New Tigers’ outfielder Mench already getting fried

With the Hanshin Tigers’ season only two games old, Osaka-based Daily Sports (Apr. 5) wasted little time in lambasting newly acquired outfielder Kevin Mench.

The right-handed-hitting Mench, who this year signed a one-year contract with the Central League’s Tigers, was off to a slow start, having failed to collect a hit in his first eight at-bats against the Yakult Swallows. “Mench better change!!” screamed the tabloid’s bright yellow headline, which appeared just to the right of the slugger lunging and missing a pitch.

Adding to this, the tabloid said, his batting average was not particularly impressive during spring training. Yet manager Akinobu Mayumi is giving Mench, who batted .269 for three teams in MLB over seven seasons, a chance to redeem himself by continuing to pencil number 32 into the starting lineup.

The skipper did, however, slide Mench down to the number sixth slot in the order on Saturday to take a bit of the pressure off, but that didn’t help. He struck out to end the third inning with the bases loaded, and whiffed again in the eighth inning with a runner on second and one out.

As Japanese pronunciation renders Mench’s last name to be similar to the word “mince,” Daily Sports is suggesting that the name “Mince Fry,” a meat cutlet, might be an appropriate moniker. The daily assures, though, that patience is needed.

Daily Sports (Apr. 7) mentions that U.S.-based scout Tom O’Malley, a former Tigers player who won the Central League batting title in 1993, is in Japan to mentor Mench. Under the direction of Shinya Sakai, the 61-year-old president of Hanshin Electric Railway, the team’s owner, O’Malley’s stay in Japan is now “indefinite,” as he is being held partially responsible for making sure that Mench performs this season.

Daily Sports says that the Tigers have been struggling with foreign players in recent years. Lew Ford, the outfielder Mench is replacing, batted just .225 over 47 games last year. During this past off-season, the front office, under the guidance of Mayumi, decided it would hold those in the scouting crew responsible for sub-par performances of foreign players.

But things only got worse on Sunday, with fans, according to Daily Sports, yelling, “Go home!” from the stands. Mench finished the night hitless again in the team’s second loss to the Swallows.

However, during the home opener on Tuesday, the first chance for Koshien Stadium’s recent renovations to be put on display for the Tigers’ faithful, the team rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth to defeat the Hiroshima Carp 11-10. For his part, Mench singled three times and drove in a run, reason enough for the the daily on Apr. 8 to believe that the outfielder is showing signs of improvement. (K.N.)

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