Fukudome’s Translator

» 11 January 2009 » In mlb, npb »

While I’ve got the Cubs fans here… anyone remember when the North Siders fired Kosuke Fukudome’s translator last year?

Ryuji Araki has found a job doing translation and pr for the Nippon Ham Fighters. Previous translator Ken Iwamoto, who had worked for Trey Hillman, is moving into team director position and evaluating foreign player acquisitions. I’ve read a couple of interviews with Iwamoto and he seems like an interesting guy.

Reading that first article may shed a little light on why the Cubs are making a little more of an effort to acquire Japanese players this offseason. Another thing they could try is hiring Shigetoshi Hasegawa as bullpen coach or something. He definitely speaks English and Japanese fluently.

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  1. Patrick
    JarOfMayo
    12/01/2009 at 4:24 pm Permalink

    Is that article serious? Hired a guy with little identifiable Japanese skills?

    That is terrible HR in Cubland… That is plain unexcusable. Almost insulting to NPB players crossing the pond… frankly…

Trackbacks

  1. The Cubs’ Japanese Roster, or, Is There Any Hope For Kosuke Fukudome? » NPB Tracker 06/02/2009 at 10:33 am

    [...] probably point to a number of reasons — better scouting on him for the rest of the league, inadequate…

  2. The Cubs’ Japanese Roster, or, Is There Any Hope For Kosuke Fukudome? : Baseball Digest 08/03/2009 at 2:32 pm

    [...] probably point to a number of reasons — better scouting on him for the rest of the league, inadequate…