SAN DIEGO — Here I am, the Dodgers optimist, interviewing closer Takashi Saito before Wednesday's game, figuring he'll play a huge role in the team's victory a few hours from now.
I know the Dodgers are playing the Padres and the Dodgers never beat the Padres, which probably explains why it is already 3-0 in the Padres' favor after the first inning, but so far I've worked harder in San Diego than Saito and that's not good for the Dodgers.
I'm anxious to see Saito compete in a big game because I'm concerned how a 36-year-old closer, who began the year in the minor leagues after pitching primarily 14 seasons in Japan as a starter, will fare when we get to the point when every out really counts.
I asked the team's travel manager, Scott Akasaki, to relay my concerns to Saito, who has only 14 major league saves to his credit. Akasaki began speaking in Japanese, and although I didn't understand a word, by the look on Saito's face, I assumed Akasaki was warning him about the goofball with the notebook in hand.
"He says there are probably other fans who hold similar concerns about a 36-year-old closer entering September," Akasaki said, while Saito grinned at me. "He says pitching in the ninth in April is the same situation as pitching in the ninth in September."
Had Saito pitched for the Dodgers in the ninth in April, though, it would have been in Las Vegas for their minor league team, or in a mop-up situation that didn't require an appearance by Eric Gagne, Yhency Brazoban or Danys Baez.
He's the Dodgers' closer now because everyone else went away, and although he has been brilliant to date, the season could rest on the arm of a guy who pitched 1,514 innings for the Yokohama BayStars and who went 11-16 his final three years there.
"He says his goal when he came here was to just pitch from a major league mound and he didn't care if it was as a starting pitcher, a middle reliever or closer," Akasaki said. "It has been a good-luck thing that he's gotten the chance that he has. He would have pitched in the minors if that's what they wanted."
Well, here he is, and as teammate Brett Tomko said, "I would put his slider up against anybody pitching right now."
"It's a filthy slider," Tomko said and I'd like to see how Akasaki would explain that to Saito.
"You look at that slider, and as good as it is," said Gagne, "he's still throwing a fastball 94 or 95 mph."
