Tomori To Rejoin Red Sox As Minor League Coach

That's very surprising, considering he only played a year of pretty bad minor league ball. Is Denney's grasp of English good enough for a job like that? I didn't know he was fluent.

You know, him and Takashi Ishii were Matsuzaka's two main mentors at Seibu. I wonder how much of an influence Matsuzaka had on this decision.

- Is Denney's grasp of English good enough for a job like that?

According to this thread he was raised in the U.S. by his mother until returning to Japan in his second year of high school. He was born in Urasoe, Okinawa where the U.S. has a Marine Corps base. His father is half French/half Indian, while his mother is from Miyakojima. I haven't heard anything about his father, but I take it he was stationed in the military in Japan.

I would have to think that he has to have a good grasp of the English language from living in the U.S. for such a long time.

He's a good friend of Matsuzaka, and by signing him to be a coach in the Minor League system, it might lead to more Japanese high school players signing with the Red Sox in the future.

I remember watching a video of Matsuzaka touring the Green Monster last year after he was signed, when he went inside the green monster, the Red Sox brass that was with him asked him to sign his name on the wall like many players have before, and I remember he pick up his cell phone and called Tomori about being inside the Green Monster at that time.

One thing for sure is that he will not be a coach in AAA, as they announced the coaches at Pawtucket earlier last week.

- [...] it might lead to more Japanese high school players signing with the Red Sox in the future.

Yeah, that was my impression of the hiring. Boston is hoping that it will lead to more Japanese players viewing Boston as a destination for them. Also, as mentioned above, he was a tutor to Matsuzaka when he played with the Lions, that also didn't hurt I suppose, since he can further help ease Matsuzaka into MLB.

Didn't Denney Tomori spend some time playing minor league ball-independent leagues? Early in his career in the U.S.?

Yeah, this seems like a move to have Denney serve as a sort of mentor for future RedSox signings of Japanese HS and University players. Theo Epstein is one smart cookie.

- Didn't Denney Tomori spend some time playing minor league ball-independent leagues? Early in his career in the U.S.?

According to the Baseball Cube, he played with Butte Copper Kings in 1988, which was then a Texas Rangers farm team. Many NPB teams in the '80s sent players to play in the American farm system. Koji Akiyama was a good example, playing with the San Jose Bees in 1983.

My understanding is that Tomori will be working out of the Red Sox scouting department, mainly as an adviser. I don't recall seeing anything indicating that he would be a coach.