NEW YORK — However much anticipated Sunday’s pitching match-up might be in Japan, Seattle Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma is trying his best to minimize any emotional attachment to facing former teammate Masahiro Tanaka.
“I look at it as another game,” Iwakuma insisted. “I’m not here in the majors to face Tanaka. He’s just another pitcher. I know that we have a relationship, but I don’t want to go deep in the emotion of thinking about it.”
This is the first match-up between Iwakuma and Tanaka, who were teammates from 2007-11 with the Rakuten Eagles in Japan’s Pacific League. Iwakuma came to the Mariners in 2012, while Tanaka signed two years later with the Yankees.
While the two were a combined 120-62 over their five years together, the Eagles managed just one winning season. During that time, Iwakuma said the two never talked about pitching in the big leagues.
“We’d always been on the same side as teammates,” he said, “and it was great to have someone like him in the same rotation. That’s all we talked about.”
Iwakuma is more than seven years older than Tanaka, and has often been characterized as the big brother in their relationship, but he dismisses any suggestion that he had an impact on Tanaka’s career.
“He’s always been a great pitcher with talent,” Iwakuma said. “So he is what he is, and he was a very special pitcher back in Japan. That’s what he is today as well.”
These days, the two keep in touch — but only on an occasional basis.
“We text each other here and there,” Iwakuma said. “When we see each other, we meet and greet. That’s about it. But I can say that we played on the same team in Japan for several years, and we know each other very well.”
And even as Iwakuma seeks to treat the game as nothing special, he recognizes that “it’s big news” in Japan.
“We played with each other for so long,” he said, “and a lot of the fans back in Japan, the whole nation has rooted for us (in the big leagues). Now, it’s myself vs. Tanaka. It’s a different story.
“I’m sure all of the fans will enjoy that, and I hope to contribute to making the fans very happy.”
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