He's not a star player, but has brought with him a level of professionalism and love for the game, and for life, that the ball club was surely missing. He was brought up from the minor leagues to take the place of Jose Reyes - a superstar player - who turned his ankle rather badly in the first week of the season and has been out since.
Reyes - unlike any other injured player I have EVER seen, has been hanging out with the team - sitting on the bench while hurt - and has been smiling and joking with his teammates and cheering them all on. He is, without a doubt, a special person. Unselfish. His teammates all respect him.
Reyes, like Kawasaki, always has a smile on his face, so it's important to the team that Kawasaki maintained that aspect.
So beloved is Kawasaki to the Blue Jays (and the fans) that the team's first baseman and DH (designated hitter) went out to a mall in Atlanta last Thursday when the team visited the Peach State.
The shop near the team's hotel in Buckhead, Georgia had some tank top shirts that caught Lind's eyes... light turquoise-colored shirts that were emblazoned with a rust-red sun and the word 'Japan' printed on the front.
Immediately Lind bought the entire stock of eight shirts and, when he got back to the team hotel, passed them out to some of his Blue Jays teammates as a tribute to Kawasaki.
The shirts are a much-treasured item on the team.
And that's how much Kawasaki Munenori is respected on the Toronto Blue Jays.
That photo above - I have NO idea if that is the actual style of shirt purchased by Lind... but it sure does fit the description. Horrible, aren't they? But... I'd buy one if autographed by Kawasaki and Lind, though.
It makes me wonder just what the team is going to do when Reyes finally is able to come back from his injury in another couple of weeks. Regardless of what happens, I am sure they will keep Kawasaki up with the team... at least they better.
I respect Kawasaki (and Lind and Reyes), and hope these overly large boys will not disappoint.
Cheers
Andrew Joseph
Tomorrow - I answer a piece of great fan mail sent me - but not here in this blog.
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