Matsuzaka, Okajima Among Japanese Players Concerned About Family
(AP) - Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka tried to get in touch with his grandmother.
Oakland slugger Hideki Matsui prayed for the victims.
Mets reliever Ryota Igarashi stayed up all night to see the devastation.
All across spring training, Japanese ballplayers worried Friday about those at home. Hundreds of people were killed or missing after Japan was struck by its biggest recorded earthquake and a massive tsunami.
"It's a tough situation," Red Sox reliever Hideki Okajima said through a translator. "You can't control nature, but when something like this happens, you really realize the power of nature."
Matsuzaka said his parents in Tokyo were all right, but "I haven't been able to get in touch with my grandmother," he said.
At the Texas camp, pitcher Yoshinori Tateyama stood in front of a TV tuned to CNN. As he watched the pictures, he used his fingers to draw a map of Japan on a table, trying to show Rangers teammates Josh Hamilton and Mitch Moreland where the damage occurred.
Tateyama said he found out what happened in an e-mail from a friend after the morning workouts.
"At that time I realized how big it was," he said through a translator.
More than a dozen players from Japan played in the majors last season. Seattle star Ichiro Suzuki declined comment, the team said.
"I am deeply concerned and affected by what is happening in Japan," Matsui said in a statement before his A's played the Dodgers. "I pray for the safety of all the people that have been affected and continue to be affected by this disaster."
Commissioner Bud Selig said his staff had been in contact with its office in Tokyo. In Japan, baseball games in Tokyo, Chiba and Yokohama were called off, as were all pro sports in the country.
"Major League Baseball will certainly provide aid with the relief efforts in the days and weeks ahead. We will do everything we can to help Japan," Selig said in a statement.
The Oakland Athletics said they would help relief aid by adding a fundraising effort to the previously scheduled Japanese Heritage Day on April 3, when Ichiro and the Mariners visit Matsui and the A's at the Coliseum.
Beyond baseball, other athletes were affected by the magnitude-8.9 earthquake.
Golfer Ryo Ishikawa woke up and heard about the destruction. He managed to keep his focus and shot a 7-under 65 at the first round of the Cadillac Championship in Doral, Fla.
"I was able to communicate with my family," Ishikawa said. "If not for that, it would have been extremely difficult."
Jenson Button, the 2009 Formula One world champion, said he was relieved after reaching his girlfriend by Twitter. The driver said Japanese model Jessica Michibata had been in an underground photo shoot in Tokyo when tremors began to rock the building.
"She's fine, very shaken," Button said in Spain. "Right now, my thoughts go out to everybody in Japan, particularly in the worst-affected area of Sendai. My heart is with them."
At the New York Yankees' training complex in Tampa, Fla., minor league pitcher Kei Igawa was excused from workouts to return to his apartment and attempt to reach his family.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the team had given Igawa permission to return home if he wants. Cashman lived in Japan as part of an exchange program and went there several years ago when the Yankees opened the regular season in Tokyo.
"It's difficult to watch," Cashman said. "I think the entire world has Japan in their hearts and minds. We have a lot of friends, relationships there."
At the Mets' camp in Port St. Lucie, Fla., Igarashi was with his wife, son and daughter. He tried in the morning to contact family and friends in Japan, but found communication lines shut. By late afternoon, he was able to get through.
Igarashi said he learned of the earthquake about 2:30 a.m. in a call from his translator. He put on CNN but because his English is limited, the pitcher said he turned to the Internet.
"It's pretty obvious from watching the imagery on the television screen of what's going on," he said. "But to get the details of the tremors in certain areas and the damage I went to the Japanese live stream to find out," he said.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
