Didn't see this posted..
BY CAROL SLEZAK Staff Reporter
Striking down the barriers
Shingo Takatsu can comprehend about 5 percent of the English he hears. That explains a curious Takatsu utterance during a team meeting this spring. When White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen told his players they must wear suits on road trips, Takatsu shouted, ''Puma!'' thinking Guillen meant sweatsuits.
His teammates had a good laugh about that. And before a recent game, when a few Sox players noticed Takatsu was about to be interviewed, they couldn't pass up a chance to tease him, shouting, ''Hey, Shingo, you speak English?''
Although it's unclear whether he understood what they were saying, Takatsu laughed along with them.
Despite a formidable language barrier, Takatsu, the only Japanese player on the Sox, seems to be fitting in nicely with his new team. He said he and his teammates communicate quite well. Actually, Takatsu's translator, Hiroshi Abei, said that. Takatsu spoke exclusively in Japanese.
''My English is getting better,'' Takatsu said. ''But I wish I had more of an ability to speak and listen to English. Then I would get to know more of the players. I know their names, but not much more. It is not a deep relationship.''
Of course, one can communicate without speaking. At least, that appeared to be what Guillen, the normally talkative Sox manager, was attempting when he walked over to Takatsu, bowed several times, then walked away without saying a word. He left Takatsu laughing.
''I took to Ozzie right away,'' Takatsu said.
The right-handed Takatsu, Japan's career saves leader with 260 during 13 seasons with the Yakult Swallows, had a rough introduction to major-league baseball in spring training. But he has pitched well since the season started. Through Thursday, he was 2-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He had struck out 11 hitters in 13-2/3 innings.
''It's not about physical skill,'' Takatsu, 35, said. ''It's all mental. I feel more comfortable now.''
Asked about Takatsu's progress, Guillen said: ''In spring training, we thought Shingo wouldn't make this team. Well, we knew Shingo would make this team, but we had a lot of talks about what we could get from him. But he's been huge from the bullpen. He has more confidence, and now I'm not afraid to bring him in against a lefty or righty in any situation. Now I know he has the confidence to get people out.''
When Takatsu signed with the Sox, newspapers across the country proclaimed that he was known in Japan as ''Mr. Zero.'' The moniker, legend had it, was a nod to Takatsu's perfect record in the Japan Series: 10 games without giving up a run. It's a great story. One problem.
''There was no nickname in Japan,'' Takatsu said. ''That happened when I got here to the States.''
Asked whether he liked his new nickname, Takatsu blushed.
''I was shy about it at first,'' he said. ''Plus, what happens if I give up a run in [the World Series]? Then I'm not going to be Mr. Zero anymore.''
But the nickname has grown on him.
''Yeah, I kind of like it now,'' Mr. Zero said.
******
Currently living in a high-rise apartment in the city, Takatsu likes Chicago. But he hasn't seen much of it yet. For dinner, he rotates among three restaurants -- two that serve Japanese food and one that specializes in Korean barbecue. He doesn't much like Western food. And he misses his wife, Maki, and sons Daishi, 5, and Shota, 2, who have remained in Japan. A new league, a new country, a new language, new food -- it can't be easy. But Takatsu is adjusting.
''Many people have helped me make the transition,'' he said.
He mentioned Abei and his agent, Joe Urbon, as being especially helpful. But that's not to neglect his new teammates. They're always willing to lend Takatsu a hand. Or give him grief, as the case may be.
One of Takatsu's bullpen mates, Damaso Marte, claims to speak Japanese with Takatsu during games. Considering that Spanish is Marte's first language, he and Takatsu must have some fascinating conversations.
''Or sometimes I speak to him in Spanish, and he answers me back in Japanese,'' Marte said. ''He'll say, 'Yeah, yeah, I understand.' But he really doesn't.''
Catcher Miguel Olivo came to Takatsu's rescue.
''He understands if you talk real slow,'' Olivo said. ''He understands the signs. And he knows his slow breaking ball is the best thing he's got. He knows the hitters are going to strike out on that pitch.''
Some things need no translation.
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Maki, Daishi and Shota recently spent 10 days in Chicago. On Sunday, Maki brought the boys to U.S. Cellular Field to watch the Sox play the Minnesota Twins. When the game ended, the boys went into the locker room to see their dad. Maki, 35, waited in the corridor with the boys' nanny.
Maki, a native of Japan, spent a year in Rockford as a high school exchange student. She attended college in Hawaii. After college, she worked for an airline. Along the way, she learned English. Although she said her English comes and goes, she sounded fluent.
''Shingo says he understands 5 percent of what he hears, but I think it's less than that,'' she said.
Back home, Maki owns a traditional Italian restaurant called Angolino.
''It's my dream,'' she said of the two-year-old venture.
Given her job demands and the children's school and day-care schedules, moving to Chicago didn't make sense. Maki intends to make the 13-hour flight from Japan several times this season, however.
''It's our temporary life,'' she said.
Her husband agonized for months about his decision to play in the United States.
''He was frustrated,'' Maki said. ''He was stressed out. He couldn't make his mind up. Loyalty is a different thing in Japan. There's a cultural difference. In Japan, becoming a free agent means betrayal. He was so concerned about the fans there that he almost decided to stay with the Swallows.''
He asked Maki for her opinion. She told him it was his life, his choice to make.
''Why should the decision be up to me?'' she said. ''He's the one who's working. We already have enough money for the rest of our lives. But he didn't seem happy. He had been playing in the same six-team league for [13 years]. He knew everybody in the league. I think he had lost his passion.''
Once he made his decision, he seemed relieved, Maki said. And since coming to the Sox?
''He has his passion back,'' she said. ''This was the only choice for him.''
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Takatsu graduated from Asia University, where he studied ...
''Baseball,'' he said with a laugh.
In the classroom, he studied economics.
''But I cannot even write the word in Japanese,'' Takatsu said. ''That's how much I studied.''
He learned enough to realize he could have made more money playing in Japan this season. His one-year Sox contract will pay him about $1 million. He likely would have made twice as much in Japan. But Takatsu's choice had nothing to do money.
''I wanted to study [major-league] baseball,'' Takatsu said. ''I wanted to experience baseball at the top of the world.''
Shortly after signing with the Sox in January, Takatsu called Abei, a conditioning coach for the Swallows, and asked him to become his interpreter. Abei, a native of Japan who attended Washington State University, eagerly accepted Takatsu's offer.
''I was with the Swallows for two years, and I never even talked to [Takatsu], even though we were on the same team,'' Abei said. ''He was such a star. Maybe I worried too much. I wanted to keep my distance from him.''
No longer star-struck, Abei talks easily with Takatsu. Watching the two of them share a joke -- in Japanese, of course -- you would think they had been friends for a long time.
''This is great,'' Abei said. ''It's a dream come true.''
It is great for Takatsu, as well. Even if his fame in Japan, where he is hailed as an all-time great, has yet to translate in the United States. Here, he is just another relief pitcher. Here, there is a big language hurdle.
And what about there? Do they miss him? The Japanese media have been conspicuously absent at Sox games this season. Perhaps they are busy following New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui and New York Mets shortstop Kaz Matsui. Or Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii, Takatsu's good friend. Or Seattle Mariners pitcher Shigetoshi Hasegawa, another of Takatsu's friends. One thing is for certain: Takatsu has been an afterthought.
''Yeah? Where is the Japanese media?'' Takatsu said with a healthy laugh. ''They should be here!''
