Hiroyuki Nakajima, the new Oakland Athletics shortstop, gave an interesting and unconventional reason for signing with the A’s at Tuesday’s introductory press conference. Through a translator, Nakajima explained it was because General Manager BIlly Beane “is extremely sexy and cool.” He also quipped that one of the things he will have to adjust to is the lack of bathtubs in America.
The Yardbarker website notes that “The Oakland A’s didn’t just get a shortstop when they signed Japanese infielder Hiroyuki Nakajima, they also got a comedian.
Nakajima signed a two-year, $6.5 million contract with Oakland, which had an opening in the lineup after Stephen Drew joined the Boston Red Sox. With incentive bonuses, Nakajima could reportedly make as much as $9.2 million.
ESPN provides this summary of Nakajima’s career:
“Nakajima, 30, is an eight-time All-Star in Japan and a three-time Gold Glove winner. He has a .302 career batting average with 162 homers in 11 seasons with the Pacific League’s Seibu Lions. He has hit 20 or more homers in a season four times. He batted .311 with 29 doubles, 13 homers and 74 RBIs in 136 games for the Lions last season.”
The allegedly sexy Bill Beane had this to say about the Nakajima signing:
“There are some things when you’re here in Oakland that just feel right. This one felt right.The longer we went on, the more information we got we said let’s take a chance on the unknown as opposed to going down the road of the known … The more things we uncovered the longer we got into the winter, the more we realized this was the guy.”
Watch Hiroyuki Nakijima remark that Billy Beane is sexy:
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Here is Next Media Animation’s take on the Hiroyuki Nakijima signing by the Oakland A’s:
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