Players from the Far East also have difficulties dealing with the media.
That's where the interpreters come in.
On the Red Sox, assistant trainer Chang-Ho Lee, who is fluent in Korean
and Japanese, translates for pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim. He tries to make
sure that nothing is lost in the translation, trying not to sugar-coat
an answer or filter an answer he knows will be controversial.
"If I cut the answer, that makes a problem because (the player)
sometimes understands if I'm not saying exactly what they are saying,"
said Lee. "I don't make it up or try to say it in a nicer way. It's best
to just say what they said."
The arrival of more Oriental players has changed the media corps, as
well. Newspapers and television outlets from Korea and Japan send
reporters to the United States just to follow the Mariners' Ichiro
Suzuki or the Yankees' Hideki Matsui.
The Japanese media corps numbered maybe a dozen when Hideki Irabu was
pitching for the Yanks several years ago. Now there are roughly 100
Japanese media members tracking Matsui's every move at Yankee home
games. On the road, between 50 and 70 reporters travel with the team.
At Yankee Stadium, the Japanese media works out of an old locker room,
complete with TVs to watch the game since space is limited in the press
box. When the Yankees were in Boston recently, a similar room was set up.
Matsui has to do a press conference for the Japanese media after every
game, whether he has gone 0-for-4 or 4-for-4. He also meets with the
American media (through his interpreter) in the main clubhouse if
reporters want to talk to him.
"I can't imagine what this guy is going through," said Yankee teammate
John Flaherty, watching the crush of Japense media surround Matsui prior
to batting practice one day.
