So you got to know Tony quite w.
Playing for team Japan.
Can you tell us what he's like as a guy?
I get to know him as it to Yeah, I mean
sleeps a lot. I asked him if he
wanted to go eat yesterday and ,
you know, he said he was sleepi.
So no, he's he's a normal guy.
He's humble dude like I've said it before.
But he's comfortable in his own skin.
That's kind of what sit out to me the
most is that he's just one of te
guys and awesome guy, awesome friend,
obviously an amazing baseball player, but.
Yeah, I mean pretty, pretty easy going.
The fact that you guys
bonded that's pretty cool
for you is the way that.
Yeah, I think so.
And I just think mainly going or
there and and having him accepte
and obviously his word means a .
So the fact that he would he embraced
me I think helped me and I think
helped help the team honestly,
how about him as a player that
can do so much I mean maybe mor.
It's historic. Yeah, yeah, I.
You hear everything
and and you know, you see
the highlights or whatever,
but seeing it daytoday,
seeing him take BP, I'd never
seen anything like it.
And then when he's sorry
about that and when he went
to Miami and he took BP,
I talked to Nolan after the
game and he said he had
never seen anything like it.
So I was like, OK, you know,
that that's, you know,
no one's seen some guys and he's
obviously an obsessive player a,
you know, a Hall of Fame
player in his own right.
But for him to say that about O,
that was when I knew I was
just making these things
up. Can you describe?
Seen your own words,
Just the amazingness that he's e
only one that hits and pitches.
But he's also like,
if he hit really well and
he's just OK at pitching,
it's still be cool.
Yeah. And I
think, I think that's why
he's able to do what he does.
Like when he first,
I talked to him a little bit
about him when he first planned
for the fighters over in Japan,
he was only going to pitch becae
there was a lot of scrutiny and
there's a lot of doubt about it.
But and I I honestly don't know if coming
here he had that rough spring training.
I don't know if.
If he had the ability to not be
a top ten hitter as long as as
well as well as a top ten pitch,
I don't think that they would
allow him to do it.
But because he's so above and
beyond in both of those things,
I think that's what allowed him to do it.
And I think he's probably open
some doors to some people that
maybe don't have the exact abil.
But you know,
say they're a Tier 2 or Tier
3 and both of them,
maybe they'll
be able to to stay. But
because he's able to be elite
at both of those, I think. You
know, it's pretty amazing.
I'm sure you've answered
this question 100 times.
But the pepper grinder,
when you guys were over there,
how did you convince him to do ?
Were you surprised that he did?
I I just asked him, like, I I m,
for me it was like I was going to a new team,
new culture, new language,
everything like that.
So I asked him like, hey,
what are we doing for celebrati?
And he's like, we don't really
do anything with the angels.
So whatever you do will roll with it.
So I mean, that's just
kind of going back to gym,
Like that's just who he is.
He's just easygoing. So.
Got to base it and did what I kw
and you know did the pepper grir
and then after that, you know te
guys kind of rallied behind tha.
So that's kind of how it
was decided I had Darvish,
but Darvish kind of a pitcher.
So I didn't really,
you know it didn't really count so but yeah,
so I I kind of did it.
He he rolled with it and like I said.
Him having that, you know,
presence in Japan,
that's kind of,
did you see they made it into a
tshirt too. Yeah. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I have one of those.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
In large, we in the United Stats
probably don't have the same
appreciation for the way of Tanr
the WBC is viewed over there. Y.
So what was your impression of t
like what the whole atmosphere was like
surrounding him and the event itself?
Yeah, this is just a Tuesday ovr
there in Japan and WBC, you kno,
it's the media coverage is crazy over there.
Obviously the fandoms, you know,
they're they're passionate over there.
You know, the fans are,
are they're serious about it.
I think if they said something like 97%
of households or whatever TV's in Japan,
we're watching that last * you know,
I just think you go to a game of Tokyo
Dome and you got 50,000 screaming and
chanting the same exact thing in unison.
You know, the fans, you know,
following the bus everywhere,
greenness at the stadium,
you kind of get an understanding
of how much you're doing exactl.