This is silly. I respect that you served our country, and I’m definitely not here to pick a fight. But I don’t understand why your service has anything to do with whether I am allowed to have the opinion that Igawa should have pitched better for the Yanks last year. Please read my posts, my point was and still is, relocation to the States and time/food adjustments were not good enough excuses to justify his bad performance. Now how does that have anything to do with whether I can pitch in the majors, or where you were in 1961?

I am signing off this silly post. I appreciate what Pete is doing on this blog – but I don’t believe he meant for this to be a forum for people to take out their angst completely unrelated to baseball on other posters.

No I haven’t pitched in the majors. But I didn’t sign up for the MLB, Igawa did. He’s not the first foreign player to ever move to the US to play. CMW moved here too and did well, he wasn’t making millions (until now) and I’m sure he had to deal with time zone, language and food adjustment issues too. How about Melky, Robbie, Mo and a long list of other Yankees and MLB players who have adjusted and performed?

And we don’t need to look to imported players for examples. There are plenty of “domestic” players who rose above difficult situations to perform because they know that’s what it takes for the big league. You don’t see Joba using his childhood circumstances or that fact that he became a dad last year as excuses to not perform.

Old Ranger, haven’t you ever had an opinion about any major MLB pitcher before? Or do you always censor yourself because you have never pitched in the majors…I bet not!

It’s funny you said that, because I actually have had to move to Asia for work before coming back to the US 2 years ago. My first night in Shanghai was insane, I was jet-lagged for close to a week, and yes the food was very different (no they don’t really eat dogs everywhere but it was still an adjustment). But I toughed it out, as did most other expats I know. We did it not because we were “robots” as you said, but we knew the challenge going in and didn’t use the relocation as an excuse for not performing what we signed up for.

Igawa knew what he signed up for (MLB starting pitcher, New York City, a Yankee, tons of pressure and expectation). And he got paid MILLIONS for it. In today’s world, he is FAR from the first person to ever have to adjust to a different culture to perform a job. A year later, little to show for, I think it’s a little lenient to blame time difference and food adjustments don’t you think??

Messina? Of the Loggins and Messina fame??