Before we get started, help me settle a domestic dispute: Mrs. Malo thinks Engrish is borderline racist. I disagree. Making gentle fun of other people for their lack of mastery yet unabashed enthusiasm for another language might be slightly mean-spirited, but it doesn’t insult the intelligence or moral fiber of an entire group. Does it?
I always flip it around: Is it OK to make fun of Americans for their ridiculous attempts at Spanish or French? Like the folks who put a Spanish accent only on the food items when ordering at a taqueria? Or those who say “OOH-la-la” to mean “Look at those sexy jeans!” when in France it’s pronounced “OH-la-la” and generally signifies annoyance? (French? Annoyance? Who knew?)
Today there is no room for mockery. I direct you all to the numbers of Keiichi Yabu, Giant relieving man. He’s done a fabulous job so far, and with the continuing struggles of Tyler “The Big Sweaty” Walker and the rehab setback of Merkin Valdez, Yabu could be a key to bullpen prosperity for quite some time.
After giving up six runs (four earned) in his first four games, he’s allowed merely seven (four earned) in his last 20. He’s allowed barely more than a baserunner an inning and only two home runs. He hasn’t thrown in a lot of high-stakes situations, but his WXRL — essentially a measurement of how much his work has contributed toward wins — puts him in the top-50 among NL relievers. Not bad for a guy who turns 40 this year and who started the year as mop-up man. What’s more, his major-league experience before this year totaled 58 innings with the A’s three years ago. If there is somewhere beyond nowhere, Yabu came out of it to make the Giants 25–man roster.
So what is the Yabu Message from all this? That the Giants should sign more 39–year-old relief pitchers? Speak better Japanese? No and no. It’s that you can find decent relievers anywhere if you look hard enough.
One could chalk up Yabu’s excellent times, all two months’ worth, to short-sample size and plumb luck. There are stories like his in every baseball spring camp: forgotten former phenoms, injury-scarred veterans, foreign hopefuls. Once in a while one of them breaks through, a testament to perserverance, hard work and being in the right place at the right time.
But you have to make your own luck on the buyers’ side, too. The Giants scouted Yabu, or at least paid attention to reports from the Mexican League, where he was a closer in 2006. (He didn’t pitch at all last year.) They also made room for serendipity. If the team had kept Steve Kline and his million-dollar salary or signed a high-priced reliever or two like the White Sox did for an instant fix, there would have been no spaces for the prosperous Yabu magical.
Should our Yabumania be liberally sprinkled with goofy English phraseology? Discuss.
