Feb 16, 2007 3 min read

BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – Finally, the Pittsburgh Pirates know what it’s like to have a Japanese player in the fold. That means they finally know what it’s like to have major-league media attention again. No fewer than 20 reporters, photographers and cameramen from Japanese media outlets spent most of Thursday following the every move of minor-league pitcher Masumi Kuwata, a former star in his homeland.

And they represented fewer than half the number of press credentials the team expects to issue before demand is filled.

Jim Trdinich, the Pirates’ director of media relations, likened the crush to “Brad and Angelina gracing us with their presence here,” as pitchers and catchers reported for spring training at Pirate City.

Such media attention is unusual for the Pirates, to say the least. Coming off 14 consecutive losing seasons and playing in one of the league’s smallest markets, the Pirates are typically followed by a mere handful of reporters and photographers.

But the Japanese contingent has turned one of the quietest camps in the Grapefruit League into a sort of carnival. In fact, the carnival now has a tent, specially built by Trdinich and his staff for Kuwata’s daily sessions with the press.

For Kuwata, the celebrity is hardly new. A veteran of 21 seasons with Japan’s legendary Yomiuri Giants, he won one MVP award, two ERA titles, eight Gold Gloves and was an eight-time All-Star in that country’s Central League.

“The media followed me always like that,” Kuwata said when asked about the current media throng. “I need time for privacy, but Japan is a small country that loves baseball. I understand.”

The challenge Kuwata faces in breaking into the majors looks much more daunting than handling reporters. He will turn 39 on opening day, and he has not had a good season since 2002, when he was 12-6 with a 2.22 ERA. Since then, his ERAs have been 5.93, 6.47, 7.25 and 6.94.

That resulted in Yomiuri cutting ties with Kuwata after last season. The Pirates and Boston Red Sox offered minor-league contracts, and Kuwata chose Pittsburgh, he said, because manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn spent part of their careers in Japan.

Pittsburgh’s management has identified its top eight starting pitchers, and Kuwata’s name is not among them. He is expected to open the season with Triple-A Indianapolis and try to work his way up.

Kuwata sounded as if he would not be fully satisfied with the minors.

“I want to pitch someday in the majors,” he said. “If I didn’t believe that I could do that, if I wasn’t confident, I wouldn’t have signed this contract, you know?”