No Man Is An Island In Japan, But The Money Stands Alone Former Major-Leaguers Continue To Inject Talent, Excitement Overseas

Kevin Mitchell plans to slug a lot of home runs this season and lead his team to the series. But the former MVP isn’t a strikebreaker - and he certainly isn’t a replacement.

The U.S. baseball strike has brought a crop of talent to Japan, the likes of which has not been seen here before - including Pete Incaviglia, Julio Franco, Darrin Jackson, Shane Mack and Mitchell.

The big-leaguers are assured of playing in front of enthusiastic crowds. And many are signing better deals than they could have at home.

Mitchell, who acknowledged he was in Japan because of the strike, had a $3.5 million contract last year with the Cincinnati Reds and may have had to take less this year.

But with the Pacific League’s Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, he’ll earn the largest salary in Japan baseball history, a reported $4.5 million.

“As long as the team wins, goes to the (Japan) Series, I’m happy with that,” Mitchell said after signing earlier this month.

Japan used to be a baseball backwater for major-league has-beens trying to eke a few more seasons out of aging knees and elbows, or minor-leaguers making a living the best way they could.

Gradually, though, the Japanese game has improved, and better talent has come.

Cecil Fielder, Bob Horner and Bill Gullickson all did well in Japan, then went back to the United States - proving that playing across the Pacific didn’t have to mean the end of a career.

The strike, which began Aug. 12, has caused more U.S. players than ever before to look to Japan.

“For baseball and for the fans, it’s a real plus that they’re here,” said Sadaharu Oh, manager of Mitchell’s new team and the worldwide career home run leader. “Japanese players’ understanding of how to do better will grow.”

Mitchell, who hit 30 homers last year in 95 games, said he wants to learn more about power hitting from Oh, and Oh says he wants Mitchell to carry the team. The Japanese season starts April 1, a day before the U.S. season is scheduled to begin with replacement players.

If not for a limit on the number of foreign baseball players in Japan, there might be even more top Americans here. Because the yen has skyrocketed against the dollar, Japanese clubs can more easily afford the kind of money major-leaguers expect.

Until Mitchell signed, Mack’s two-year, $8.1 million contract with the Giants held the Japanese record. The outfielder had reportedly been offered a two-year, $6.75 million deal to stay with the Minnesota Twins.

Mack says adjusting to the rigors of Japanese baseball practice was easier than the “horror stories” he’d heard, and he was glad for an extra month of spring training to get in shape after a seven-month layoff.

He also praised the food and the Japanese people and said he thought some of his fellow Americans might not want to go back - even if the strike ends.

Some Japanese, though, could soon be heading in the other direction.

Top U.S. scouts were in Japan last September and October. Then the Japan Series was shown for the first time on U.S. television.

The San Francisco Giants asked whether Tokyo ace Masumi Kuwata was available, and the commissioner’s office has had inquiries about at least three other stars.

Star pitcher Hideo Nomo found another solution. He retired from the Kintetsu Buffaloes at 26 to get out of his contract, and joined the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system for a reported $2 million.

“There are about 10 to 15 players here who can make it (in the majors),” says former pitcher Masanori Murakami, the only Japanese to play in the majors. “Many more now than 10 years ago.”