Spring Training Invitees

> I am doing a research on every japanese baseball
> player who played in USA: at minor league level,
> major league (we know them...) and about some players
> who were invited to spring training. I know there
> were Hoshino and Ebisu back in 1999 when Ichiro was
> invited to the Mariners spring training camp, I also
> understand that Tomohito Ito was invited by the
> Cleveland Indians in 1995. I think there was a player
> who was invited by the Milwaukee Brewers (in the 80s
> but I am not sure) but didn't make the cut. Does
> anybody remember who he was? And I would like to know
> if other japanese ballplayers were invited by MLB
> teams. Thanks for any help

The player for the Brewers you are thinking of is probably Yutaka Enatsu. He retired from Japanese baseball following some unsatisfactory contract negotiations, and later he was invited to the Brewers camp. He did very well, but he got knocked around in his last game. The Brewers offered him a minor league contract to play at Triple-A, and if he'd taken it he probably would have been called up in a month or two. But Enatsu decided to just call it quits and made his retirement final.

Also, some Giants players worked out with the Dodgers at Vero Beach back in the 60s, including legends Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima.

The player who tried out with the Brewers in 1985 but didn't make the cut is Yutaka Enatsu. He was one of the final cuts that spring. He was already 36 or 37 years old with a big ol' beer belly, so he was a longshot to make the team in the first place. During his time with the Brewers, his interpreter was none other than Don Nomura, who's now the agent of many of the Japanese players in the majors.