No Hoopla, Just Results for Hasegawa

Angel relief pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa was waxing poetic and no one in Japan would ever know it.

His wit was as sharp as his breaking pitches these days. It should have been filling notebooks for the folks back home. Instead, the only one listening was a gaijin reporter.

“Last year, I was a little afraid of players like Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey,” said Hasegawa, who is in his second year with the Angels. “When I talked with Cecil Fielder this year, I found out he wasn’t a monster. Now I’m not scared of Frank Thomas or Albert Belle or Ken Griffey. They are all human, like me.”

Hasegawa paused, and grinned.

“Mark McGwire, now he’s a monster. He’s not human.”

Hello New York, are you listening?

Most of the Japanese reporters have escaped from L.A. They fled to New York with Hideo Nomo, who was traded by the Dodgers to the Mets on June 4, where he joined Masato Yoshii of the Mets and Hideki Irabu of the Yankees. It left Hasegawa alone, media-wise, at a time when he is pitching better than ever.

Last season, several Japanese reporters came to Angel games. This year, that number has been reduced, sometimes, to zero. The reason is simple, and twofold:

Hasegawa is a relief pitcher, which means reporters never know when he’s pitching. And being a reliever makes him pretty much a second-class pitcher back home.

“Starting pitchers are big in Japan,” Hasegawa said. “Really big. They have Irabu and Nomo and Yoshii to follow. It doesn’t bother me.”

Hasegawa paused and grinned again.

“It is my job to explain relief pitching to the people of Japan.”

What the Japanese fan may not understand is what the Angels certainly appreciate. Next to closer Troy Percival, Hasegawa has been the team’s most consistent reliever.

“I don’t think [the lack of attention] has bothered him,” Percival said. “Nothing seems to bother him. He just goes about his business. Apparently, in Japan they don’t see being in the bullpen as being as prestigious as being a starter, but the role he’s played for us is as valuable as any position on this team.”

Hasegawa had been a starter for most of his six-year career with the Orix Blue Wave, and was rookie of the year in 1991. He can personally attest to the opinion of relievers in Japan, as Hasegawa once threw 240 pitches in a game.

He followed Nomomania into Southern California. The Japanese reporters expected Hasegawa to be a starter. It became another sort of mania, as Manager Terry Collins was peppered with “When will Hasegawa start?” after every game Hasegawa pitched.

Hasegawa was 0-3 with a 6.62 ERA as a starter last season. As a reliever, he was 3-4 with a 2.83 ERA.

Hasegawa’s six victories this season are one more than Nomo has, two more than Yoshii. His 3.10 ERA is lower than either of theirs. Irabu (10-5) is having a season worth the attention. But Hasegawa’s shtick is better than all three of theirs.

Ask his teammates.

Last season, a day after losing to the Dodgers and Nomo, a few of the Angels were relaxing in the clubhouse, watching the war movie “Midway” on a big-screen television. Hasegawa joined them and was immediately targeted. One player even told Hasegawa to turn his head as another Japanese pilot was shot from the sky.

Hasegawa nodded and said, “Maybe you should have done that to Nomo last night.” Then he walked away, grinning.

And he takes it as well as he gives it. During his first spring training with the Angels, a couple of relievers helped him with his English during drills. It doesn’t take an active imagination to figure out how colorful that became.

A simple phrase like “my ball” became “my . . . ball.”

“That’s OK,” Hasegawa said. “I appreciate them doing that because I learned what those words mean. If someone from another team says them to me in a game, I know I should get mad.”

Such sound bites do not escape reporters from Japan.

“He’s a real clever guy,” said Shin Murano, a reporter for the Nikkan News, a daily sports paper. “Not just about baseball. He’s very smart and very talented.”

So what’s the problem?

“It sounds strange, but he’s not a starting pitcher,” Murano said. “The starting pitcher is very popular in Japan. It’s not just the money they make. It’s also who the fans see all the time [in games].

“Nomo was traded, that’s a big story for us. Yoshii walked away from a four-year, $8-million contract from the Tokyo Giants, the most popular team in Japan. Irabu collapsed last year, now he is dominating the American League. Each of those three guys has an interesting story.”

Fans in Japan did get to see Hasegawa recently. NHK, a Japanese public television channel, was in Anaheim for a midseason report on Hasegawa. He entertained them for half an hour. There was a lot to catch up on.

Hasegawa’s ERA has dropped from 4.02 to 3.10 since May. He made a string of set-up appearances, during which he got the Angels out of jams, then turned things over to Percival. Hasegawa also picked up a save, pitching two hitless innings and striking out four against Seattle on June 4. He saved another game against Kansas City on July 27, yielding only one hit in 3 2/3 innings, a performance that left Collins shaking his head.

“It’s just amazing,” Collins said afterward. “I can’t explain how valuable having a guy like that is.”

Hasegawa’s performances in emergency situations are explanation enough. Three times this season Chuck Finley has left games with freak injuries--twice he was hit on the elbow by line drives and another time he skidded on his knees while covering first base. Hasegawa (6-1) was the winner in two of those games.

“He’s done a great job for us for two years,” Percival said. “He plays three different roles--long relief, set-up man and extra-innings guy--and I don’t know of many guys who can do that. He’s been invaluable because he’s so versatile.”

Someday Hasegawa may get to tell the folks at home about it--if he ever gets back there.

“I like Southern California,” he said. “My wife and I used to vacation here when I played in Japan. Now we vacation in Japan.”

Hasegawa grinned again.

“I’ll go home when my career is over,” he said. “In 10-20 years.”

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Shigetoshi Hasegawa Stats

Wins: 6

Losses: 1

ERA: 3.10

Games: 42

Saves: 2

Innings: 72.2

Strikeouts: 53

Walks: 27