The fact that I was a consultant for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants for seven years under the great owner Ichiro Shoriki I think I know a little bit about Japanese baseball.
I first met Mr. Shoriki in 1986. An introduction that came from his assistant long-time baseball operations aid Richard Seko.
Richard felt that I would be a good addition because of my long experience with George Steinbrenner and the Yankees. I would spend a couple of weeks in Japan each year and assess what was needed. Among the players that I assisted in bringing to Japan were Jesse Barfield, Chuck Cary, Loyde Moseby, and Phil Bradley. These players were basically close to the end of their big league careers.
One year while visiting Japan I was told that the big game in town was the Seibu Lions. They would go on to win the Japanese World Series two years in a row. The Michael Jordan of Japan baseball at that moment was Orestes Destrade, a player that I had known while he was a young player in the Yankees farm system. In Japan, he was so loved that the people were naming their babies after him. He became known as the big O. I don’t know how to say it in the Japanese language but it had to of sounded sexy because by the increase in women at the stadium, he definitely was considered a sex symbol. As the old saying goes, the man wanted to be O and the woman wanted to be with O.
His star power and production on the field was so strong that the big O was able to come back to America and become one of the Florida Marlins first big stars.
While playing in America Orestes would return to Japan in the offseason for promotional and charitable purposes. Because of his command of the Japanese language, he would also do many public service announcements. The big O would never forget what Japan and Japanese baseball meant to his life.
After his career as a player ended, he would take residence in the Tampa Bay Area and become an Emmy award-winning broadcaster for the Tampa Bay Rays.
The fact that I also live in the Tampa Bay Area I have witnessed the love and adulation from the people of the area.
When you give of yourself for charitable causes most people have no idea what you’re doing. You do it for the good of man not the good of yourself.
I can’t tell you how many times I run into Orestes at different events throughout the years. I always tell him that his whole career should have been that of a Yankee because I always love saying that the Yankees organization has always been sports most charitable!
In the last year, I got to work with Orestes in a television pilot called The Tryout. It is supposed to be a sports version of America’s Got Talent or American Idol. The show was hosted by Grace Cashman who is also the host of The Story of My Number on the YES network. The show is about finding the baseball talent that may have fallen through the cracks. To say that Orestes’ charm and personality along with the humor of Hall of Famer Wade Boggs helped carry the show would really be an understatement.
I have gotten to know The Big O through the years and have found a man who has dealt with family health issues like a champion. No one knows how difficult that can be until you hear the word cancer thrown into the equation. He also showed me that nothing is more important than family. If Orestes is guilty of anything in his career it’s his family’s first attitude and like the rest of the world, not knowing how to truly handle catastrophic moments or situations. However, by the grace of god things with the family are great thanks to the love and support that this man gave the family.
Recently the cities of Tampa and Miami have leaned on Orestes knowledge, experience, and adulation from the country of Japan to help in business development that will help the people and communities from both countries. To see Mayor Onozuka from Japan and Tampa Mayor Castor being helped by a former Yankee farm hand to help make things better for society shows me that baseball is more than just a game and Orestes Destrade has earned the nickname that the Japanese people have given him… The Big O!
