Japanese Pitcher Signed
Not the one you think. Not just yet. The bullpen does need help, however, and the front office made a step towards fixing it.
Today the Red Sox signed left-handed pitcher Hideki Okajima to a $2.5M two-year deal with a $1.75M option for a third year. The soon-to-be 31-year old (his birthday is on December 25) comes from the Nippon Ham Fighters where he most recently pitched 54 and two-thirds innings with a 2.14 ERA. He was drafted in the third round by the Yomiuri Giants in 1994.
As I did with Daisuke Matsuzaka’s name, below are the kanji for Okajima’s name. Underneath each kanji are the hiragana, called furigana or yomigana, which sometimes accompanies lesser-known kanji so that readers know how to pronounce a word. In brackets are the romanization of the characters and finally there is the English translation. Following the tradition of his country, his family name precedes his given name. Although Hideki Matsui’s given name seems similar, the last syllable of Matsui’s is written 喜, which means rejoice or take pleasure in.
岡
おか [o ka]
mount, hill, knoll
島
じま [ji ma]
island
秀
ひで [hi de]
excel, excellence, beauty, surpass
樹
き [ki]
timber, trees, wood
