Out of Left Field: A tip of the cap to gaijin

Posted May 8, 2009 by TBO.com

Updated May 8, 2009 at 03:34 PM

After bouncing around the Major Leagues for ten years, utility infielder Daryl Spencer left for Japan in 1964 to play for the Hankyu Braves.

Spencer, a career .244 hitter in the states who never hit more than 20 homeruns in a season, made a quick impression with his Japanese teammates and fans for his scrappy play and colorful attitude.

In his first season in Japan, Spencer clubbed a league-leading 36 homers and earned him the nickname “The Monster.”

It would also mark the beginning of a trend of Major League ballplayers finding fame in the Nippon Professional Baseball league after their stateside careers had fizzled.

Like bad 80’s synth-pop, the phenomenon has been dubbed going Big in Japan and it was the premise of the 1992 Tom Selleck film, “Mr. Baseball.”

Perhaps the most successful of the American transplanted gaijin has been Tuffy Rhodes. After arriving with a splash in the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1994 by blasting three homeruns on Opening Day, Rhodes never materialized into the power hitter the Cubs envisioned and was cut the following year.

Rhodes would go on to hit 452 homeruns in Japan, including a record-tying 55 in 2001.

Here are a few humorous instances of former big leaguers in the Orient:

Tony Batista has a little fun with the pitcher with a fake mound charging. Hey, he didn’t tip his cap.

It is Lima Time in the Korean Baseball Organization as former Major League flameout Jose Lima picks up his first victory in Korean ball.