The interpreter Yumi Watanabe, right, with pitcher Kei Igawa and catcher Jorge Posada. “If someone needs to speak to him,” Watanabe said, “I’m ready to pounce.”
(『だれかが彼に話したいときが私の出番』と語る通訳渡辺弓太郎、井川慶投手とジョージ・ポサーダ捕手の右。)
ボストン・レッドソックスが松坂大輔と契約した６年６２億円には、フルタイムの通訳が含まれている。
ファンは、井川の脇にいて、ヤンキースの青いスウェットを着た男の存在が気になる。背が高く真面目に井川に寄り添い井川のシャツを持っていたりする。彼は控えの投手でもなければ無名のコーチでもない、通訳渡辺弓太郎で日本語しか話さない井川がブルペンで投げるときもピッチングコーチよりも井川の近くにいて『だれかが彼に話したいときが私の出番』だと言う。
メジャーリーグが国際化し渡米する日本人選手が多くなるにつれて通訳を雇う球団が増えている。スペイン語を話すチームメート、コーチ、クラブのスタッフがいるラテンアメリカ出身の選手と違って日本人選手の場合そうはいかない。
試合の局面で通訳は多くの他球団でも日常的に目立つ存在になった。ジェネラルマネジャー（GM）は、選手には米国に慣れて快適に過ごしてもらいたいと言う。コーチは自分の出した指示がわかったのかどうか知りたいと言う。そして日本で成功し米国でも直ちに成果を出すことが期待されている選手たちもまた思ったことを表現したいのである。
『そのような選手のそうしたニーズは、われわれにとって重大事、だから通訳の存在が重要で、そこにいて助けてくれる人材がなくてはならない。』と言うのはヤンキースのGMブライアン・キャッシュマン。
ヤンキース、ボストン・レッドソックス、シアトル・マリナーズは、それぞれ、今シーズン日本人選手を２人、フルタイムの通訳を２人、かかえており、通訳は選手がチームメートやマスコミと話すのを助けるのが使命。しかし、学生リーグの選手からボディーガードまでさまざまな前歴の通訳は英語と日本語を解読するだけではない。個人のアシスタントとしての仕事もこなす。
英語を読んだり話したりできない選手は、運転免許を取ったり、アパートを借りたり、銀行口座を開設したり、の日常生活の必要があるため、ヤンキースは野球外の生活についても契約で取極めている、とキャッシュマンGM。
『通訳は球場内だけではいけないし、球場外でも選手を一人にしてもいけない』と話すのは2003年以来ヤンキース左翼手松井秀喜の通訳をつとめるロジャー・カーロン。
『ただ通訳するだけではなく、選手を新しい文化に同化させるのだ』とキャッシュマン。
英語は松井とて多少は理解していて少しは話す。最近も着いたら"How are you?"終わったら"See you tomorrow."と言ったが、それでも松井が一人で英語のインタビューを受けることはなく、８ヶ月にもなるシーズン中通訳カーロンの存在は不可欠と考えている。
『通訳を通じてのコミュニケーションがフィールド内でとても大事であることは当然ですが、それよりもっと大事なのはフィールド外での通訳の役割で、通訳はほんとうによき友人です。』と松井は言う。
今シーズン、松井に1300万ドル（約15.6億円）、井川に400万ドル（約4.8億円）を支払って通訳関連費用に30万ドル（約3600万円）は高いとみるヤンキースには日本人マスコミ対応アドバイザー広岡イサオ氏がいる。
英語を話せない選手全員にこの通訳サービスが提供されていない点を懸念する球団首脳もいる。カーロンも、通訳のついていない外国人選手が怒りはしないだろうか、と気まずく思ったことがあると言う。ヤンキースにスペイン語の通訳はいないが、キャッシュマンＧＭは、トニーぺーニャ・コーチや他のクラブスタッフがその役割を果たしていると言う。
その一方、台湾出身のWang選手には通訳はいない。不適格な通訳をヤンキースが解雇したが、そのWang選手も今では不自由なく英語を話せると言う。
レッドソックスの松坂大輔投手との６年６２億円契約には、フルタイムの通訳が含まれている。まもなく球団がつける通訳はハーバード卒。リリーフ投手の岡島にも通訳がいる。
レッドソックスのブラッドミルズ・ベンチコーチは木曜、ブルペンのマウンドへ向い、フィールディング方法が松坂と岡島によく伝わるよう一言一言、間を置いてアシスタント・トレーナーの高橋氏に話した。岡島は球団の日本のマスコミ担当の通訳を通じ『私の感触をほかの人にわかってもらうことがとても大切なことで、私が感じていること、心で思っていることを伝えてくれる人が必要』と語る。
The interpreter Yumi Watanabe, right, with pitcher Kei Igawa and catcher Jorge Posada. “If someone needs to speak to him,” Watanabe said, “I’m ready to pounce.”
TAMPA, Fla., Feb. 24 — Six Yankees jogged across a practice field here, along a path lined with excited fans, toward the bullpen of an adjacent field. The fans recognized and shouted to Mike Mussina, Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa, the pitchers who are projected to be in the starting rotation this season.
When the Boston Red Sox signed pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, they gave him a six-year, $52 million contract that included a full-time interpreter.
But some fans said they were curious about the identity of the man in a blue Yankees sweatshirt who was running beside Igawa. Tall and serious, he stayed close to Igawa, even carrying his sweatshirt. He is not a candidate for the rotation or a little-known coach. He is Igawa’s interpreter.
