Baseball . . . . Another Life Ago

Here is a story that is a little departure from my actual travels in Japan, but nonetheless somewhat related.  When I was young, I loved to play sports, and baseball was my favorite.  It pretty much dominated my life during my teenage years.  Probably one of the best players I ever played with and against growing up was Tony Brewer.  I had the pleasure of getting to know Tony long ago, and he was a great teammate, and a very tough out (I was a pitcher).  Here is a picture of a team we played on in the ‘70’s.  I am on the bottom row second from the left, and Tony is on the bottom row at the far right.

Tony ended up playing professionally, having been drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I remember going to Dodger stadium with my Dad to see Tony play against the Cincinnati Reds.  Tony’s Dodger career was unfortunately brief, so he ended up playing professionally in Japan for the Nippon Ham Fighters from 1986 to 1990.  Tony had a great career in Japan, and made the All-Star team in 1987.   Here are his fantastic statistics while playing in Japan:

Year	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	K	BB	SB	AVG
1986	130	511	78	164	28	2	20	68	71	46	1	.321
1987	129	478	85	145	24	1	35	98	74	71	2	.303
1989	130	477	70	146	23	1	27	73	79	71	8	.306
1990	109	407	65	120	16	2	17	63	51	51	4	.295
Totals	498	1873	298	575	91	6	99	302	275	239	15	.307

  
So aside from my favorite Tony Brewer statistic being that he hit a home run in his last official Major League at bat with the Dodgers (tying a record held by a few other professional players, one being the great Ted Williams), I have another funny T.B. story.  Here it is.  During the late ‘80’s, when Tony was at the peak of his Japanese baseball career, I was busy in Los Angeles trying to close the Epson account that was based in Torrance, California.  After one of my meetings with the Procurement guy, I took him to lunch, along with a Japanese Epson engineer who was visiting that week from headquarters.  All during the lunch despite my repeated attempts to engage him, the poor engineer hardly said a word, as his English was quite poor.  Finally at the end of the meal, I asked him if he liked baseball.  His eyes lit up, and he said he liked baseball “vely, vely much”.  Then I asked him if he ever heard of a Japanese league player named Tony Brewer.  His eyes lit up even wider, and he exclaimed with much excitement, “TONY BREWER!  LOTS OF HOME RUNS!!!!!”  I laughed at that, and then told him that I grew up playing with Tony.  The engineer said he goes to a few games each season over in Japan.  I then proceeded to take one of my business cards, and I wrote on the back, “Tony, Greetings from the U.S.A.  It’s a small world isn’t it???”  I gave it to this guy and told him if he ever went to a Fighters game to go down and give this to Tony Brewer.  Well I left that meeting and thought I would never hear any more about that, as I doubted this incredibly shy guy would have the guts to actually do this.  Much to my shock and amazement about 2-3 months later I received a postcard from Tony which began, “Charlie, Greetings from Japan!!!  It certainly is a small world isn’t it???”  Apparently this guy did indeed go to a game, and did indeed get my card to Tony.  Tony ended up meeting him, and gave him a signed baseball (because that is the kind of nice guy that Tony Brewer is!).  I have never forgotten that story, and I am happy to say that I still see Tony now and again.  In fact in 2007 I partnered with him in a golf tournament and our team actually won!!  He and I can be seen in this photo, where I am on the far left, next to the great slugger!!!!  Wouldn’t it be great if Tony and I could visit Japan at the same time?  It certainly is a small world isn't it, and a wonderful one too!!!