MAKING HIS MARK

Hideki took the focus off ’03 by embarking on a season for the ages in 2002. At mid-year, he was out in front in batting average, home runs and RBIs, and the Giants had established a double-digit lead over the Tigers and Swallows. That left the rest of the campaign for Japan to root for Hideki to capture the Triple Crown. Attendance rose, TV ratings skyrocketed, and the fans fell in love with Godzilla all over again.

The Giants clinched the pennant in early September, and Hideki sewed up the home run and RBI titles with a strong final month. But the batting race went down to the wire. Kosuke Fukodome of the Chunichi Dragons matched Hideki hit for hit and opened up a narrow lead with just a few games left on the schedule. In the final regular season contest in the Tokyo Dome, Hideki belted a pair of opposite-field homers—the second against Ryota Igarashi, Japan’s hardest thrower—to make it 50 for the year. With one game left, however, he still needed to go 4-for-4 to win the Triple Crown. It wasn’t to be. Hideki took an 0-for-5 against the Hiroshima Carp and lost any chance at the batting title.

Hideki ended up leading the Central league with 50 homers and 107 RBIs. His .334 average was the best of his career. He won his third MVP award, gaining first-place votes on all but one of the 201 ballots cast.

Hideki got plenty of offensive support from Abe and Shimizu, both of whom enjoyed great years at the plate. On the hill, Uehara and Kuwata were the club’s top pitchers. The Giants won the pennant by 11 games and destroyed Seibu Lions in the Japan Series.

In November, Hideki made it official: He would entertain offers from big-league clubs in America. In a tearful farewell, he promised the fans he would honor them and his country.

The Yankees were the most appealing team to Hideki. They had worldwide fame and a thirst for championships. The close proximity of the fence down the right field line didn’t hurt, either. Hideki also found the Boston Red Sox interesting. They had a lot of tradition, and both Hideo Nomo and Tomo Ohka had pitched for the team and seemed to like it there. The New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles and Dodgers were in the running, too.

Most baseball insiders assumed hat it was a done deal with the Yankees. New York quietly backed out of its decades-long working agreement with the Nippon Ham Fighters and began talks in Manhattan and Tokyo with Yomiuri officials. Meanwhile, Hideki hired Arn Tellem of the SFX Sports Group as his agent. The ties between SFX and the Yankee organization were strong. On December 19th, the Yankees annouced their signing of Hideki to a three-year pact worth around $21 million.

Viewed within the context of the Yankee-Giants agreement, Hideki’s signing likely involved a lot more than just a ballplayer selling himself to the highest bidder. The deal may have sown the seeds for new international baseball relationships, where players come packaged with marketing, merchandising and broadcasting rights.

Believe it or not, the sense of loss among Japanese fans was far greater than Ichiro’s leaving. He had played for a Kobe team that did not get much national exposure during the season. In fact, far more Japanese fans saw Ichiro compete as a Mariner than as a member of the Orix Blue Wave. Ichiro may have achieved rock-star status in Japan, especially among younger fans, but Hideki was the guy everyone wanted their daughter to marry. He was like family. Hideki was the star of the media-darling Giants and played virtually every one of his games before a nationwide television audience. Some fans were so distraught they branded him a traitor.