His name is Yumi Watanabe, and he remained within a few steps of Igawa, who speaks only Japanese. When Igawa throws in the bullpen, Watanabe is closer to him than the pitching coach.
“If someone needs to speak to him,” Watanabe said, “I’m ready to pounce.”
As the internationalization of Major League Baseball continues and more Japanese players come here to play, teams have increasingly been hiring interpreters to help ease their transition. Unlike Latin American players, who can usually find teammates, coaches and club officials who speak Spanish, Japanese players rarely have that option.
In this evolving aspect of the game, the interpreters are becoming a more visible presence in the daily routines of numerous teams. General managers say they want the players who are acclimating to the United States to feel as comfortable as possible. Coaches say they want to know their instructions are being understood. And the players, who have achieved success in Japan and are expected to produce instantly here, want to express themselves, too.
“These players have a lot of needs and are important to us,” said Brian Cashman, the general manager of the Yankees. “So the people who translate are very important. You have to have the right people in place to support them.”
The Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners, each with two Japanese players, will each have two full-time interpreters this season. They are responsible for helping the players communicate with their teammates and the news media. But the interpreters, who range from an Ivy Leaguer to a former security guard, do more than decipher English and Japanese. Some perform the tasks of a personal assistant, too.
Cashman said that players who could not read or speak English needed help with routine tasks like acquiring a driver’s license, renting an apartment and opening a bank account. The Yankees give interpreters a job description, and it includes some off-the-field responsibilities.
“You can’t say you’re only going to help him within the confines of the stadium and then leave him alone,” said Roger Kahlon, who has interpreted for Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui since 2003.
As Cashman said: “It’s not just translating. It’s assimilating them into the new culture.”
Matsui understands some English and speaks a little, too. On one recent day, he said, “How are you?” when he arrived and “See you tomorrow” when he left. Still, Matsui does no interviews in English and considers Kahlon’s presence essential during a season that can last eight months.
“Obviously, on the field, the communication and having an interpreter to help is very important,” Matsui said through Kahlon. “Beyond that, what’s more important is the way the interpreter helps away from the field. An interpreter, to me, becomes a really good friend.”
The Yankees will pay Matsui $13 million and Igawa $4 million this season, so they consider it shrewd to spend about $300,000 on the salaries and expenses for the interpreters. The team also has a Japanese news media adviser, Isao Hirooka.
Some team executives said one concern with interpreters was that the service was not granted to every player who did not speak English. Kahlon said he occasionally felt awkward and wondered if foreign players without someone like him grew resentful. The Yankees do not have a Spanish interpreter, but Cashman said Tony Peña, a coach, and other club personnel served that role.
In addition, Wang, who is Taiwanese, no longer has an interpreter. The Yankees said his interpreter was inconsistent and they dismissed him. Now Wang says he speaks English well enough to handle himself.
The Red Sox gave pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka a six-year, $52 million contract that includes a full-time interpreter. The team hired a Harvard graduate, who is expected to join Matsuzaka soon. Reliever Hideki Okajima also has an interpreter.
While Brad Mills, Boston’s bench coach, stood on a bullpen mound Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla., and described a fielding drill, he paused every few words so that Masai Takahashi, an assistant trainer and interpreter, could translate for Matsuzaka and Okajima. “It is very important to have my feelings understood by others,” Okajima said through Sachiyo Sekiguchi, who handles the team’s Japanese media relations. “I need somebody to deliver what I feel and what I have in my mind.”
The sumo wrestler Takamiyama, Jesse Kuhaulua, is the father of the interpreter Yumi Watanabe.
The Red Sox learned quickly that a competent interpreter was a necessity. During Matsuzaka’s introductory news conference at Fenway Park, he gave detailed answers, but the translation did not convey the full flavor of his comments.
In Japan, teams are limited to four foreign players, so the Americans usually share an interpreter. Sometimes the words are translated, sometimes not.
Lawrence Rocca, the director of promotions for the Chiba Lotte Marines, said he attended a team meeting about nutrition last year. After a nutritionist spoke about 10 minutes in Japanese, Rocca said, the former major leaguer Matt Franco asked the interpreter what had been said. Rocca said the interpreter replied, “She’s saying that you should eat good food.”
When the Yankees hired Watanabe as Igawa’s interpreter, it was front-page news in Sankei Sports. Watanabe received splashy coverage because his father is Jesse Kuhaulua, who is better known as the sumo wrestler Takamiyama. A native Hawaiian, Takamiyama was the first foreign-born sumo wrestler to win a grand championship in Japan.
Watanabe, 32, was not yet born when his father won that title in 1972. “I didn’t think much about it,” he said. “He was just my father.”
When Watanabe moved from a security job with the Yankees to being Igawa’s interpreter, he switched from checking reporters’ credentials to being Igawa’s right-hand man. Kahlon, 33, advised Watanabe to study baseball phrases and to remain relaxed during TV interviews.
Deciphering baseball slang is one of the trickiest parts of the job, Kahlon said. During a hitters meeting, a Yankees coach said a pitcher liked to paint the black, meaning he aimed for the corners of the plate. Kahlon wondered whether the expression referred to a pitcher using spray paint.
Like other interpreters, Kahlon serves various roles for Matsui and the Yankees. He plays catch with Matsui and retrieves balls for coaches during infield practice. But mostly, Kahlon stands beside Matsui on the field or in the clubhouse, waiting to translate or to do something more.
“One thing about interpreting is you have to become a nobody,” Kahlon said. “If you get in the way or you get in the middle of things, that’s not being an interpreter. You have to be a shadow.”