against him.

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Southern California fans expecting the second coming of Hideo Nomo will be disappointed. Hasegawa is a control specialist whose best fastball is in the 87-mph range.

He relies on a variety of breaking balls and offspeed pitches, and location is more important than velocity--he must keep the ball down.

“There’s no pressure on me to be like him because our styles are completely different,” Hasegawa said of Nomo. “How he does is of no importance to me, because he is a major league pitcher, and I am not one yet. I’m trying to become one.”

Hasegawa said he hasn’t noticed much difference between strike zones in Japan and the United States, but Franco said there’s a huge difference. “The Japanese strike zone is much bigger than it is here, “ he said. “That’s not a knock on Japanese baseball, it’s just a fact.”

Of more concern to Angel Manager Terry Collins is an umpire who is not giving Hasegawa the low strike.

“If he’s not getting the low strike,” Collins said, “there’s a chance he’ll have a rough night. The thing he can’t do is get frustrated because he makes a pitch that was a strike in the past but is a ball here.”

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Wednesday night’s game against the New York Yankees, originally scheduled for 7:05 p.m., has been moved to 7:30 p.m. to accommodate ESPN. . . . Former San Francisco Giant pitcher Masanori Murakami, who was the first Japanese player to play in the major leagues, is in Anaheim to provide commentary for the Japanese broadcast of tonight’s game. . . . Kent Haslam, who served as the Angels’ Japanese interpreter during spring training, has quit the team, citing personal reasons.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TONIGHT’S GAME

ANGELS’ HASEGAWA (major league debut) vs. INDIANS’ CHAD OGEA (10-6, 4.79 ERA)

Anaheim Stadium, 7 p.m.

Radio--KTZN (710).

* UPDATE: Manager Terry Collins said Hasegawa’s velocity has improved since the beginning of spring training, and although he is not a power pitcher, a better fastball will make him a better pitcher. “In his first spring start there wasn’t much variance in speed between his fastball and off-speed pitches, but now there is,” Collins said. “That will help him set up his other pitches. . . . This guy can pitch.” Ogea, who went a combined 18-9 for the Indians in 1995 and ‘96, had a terrific spring, going 4-0 with a 2.52 ERA in six starts. With Jose Mesa out indefinitely because of separate trials for sex and weapons charges, Paul Shuey has assumed Cleveland’s closer role.