Hometown of Yanks' Igawa hit by earthquake
Baseball reacted with great concern Friday after the massive earthquake and resultant tsunami in Japan.
The Yankees gave lefthander Kei Igawa, whose hometown of Oarai was devastated by the disaster, permission to leave the team's minor-league complex so he could try to reach family members.
"Obviously, he has family there and he's trying to reach out to them,'' general manager Brian Cashman told reporters in Tampa before the Yankees' split-squad game against the Atlanta Braves. "He's trying to find out if everyone he knows is OK, and so he's home doing everything in his power trying to contact people . . . It's a very difficult time.''
Cashman said Igawa will be allowed to go to Japan if he desires. "If he wants to, yes, no doubt about it,'' he said.
Mets non-roster reliever Ryota Igarashi said he learned of the earthquake at about 2:40 a.m. when he received a call from his interpreter, Mike Peters. He spent the rest of the overnight watching reports on CNN and the live Internet feed of a Japanese TV network.
"It's pretty obvious watching the imagery on the television screen what is going on," Igarashi 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."
Igarashi said most of his family lives in Chiba Prefecture, about 200 miles south of the earthquake site. His wife and two children are with him in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Igarashi initially was unable to contact his parents in Japan, but at about 3 p.m. EST, a Mets official announced that the pitcher had heard from them and they were fine.
Former Yankee Hideki Matsui, a native of Ishikawa, Japan, and a resident of Tokyo in the offseason, released a statement through his current team, the Oakland A's.
"I am deeply concerned and affected by what is happening in Japan," Matsui said. "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 in a statement that baseball is ready to help.
"Major League Baseball will certainly provide aid with the relief efforts in the days and weeks ahead," Selig said. "We will do everything we can to help Japan."
The Yankees announced later Friday that they will donate $100,000 to the rescue and relief efforts.
With Jim Baumbach
