At the age of 37, he was immediately disqualified from competing in the US “You’re too old.”Traveling long distances, just eating and drinking… Life was too hard | Full account

Shunsuke Watanabe signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox at age 37.

Shunsuke Watanabe was a famous cast member representing Lotte. I decided to move to the United States at the age of 37. During the camp, everything was new and interesting. However, the Red Sox decided to fire him before the season opened.

“What I felt was different about America is that the expected results from everybody are uniform and equal, regardless of age or position of pitcher, I would say, “I’m feeling a little sick today, so I’m going to skip it.” If you say something like, “I’ll wait,” you’ll get fired. I guess there is some reason to wait, but it is not as strong as it is in Japan. The numbers have confirmed that or something like that. At the time, it was almost a surprise.”

He pitched in three games in spring training, allowing two runs in three innings. Although he had heard that the US basketball world was dry, it was still a great surprise to see him. “At the end, they said something like, “You’re too old. “No, I thought they knew your age from the start (lol).” Former Hanshin player Chris Leesop was competing for the spot.

What was even surprising was that a thorough medical examination was carried out before he was cremated. “Nothing has changed since I joined the company, and we will put it on the market again, but we will not be responsible for it,” so I signed a lot of papers. He was just like, “We’ve looked into it.”

The next destination was the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League. It is said to be the highest level of independent leagues. Regarding the harsh conditions of bus journeys, he says matter-of-factly, “I was just riding and sleeping, so it wasn’t that hard even though it was over 10 hours.” However, traveling was Air for the minor leagues and independent leagues is very difficult, as they often take cheap flights late at night to cut costs. “There was only one team in Houston, so we had to fly there. We met at about 3am, took a bus to the airport, and we were sitting in economy class. That was the hardest part .”

Strange things can happen on a road trip to the city. “On a road trip to New York, I would sometimes get stuck in traffic. One day, I was a beginner, but it took me almost 9 hours to get to a place around 7 hours. “Fifteen minutes after I arrived, ) Can we go?” I replied, Can’t you wait a little longer?”‘ I tried my best for 30 minutes. I was told to do this about 15 minutes before I got to the destination, so I stretched on the bus until my body to warm up and change some clothes. I don’t have time to eat today, I drank a sports drink and threw it up.”

A surprise in my daily life: “I thought, ‘Who is this person?” and then I didn’t pay attention to me.”

Mr. Watanabe also analyzed the difference in how they think about him as a showman. “It is not convenient for me (the players). If it was a professional Japanese football game, I think they would probably delay the start of the game. The followers have already gathered and the opponent is ready, so if you (the beginning). pitcher) to go. What is needed is how well you can deal with such an environment.”

More surprises awaited him in real life than in baseball. The place I lived in was a rural town with very few Asians, and many Amish people (people who kept the lifestyle they had when they came to America as immigrants and who lived on a self-sustaining basis).

When you go to a local bar for the first time and order a beer, it won’t come out. My teammate, who couldn’t wait to see her, called out to the bartender and finally got a beer. After experiencing similar things several times, I realized that the reason was clothes. At first, he was wearing a T-shirt and skinny jeans, but changed to a collared shirt and slacks. “In Japan, that doesn’t happen often. But they don’t think about giving equal service to everyone. If you think, ‘What is this guy? ?’, they just ignore you.” “I tried it, and they started to respond reasonably well.”

He lived with a host family there, and was blessed with a family that was free from racial prejudice. The family had previously taken in a Taiwanese player in the short term, and when they heard that a Japanese player was coming, they were the first to raise their hand. But, I was nervous at first. “I was told that I heard that Japanese people are particularly polite, so I was very polite at first.”

For the most part, he seems to have enjoyed his life in Lancaster. “I had the opportunity to feel both the cold and the warmth, from a Japanese perspective. I enjoyed the people I interacted with around Lancaster. . Of course, this may be due to Mr. Watanabe’s own good personality and deep compassion.

(Hiromasa Imura)