ESPN.com – MLB – Mariners: No Sasaki in ’04

ESPN.com – MLB – Mariners: No Sasaki in ’04

Well kiss my grits. This changes things. The concerns had been that Sasaki might be hurt, but it turns out he was homesick. Sacrificing $9M because you miss your wife and kids is a powerful endorsement of your values. If this turns out to be true I nominate Kazuhiro to the Family Hall of Fame. There’s a spot a guy named Clemens recently vacated.

By the way, I was at a dinner party recently and I mentioned I’d been at a spring training came a few years ago in Port Charlotte that Clemens pitched in. It was notable because I was sitting in the row behind the Clemens family, and I got a powerful sense that Mrs. Clemens was as powerful a competitor as Roger himself. At this dinner I’m talking about I suggested that Roger very well might un-retire himself because his family really wants him competing (where would the energy go if he wasn’t? into enforcing curfews and homework compliance? or should that be kompliance?). The guy I was talking to said he’d met Mrs. Clemens many times which made me feel small.

But I was right. He may want to spend more time with his family, but he can do that in Houston. And the family isn’t telling him to tamp it down. Which is why I have RC on my mock draft squad in the magazine (which should be arriving this Tuesday or next on a newsstand or Walmart near you).