Players who are trying to perform in the sink-or-swim world of Nippon Professional Baseball are oceans away from their families, but it often feels like worlds away for some.
The coronavirus pandemic and the border restrictions are taking a toll on some of NPB's import players, leaving them isolated -- even though they play in front of thousands of spectators -- as the league navigates its way through government-enforced rules in an arena that has taken its share of hits during the pandemic.
Import players remain separated from their families in this second season under COVID-19 measures, and that is adding to the pressure to come through in a sport that features constant high-leverage situations and stress galore.
The circumstances are taking a toll, and that pain was glaring during a recent online interview with third-year Saitama Seibu Lions right-hander Zach Neal, who has a daughter who hasn't yet turned 6 months old.
"Playing here is the best thing for me," said Neal, whose eyes began to well up as he talked about being in Japan while his wife and baby remain in Fort Worth, Texas.
"It's tough. Knowing that I am the provider, knowing that I am helping does help. But it's been tough just being away," Neal said as his voice cracked. He then had to pause to wipe away the kind of tears rarely seen in the world of competition and take a couple of minutes to compose himself after a rush of emotion simply overtook him.
"To not have them here and to not watch her grow up is tough," he said. "I'm over here trying to do the best for my team, trying to do the best for my family, and it's always better when that [family] unit is together," said Neal, who represents a number of players who manage to put themselves in the proper mental state to play and do the job for which they were brought to Japan, while not falling into an emotional abyss of loneliness.
"I realize how fortunate I am to play baseball," he said, the emotion still clear as his voice continued to crack. "But as a person, we have feelings, too. As a human, it's hard.
"The separation is tough, though, because it's not my biggest blessing. They're my biggest blessing. And wrapping my mind around that is tough," said Neal, whose words were like a perfect pitch when he squeezed out the phrase: "It's hard watching her grow up on my phone."
Times have changed
Players in the past who left their families at home to come to Japan and perform did so by choice, for reasons centered around work obligations and education. But this season and last, it hasn't been a choice. And there's no relief in sight.
"I think that's the hardest part, that I don't have a choice and I don't have a timeline to know, 'I'll get to see you ... I don't know when I'll see you.' And it's not just me, it's everybody here," Neal said.
Lions teammate Reed Garrett offered similar sentiments.
"It seems like there's not much light at the end of the tunnel," said Garrett, whose 1-1/2-year-old son -- with whom he has spent a total of just two months in person -- and wife are in Richmond, Va.
"It's a hard decision every day, how you're going to approach pushing through that situation," said the second-year reliever, who also had to hold back tears as he expressed his opinions about the predicament.
"We're humans. We're fathers. We're husbands. We're sons to parents. It is great that we are able to provide for our family, but it is at an extremely high cost for us to not be with our families as well."
The Feb. 1 start of training camps saw a league-wide imbalance of imports, with some not allowed to enter Japan because of travel restrictions, while players still under contract had no trouble coming back to report on time. In fact, a few who were between contracts weren't asked to turn in their residence cards and were able to reenter the country in time for the opening of camps.
Many foreign players, of whom there are no fewer than 80 listed on NPB rosters this season, said no one could honestly foresee the coronavirus spreading, so only a couple of players have been able to return with their immediate families.
Slugger Brandon Laird of the Chiba Lotte Marines, a veteran in his seventh season in Japan, is one player fortunate enough to have his family here, but he said it was a lucky case of having valid documentation.
"I still had an active visa from last year, so the team said, 'Hey, we need you guys to come early before your visa expires,'" said Laird, who moved to the Marines from the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters after the 2018 season.
Meanwhile, at least three players decided against family separation and opted out of playing in NPB this year.
Right-hander Brandon Dickson, who had pitched for the Orix Buffaloes for seven seasons, announced plans last month to part ways with the club, saying he did not want to leave his family behind if they couldn't acquire visas to be with him.
Tohoku Rakuten Eagles pitcher Adam Conley on May 6 declined to play his first season in NPB for similar reasons.
Former Yomiuri Giants and Yokohama DeNA BayStars veteran slugger Jose Lopez also in May told a Spanish-language website that he had offers to play in Japan this year, but opted to sit out because he wanted to be with his family.
Taking unexpected hits
Because of COVID protocols, there is also unseen impact -- likely considered inconsequential by many, but adding to the reality of isolation -- centered around the fact that players have to take extra precautions to avoid being infected.
It involves the mundane reality that has these well-paid athletes performing household duties that require daily attention, equivalent to being placed back in the sandlot of life.
Leonys Martin of the Marines explained it best: "I've got to go home, do my laundry, cook -- because I cannot go out and eat and sit in a restaurant -- clean the kitchen and clean the apartment and worry about all that stuff. And on top of that, I've got to get my job done in baseball."
Martin, who is the home run leader in the Pacific League with 17 and third in RBIs with 44 so far in his third season with Lotte, said his wife and four children are back in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and because of the time difference, he cannot make daily contact with them.
"Sometimes, I've got no time to talk to them because we play night games and when I wake up, they're already sleeping," Martin said. "They have to go to school early in the morning. So sometimes I [go] two days without talking to my kids."
Seeking special permission
Dutch pitcher Rick van den Hurk is part of a group of players who have formed an alliance that tried to push for a special exception that would allow immediate family members to enter Japan. The players reportedly sent a written request to NPB to obtain special permission from the government, but to no avail. The Japan News was not allowed to review a copy of the letter.
"Of course, I would love to have my family here, but unfortunately, the COVID situation in Japan doesn't allow this," van den Hurk, in his first year with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows after spending six seasons with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, wrote in an email to The Japan News.
"All I can say is that we have to respect the decisions that are taken by the Japanese government and NPB. It's a challenging time for all of us, but most important now is the health and safety of the people who are in Japan."
The stress, though, is testing the mental limits of one player who wished to remain anonymous.
"I got to the point where sometimes I get up and I don't want to go to the field -- I don't want to play baseball," he said.
And in terms of getting special permission from the government, the player was blunt.
"It gets to the point where I think nobody cares. [The government] doesn't want to make an exception because people can take it wrong.
"[But] when they want to do something, they do it. They just do it, no matter what. They say they care about families, but they've got nightclubs open in Tokyo. They do a lot of things that make zero sense."
The baseball family is trying to assist as the imports do their jobs, but there is no one who can step in as a pinch-hitter off the field.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
