Independent Baseball Chatter – by Bob Wirz
Texas Rangers RHP Chris Martin would be a good resource for another onetime American Association reliever, who is admitting to some culture shock as he trains in Japan in preparation for his initial season in Korea.
“I’ve been to many first days of school in my life, but none of them could have prepared me for the first day of 2018 spring training in Okinawa, Japan,” 2012 Lincoln and El Paso hurler Tim Adleman wrote in a first-person story for The Athletic. “I have Korean-speaking teammates, and am surrounded by hotel and restaurant employees who only speak Japanese. It’s a little bit different than ninth grade English class.”
Adleman, who spent much of the last two seasons with the Cincinnati Reds before accepting the reported $1.05 million Korean offer, added: “Our laundry is done by the hotel, so we travel to and from the field in our baseball attire. The last time the laundry was done like this was when I was in college.
“Meals are served at the hotel, with the exception of lunch, which is served at the field. I’ve been taking advantage of the Japanese steakhouses and BBQ quite a bit, which has been delicious. I must say, however, the breakfast leaves something to be desired. The eggs are well under-cooked, bacon is only served on occasion and is in the form of Canadian bacon. Omelettes, pancakes, French toast and smoothies are all nonexistent.”
It is a definite learning curve.
Previously the chief spokesman for Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth, Bob Wirz has been writing extensively about Independent Baseball since 2003. He is a frequent contributor to this site, has a blog, www.IndyBaseballChatter.com, and a book about his life, “The Passion of Baseball”, is available at Amazon.com or WirzandAssociates.com.