The time will come, perhaps soon, when Major League Baseball will be global, and it occurred to me Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field that the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers have taken the biggest step in this direction.
They already have what can be described as an international pitching staff. Four of their rotation’s starters are imports: Hideo Nomo, last season’s Rookie of the Year, is from Japan. Chan Ho Park is from Korea, and Ramon Martinez and Pedro Astacio are from the Dominican Republic.
And so I asked Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda if there is a communication problem. Lasorda is baseball’s reigning linguist and speaks four languages–Spanish, Italian, a little French and, of course, English.
Lasorda acknowledged that he is just beginning to learn Japanese.
“I’ve picked up a few words,” he said.
Could he offer some examples?
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“When I want Hideo to throw strikes, I holler `sutolike nagero.’ “
Impressed, I asked what other words were included in his Japanese vocabulary.
“When I see him in the morning, I say `ohayo gozai masu’–that means good morning. In the afternoon it’s `konichi wa’ and when he leaves the ballpark I say `oyasu mi na sai, na sai.’ “
Is he making similar progress in Korean?
He admitted he doesn’t know any Korean words.
“Chan Ho Park didn’t speak a word of English when he came over,” Lasorda said. “The first words he learned were `filet mignon.’ But he’s picked up on it pretty good. We have no trouble communicating.”
As for Martinez and Astacio, there never has been a problem. Lasorda has been fluent in Spanish for many years. He played in Cuba and Puerto Rico, and he managed in the Dominican.
Professor Lasorda revealed he often takes Nomo and Park to dinner.
“When we go out I never take the interpreters with me,” Lasorda said. “That way they learn how to speak English. You have to try and help them along as best as you can. They are from another country. So I take them with me. I enjoy it. I love them as people.
“I tell Hideo he’s my Japanese son and I tell Chan Ho he’s my Korean son.”
What about Martinez and Astacio?
Lasorda laughed.
“Martinez, with that contract he’s got I wish he was my son. Then he could take care of his father.”
Martinez is the highest-paid Dodgers player, $4.8 million a year.
“They’re both my Spanish sons–Martinez and Pedro,” Lasorda said. Again he laughed. “Pedro is my stepson.”
Lasorda insisted Nomo and Park are champion trenchermen.
“If there’s a Hall of Fame for eaters, they should make it on the first ballot. In my office, when we’re playing at home. I have sushi and pasta. I say to Nomo, `What would you like–sushi or pasta?’ And he says `pasta’ and I wind up eating the sushi. Park, he eats anything.”
Tom Candiotti, a veteran knuckleballer out of Walnut Creek, Calif., is the only American-born member of the Dodger rotation.
“He’s my paisano, my fratello, my brother,” Lasorda reported. “He can speak Italian.”
Lasorda was reminded of a story.
“One time when I was catching (Mike) Scioscia over Steve Yeager, Yeager said the only reason I was catching Scioscia was because he’s Italian.
“Someone told the writers and they came to me and asked if it was true.
“I said `That’s a lie! I’m catching him because I’m Italian.’ “
I mentioned that it seemed to me the Dodgers probably were the best-known big-league club in the world, even more so than the Cubs. Did Lasorda agree?
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“Without question,” Lasorda replied. “Do you know the pope is a Dodger fan?”
Where he did get that information?
“Well, I never read in the paper he wasn’t.”