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Iwamura Adds Fatherhood, 2nd Base To His Repertoire

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Marc Lancaster/The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG It's difficult to imagine a more hectic offseason than the one Akinori Iwamura navigated last year.

Deciding to leave Japan to play baseball in the United States, going through the posting system that landed him with Tampa Bay and moving his pregnant wife, Misaki, halfway around the world to a country where neither spoke the language presented formidable obstacles for Iwamura to overcome before he even set foot on a field.

That experience has made this winter, which has seen Iwamura ease into fatherhood while trying to learn a new position, a relative breeze.

"This offseason has been great so far," Iwamura said in an e-mail to the Tribune relayed through one of his agents, Yoshi Hasegawa.

One of the highlights of Iwamura's winter was returning to his hometown, Uwajima, and introducing his father to his new grandson, Taiki, who was born July 10 in St. Petersburg. But there was work to be done as well.

When Iwamura returns to Florida next month to begin his second major-league season, the Rays plan to have him focus on second base. The rise of top prospect Evan Longoria prompted the switch from third base, and the Rays would prefer to leave Iwamura at second even if Longoria doesn't make their Opening Day roster.

Iwamura, who turns 29 on Feb. 9, got a taste of playing on the right side of the diamond in the Rays' final game last season, starting at second base against the Blue Jays, and he has been working on the transition ever since.

He called the infield coach from his former team in Japan, the Yakult Swallows, as soon as he returned home last fall and the two have been working together all winter.

"I have been practicing fundamental drills for second base in this offseason and feeling great," said Iwamura. "I am excited about this new challenge."

Rays manager Joe Maddon said last week he hadn't spoken directly to Iwamura about his progress at second base but the team had heard reports that everything was going well. Tampa Bay is taking a leap of faith in moving Iwamura, who hasn't played second base since junior high, but the Rays believe he has the requisite skill set and other attributes to succeed there.

"The idea when we signed him was to play third base until about the time Evan Longoria was ready," said Rays executive vice president Andrew Friedman. "We didn't know if it would be one year, two years, three years, but we felt like Aki had the actions to play second base, he has the willingness, he has the work ethic. While it's a risk, we feel pretty confident that not only is he going to be able to do it, but that he will be pretty good at it as well."

Defense has always been one of Iwamura's trademarks. His nickname in Japan is "Top Gun," a reference to his strong throwing arm, and his .975 fielding percentage last season (seven errors in 283 total chances) was the best among major-league third basemen.

Difficult as it may be to move a defensive asset like Iwamura, his bat projects better at second base. Iwamura was a power hitter in Japan but by June had been slotted in as the Rays' leadoff hitter. He did his job there, reaching base via a hit or a walk in 108 of his 122 starts as he hit .285 and posted a .359 on-base percentage. His 10 triples led all major-league rookies and equaled Iwamura's total from the previous five seasons with Yakult combined.

Iwamura said his goals for 2008 include hitting at least .300 and scoring at least 100 runs while staying healthy through the entire season. He missed nearly five weeks in April and May with a strained oblique muscle.

There was one other item on his to-do list: "Playing baseball in October."

"I hated to see the playoffs on TV," he said, "and I felt I really wanted to go to the playoffs."

If Iwamura can help the Rays pull off that trick this year, next offseason may be his most satisfying ever.

Reporter Marc Lancaster can be reached at (813) 259-7227 or mlancaster@tampatrib.com.

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