Pitcher Brian Bannister left the Yomiuri Giants on March 15th in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, reported Jason Coskrey of the Japan Times on April 10th. Unlike most foreign players, Bannister left without permission and had to be placed on the restricted list. Coskrey said that placement on the list prevents Bannister from playing for any team – "in or outside of Japan" – until the situation is resolved.
An AP story on this topic surfaced today, in which Bannister reportedly told Japanese officials he has no plans to play in Japan or the U.S.
Bannister, 30, elected free agency after being outrighted by the Royals in November following a 6.34 ERA campaign. He went on to sign a $1.8MM deal with the Giants, but never pitched for them.
Congrats Brian, You did what any normal person would have done. Can you really blame the guy with a 9.0 earthquake and the problems with the nuclear reactor, would you really wait to call your agent and team to ask for permission?
Yes, you can blame him. He overreacted. The earthquake and nuclear reactor problem were both far in the north of the country and nowhere near Tokyo where the Yomiuri Giants are based. It’d be like freaking out over an earthquake in Los Angeles and wanting to leave when you live in Portland, Oregon.
Except that japan is a much MUCH smaller place than the west coast of America. So it would be more like if the earthquake (and resulting fallout) was LA and the concerned player was in Santa Barbara (Tokyo is about 76 miles from where the cluster-eff of a reactor complex is)
Facts! Who needs facts?!?!
You guys do, apparently. Seriously, read up on the actual radiation levels.
It’s not “MUCH smaller”, really. I have friends who live in Iwate prefecture and they’re entirely unaffected (other than emotionally) by what’s happened.
And that may be so, I’m not disputing anything like that. My intent was to
bust the Portland, OR to LA absurdity
They had warnings as far as California about tsunamis and radiation from the earthquake in Japan. Would you have stayed? I know I would be out as soon as possible.
Yes, I would have stayed. They had warnings in California as a precaution but there was no real danger, and the radiation was negligible. The level of radiation reaching Tokyo now is negligible. Fact-checking, it’s everyone’s friend.
Ok Nostradamus, because you knew that they would be able to contain the nuclear reactors from the time the earthquake happened. Had they not then you would have stayed and been exposed to some nice levels of radiations. Better safe than sorry, not worth risking your life by staying there.
You have no idea what you talking about, do you?
Yeah, actually I do. I lived in Japan. You guys are just feeding into this hysteria. The radiation was of no threat whatsoever to that guy.
You know this how? There has never been a nuclear meltdown. We all could have died for all we know. Why are you downplaying perhaps the biggest disaster in the nations history.
Wow, you had to have permission to leave a country that was being destroyed daily? That seems…..ludicrous. Bannister always was one of the more intelligent guys in the game, shame he couldn’t really pitch that well. Someone take him on as an analyst, STAT.
Where is his life-time salary? Is it a custom here to list it for those who retire?
Where does it say he’s retiring?
Can you read Japanese?
“Sports Nippon earlier reported that Bannister told the Giants he was ready to go as far as retiring rather than return to Japan.”
Click on the link in the article and check the bottom of his B-R page. His estimated compensation is there, although it’s usually more than the estimate when you figure signing bonuses, etc. In Bannister’s case it’s missing all of 2007 & 2009!
Brian’s BABIP (Being A Bungling Incompetent Pitcher) has finally caught up to him.
so did he just defect from Japan?
I don’t get this. The NPB season got rolling about 2 weeks ago and there are plenty of other foreign players that stayed. Why not go back, earn your $1.8 mil and try to extend your playing career?
Just Banny being Banny.