Muni Being Muni
Here’s an excerpt from Munenori Kawasaki’s recent interview with Sanspo (translation):
- You bounced back and forth between the minors and Majors.
I was busy. But I like being busy. I was born in the year of the bird, so I love fluttering about (laughter).
[…]
You were not planning on getting an interpreter?
I thought I could figure things out, but things did not work out quite that well. There were times I sat through hour-long meetings and could not understand a word that was said.
What did you do?
I pretended I understood. Then I would go to the coaches later on and they would draw me pictures to help me understand. It was like, “Oh, that’s what they were saying.” That’s what it was like.
Bless that man. And shame on all MLB franchises if this guy doesn’t get a 40-man roster spot in 2014.
Shame, indeed. Two years of Muni is not enough of Muni.
It’s players like him that help me remember that a language barrier is just that, but a person’s unique personality still can come across even if he doesn’t speak the same language. I hope he and Hiro Nakajima can spend some time in the big leagues next year simply because of the joy they convey. Makes baseball more fun having guys like that.