Kei Igawa joins the Yankees, gives a speech in English! (Video)
Former-Hanshin Tigers pitcher Kei Igawa formally joined the Yankees today by greeting the press with an English speech:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Japanese lefthander Kei Igawa donned the New York Yankees pinstripes Monday and spoke about attaining his dream to pitch in the major leagues.
Yankee general manager Brian Cashman told a news conference he was excited to welcome the slender 27-year-old hurler to the club, but cautioned against overly high expectations.
Igawa surprised the throng of 75 Japanese reporters that came to Yankee Stadium for his formal introduction by delivering a statement in English.
“Today my lifelong dream became a reality: to be a Major League Baseball pitcher. I want to thank the New York Yankees, especially (owner) Mr. Steinbrenner and Mr. Cashman. I will give you my best as a Yankee. I will do my best to win the championship for this great city, New York,” he said.
Igawa, who will wear the same No. 29 in Yankee pinstripes that he wore as a pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers, said he practiced his short speech for two days.
Cashman appreciated the effort.
“I know that he’s competitive,” Cashman said. “I know that the fact that he took the time to learn English today showed a great deal of respect. I think that was just a small indicator of the work ethic he possesses to make things right.”
Here’s a clip of Igawa’s English speech from this morning’s news:
It’s somewhat painful to watch him struggle to read his cheat sheet and deliver a speech in katakana English. I was pleasantly suprised that the Japanese media included the clip of the hilarious clip of the American reporter at the end instead of finishing the report by stating that Igawa’s English was great. Seriously though, it was great of him to put in the effort and actually give a speech in English, which is better than can be said of some other athletes who play for teams in foreign countries.
[As I was typing this entry, an afternoon news program played a clip of Igawa's speech. After the clip, the news achors giggled about how it looked like Igawa was reading katakana, but they said they were glad he had achieved his dream and that he looked happy.]
