Trend: More Japanese professional baseball players in Boston.
When the Boston Red Sox activated Daisuke Matsuzaka on September 15, he became the fourth Japanese players on the team, setting a new MLB record. As MLB.com notes, the team has rolled out the red carpet:
The Red Sox have two full-time interpreters (Masa Hoshino and Jeff Yamaguchi) for the Japanese players, which not only facilitates communication with the coaching staff and non-Japanese players, but also the media. The club has a Japanese assistant trainer (Masai Takahashi) and a Japanese massage therapist (Takanori Maeda), as well as a Japanese chef in the clubhouse for all home games.
The hardest adjustment? Food, according to lefty relief pitcher Hineki Okajima: “That’s No. 1. Also, the team structure. In Japan, the older players have to be respected. In Japan, everything goes by seniority. It’s something I missed because there’s no such thing in Major League Baseball.”
What’s next, Fukudome at Fenway?
Sox Set Standards for Japanese Players [MLB.com]
Trendy Tomodachi 
Let our lefty be!
Fukudome and Wrigley
are a classic pair.
*I feel like a bit of a poser since I usually rely on ‘CubsInHaiku’ for all my 17 syllable Cubs comments.