Friends, let’s step back in time for a moment. Back to the distant past of.. February 2006. So let’s hop into the DeLorean with a creepy older scientist, pump up the Huey Lewis, and hit 88 mph as we make our first foray into the Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness time machine.
Way back in that long-gone offseason, the Dodgers were in a state of complete upheaval. Coming off a 91-loss debacle, Jim Tracy and Paul DePodesta had both been shown the door, while Grady Little and Ned Colletti were just arriving. By February, Colletti had already made huge changes to the roster. Amongst his major free agent signings were Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparria, Brett Tomko and his wife, Kenny Lofton, and Bill Mueller. Coming via trade were Jae Seo, Andre Ethier, and Danys Baez. In the midst of all those big names, there was the usual flurry of has-beens and never-was’s. The Kurt Ainsworths, the wrong Ramon Martinez’, and the like.
Buried amongst them was this otherwise unremarkable line in the transaction log:
2/7/06: Signed Japanese RHP Takashi Saito to a Minor League contract with an invitation to spring training. Signed RHP Brian Meadows to a Minor League contract.
And there you have the first and only mention of the illustrious Brian Meadows on this blog. Oh wait – who the hell was that other guy? If anyone even noticed – I sure didn’t – then they saw an old mediocre import, just another past-his-prime athlete trying to cash in with his twilight years in America. Norihiro Nakamura, I’m looking squarely in your direction.
Saito, originally from Miyagi, Japan (must.. resist.. obvious.. joke.. waxonwaxoff! Damn it!) wasn’t exactly on the Ichiro/Dice-K level of young, successful ballplayer coming to take America by storm. After all, over 12 seasons in Japan he was only one game over .500. In two of his previous 5 seasons he had ERA’s north of 5.50. Worse, he seemed to be injury prone, having only pitched in 93 games since 2001. And now, 9 days from his 36th birthday, he was going to try to come to the bigs?
Beyond that, the Dodgers were pretty set in the pen, or so it seemed. The pen the Blue opened 2006 with featured four guys with closing experience – Baez, Yhency Brazoban, Lance Carter, and the rehabbing Eric Gagne. At this point, it was hard to tell which was more unlikely – that Saito was good enough to have an impact on the Dodgers; or that the Dodgers would even need him.
Except that Brazoban only pitched 5 innings all year before coming down with a severe case of Tommy Johnitis.
And that Gagne only made it 2 innings before succumbing to an assortment of injuries.
And that Lance Carter contributed 11 innings of 8.49 ERA before getting cut. He was so bad, in fact, that I can’t find any record of him being employed this season. It appears his career is over at 31; all the better for the inevitable N*Sync reunion.
And that Danys Baez was a disappointment, racking up a 4.35 ERA with only 9 saves – against 7 blown saves – before being dealt to Atlanta with Willy Aybar for Wilson Betemit. He then somehow parlayed that into a big deal with Baltimore, where he’s currently sporting a 6.06 ERA with 0 saves.
Simply put, the bullpen was completely boned. Except that when Saito was called up out of necessity, he was good. Real good. 2.07 ERA, 24 saves (a Dodger rookie record), and 6 wins good. An insane ERA+ of 222 (100 being average). Finishing 7th in the Rookie of the Year voting is one thing.. but finishing 8th in the Cy Young balloting is quite another.
So, maybe he caught the league off-guard. In 2007, now at 37, with flame-thrower Jonathan Broxton at his heels and with actual expectations, there’s no way he could possibly replicate that again. Right? Bueller? Well, you’re half right. He hasn’t replicated last year.
He’s been better.
25 saves vs only 3 blown. A 1.59 ERA. A 0.731 WHIP. An impossibly amazing ERA+ of 275. The man has given up 4 walks and 7 runs all season long. And the accolades are pouring in: a no-brainer All-Star berth.
Dayn Perry at FOXsports.com using Baseball Prospectus’ “leverage” stat to show that Saito’s stats are even more impressive than they seem. (side note: a major media baseball writer who’s not afraid of stats! hooray!)
Sports Illustrated placing him at #8 in their midseason NL MVP voting. What’s more, he’s been known to walk around the locker room in full samurai gear to entertain his teammates. And how can you not love that joyful fist-pump after every save?
How, exactly, did he turn from such an unremarkable pitcher in Japan to such a dominating force in America? I have no idea. But I can tell you where this team would be without him. Third place this year. At best. And no shot at the playoffs last year. His reliability has allowed Broxton to stay in the 8th, forming unquestionably the best 1-2 late inning punch in the bigs. Cheer this man heartily, Dodger fans. We talk quite a bit about the youngsters carrying the team, and Penny & Lowe rocking the rotation – but Saito’s every bit as valuable.
Join us next time on the time machine, where we’ll go back to 1976 and try to prevent Jason Grabowski from ever being born.
