In addition to the food, players take in shopping, polite natives and ... quirky showers?
By MARC TOPKIN
Published March 29, 2004
[Times photo: Toni Sandys]
Devil Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli signs an autograph before entering a restaurant. He and Tino Martinez have been very popular among fans. Photo gallery
TOKYO - His work for the week over after pitching in the exhibition tie vs. Hanshin, rookie Doug Waechter took a little chance Sunday night. He and girlfriend Kristin Kravitz hopped in a cab outside the Hotel New Otani and told the driver the only word of Japanese they knew, Roppongi.
They'd heard from teammates about a spectacular restaurant that served exotic seafood and extraordinary steaks but couldn't remember the name, only that it was somewhere in Roppongi, the bustling Tokyo entertainment district that resembles a bigger, busier and, in places, seedier Ybor City.
Location can be everything to a pitcher, and Waechter and Kravitz got dropped off close enough that they practically bumped into the Seryna Mon cher ton ton, feasting on Kobe beef, grilled prawns and other delicacies that made it a meal they'll long remember.
"I wasn't sure if it was brave or stupid," Waechter said. "That's what happens when you're up at 3 a.m. your time doing things."
The Rays might be having trouble with the time (and day), but with a chance to get out and explore Tokyo, many are having the time of their lives.
Food has become a primary topic, from how much they are spending (18,000 yen, about $170, at Seryna for the house special featuring super top sirloin, grilled abalone and sashami) to what they are, and aren't, eating.
"I don't know if I've eaten anything weird," Waechter said, "because I don't know half the stuff I'm eating."
Another is shopping, with players (or their wives/girlfriends) planning outings in the coming days to places such as Takashimaya Times Square, Electric City and the tony Ginza area for electronics, jewelry, hip clothes and souvenirs to fill the empty suitcases they brought.
Others were happy to roam the streets, marveling at the cleanliness of the area and the politeness of the people.
"Everyone here is so gracious and nice," Aubrey Huff said. "It's something I never experienced, people taking you out of their way to show you where to go. You don't get that kind of treatment in the States."
The language barrier can be an issue. Because many cab drivers don't speak English, players were told to get cards from the hotel with both their destination and the hotel address written in Japanese. While there are some recognizable store chains, such as 7-Eleven, McDonald's and Starbucks, there are plenty of streets where there are no familiar signs or words.
"Now I know what the Dominican guys go through being a foreigner," pitcher Dewon Brazelton said.
Because of Japan's passion for baseball and high-profile coverage of the opening series, as well as their size and, at times, color, the Rays players tend to get noticed wherever they go.
One fan followed a group that included the seemingly extremely popular Tino Martinez and Rocco Baldelli from the hotel to the Seryna just to try to get their autographs. Carl Crawford and Damian Rolls, two of the team's black players, were approached several times as they wandered the streets.
"Me and C.C. stuck out like sore thumbs," Rolls said. "People were definitely pointing us out."
There are some things that have taken getting used to. Tipping is not customary, and more than one Ray has walked away from a restaurant table feeling uneasy about not leaving anything extra.
The currency, with a conversion rate in excess of 100 yen to $1, can be a bit perplexing with some retail prices in the five-digit range.
The bathrooms have been another topic of, um, discussion. The luxury hotel features toilets that can double as bidets. More disconcerting have been some of the public restrooms that don't offer western-style facilities, a nice way of saying what they do have is akin to a hole in the ground.
The Rays have been particularly amused by the Tokyo Dome clubhouse shower facilities, which are built so a player sits on small, plastic stool and operates a hand-held shower head.
"Very Japanese," pitcher Paul Abbott said.
Walking the streets of Roppongi, looking in shops and down alleys, stepping briefly into a pachinko game parlor so Kravitz could take a spin, noticing similarities and differences in everything from traffic patterns to vehicle size to an abundance of smokers to unusual looking vending machines (some sell beer!), Waechter, the 23-year-old St. Petersburg native, reflected on what it has been like to be half a world from home.
"It makes you realize how big the world is," Waechter said. "You think everything is so similar to America, but it can be so different."
Most of the discussions come back to the food because of how different the Japanese tastes are.
"Some of this stuff," infielder Geoff Blum said, "is like an episode of Fear Factor."
"It's interesting," pitcher Rob Bell said. "You can't go into it with a weak stomach."
Rolls had eel and a whole red snapper. "The whole fish, the eyes, the head, the tail," Rolls said.
Martinez and Baldelli had grilled Kobe steak, lobster, rice sashami and soup. "I want to taste it all," Martinez said. "It was incredible," Baldelli said.
Waechter had a steak he said was better than anything he could ever get at his old Tampa favorite, Bern's, and helped Kravitz with some prawns that he said he'd prefer to never see again.
"I didn't even know what a prawn was," Waechter said. "The waiter told us we could eat them, and it seemed like it would be kind of disrespectful if we didn't. When I wasn't looking Kristin kept sneaking the crunchy parts on my plate.
"They weren't that bad, if you didn't look at what you were eating."
