Petulant Slugger Goes Back, Back, Back, Back To The United States

Going … going … gone. That’s what the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks had in mind when they signed slugger Kevin Mitchell, and that’s exactly what they got.

That time-tested home-run call describes not one of his mammoth dingers, but his departure from the Hawks, the league and Japan.

And he didn’t even say sayonara.

“We are just stunned by his abrupt leave,” Hawks president Ryuzo Setoyama said Friday. “He apparently didn’t leave his belongings.”

Mitchell, who is under suspension and hasn’t played since May 7 because of a knee the Hawks aren’t so sure is so sore, reportedly was en route to Los Angeles.

The San Francisco Giants, for whom he won National League MVP honors in 1989, have said in recent weeks they may be interested in Mitchell. The outfielder’s agent, Joe Sroba, refused to say anything about the situation.

The Hawks said Japanese doctors believe the injury was not serious enough to sideline Mitchell. The team asked him to go to a farm club while recuperating. Mitchell refused and said he wanted to return to the United States for treatment.

Mitchell left the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent to play for the Hawks for $4.5 million guaranteed, the highest salary ever paid in Japanese baseball.