Hanshin Tigers English News (HTEN): Ladies and gentlemen, we are super stoked because we’ve got a special guest for you today on H-TEN, Hanshin Tigers English News. A newcomer to the Tigers, the second Keller, number 24, Brian! Welcome to the show, thanks for joining us today, Brian.

みなさん、今日はH-TENでスペシャルゲストをお迎えしましたので、とてもワクワクしています。タイガースの新外国人、2人目のケラー、背番号24のブライアンさんです! ようこそ！今日はよろしくお願いします。

Brian Keller (BK): Thanks for having me.

お招きいただきありがとうございます。

HTEN: How are you enjoying your first month and a half in Japan?

日本での最初の1ヶ月半をいかがでしょうか？

BK: Good. It’s been exciting. It’s been a bit of a change with the language barrier and whatnot and getting to know the area, but it’s been awesome so far.

いい感じです。エキサイティングですよ。言葉の壁や日本に慣れることで、ちょっとアジャストしないといけない側面もありますが、今のところ最高です。

Baseball Childhood, Life in the Minors

HTEN: Let’s dig into your baseball past and let the fans get to know you a little bit. First of all, how did you first get introduced to baseball?

ケラー投手の野球の過去を深掘りして、ファンの皆さんに少しでも知ってもらいましょう。まず、野球と出会ったきっかけは？

BK: My dad signed me up for tee-ball when I was a kid, and I just ended up really liking the game.

子供の頃、父にティーボールを通わせたんですが、結局、この競技がすごく好きになったんです。

HTEN: Did you grow up idolizing any MLB players or watching any teams?

MLBの選手に憧れたり、チームを見たりして育ったのでしょうか？

BK: I’m from Milwaukee area, so I was a brewers fan, so guys like Geoff Jenkins, Richie Sexson, and then later on, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. Everybody loves the homerun hitters, right? Those were the guys that I followed a lot.

私はミルウォーキー出身なので、ブルワーズファンで、ジェフ・ジェンキンス、リッチー・セクソン、それからライアン・ブラウン、プリンス・フィルダーなどです。みんなホームランバッターに憧れるでしょ？そういう選手に憧れていました。

HTEN: While we’re on that note, you mentioned a lot of position players. Did you ever play the field, or have you always been a pitcher?

野手ばっかり出てきましたね。野手としてプレーしたことはありますか、それともずっと投手でしたか？

BK: I played a little bit everywhere growing up, but for the most part, I would pitch. Sometimes shortstop, maybe a little bit of outfield, but for the most part, pitching.

あちこちでプレーしましたが、ほとんどの場合、私は投手でした。時にはショートや外野もやりましたが、ほとんどはピッチャーでした。

HTEN: At what point did you feel that pitching was the way to go for you to prolong your career as a baseball player?

野球選手としてのキャリアを長くするためには、どの時点で投手に専念するように思ったのでしょうか。

BK: I think sometime in high school, I mean, you always compare yourself to the competition and to your teammates. And at some point, I could see that I wasn’t the best hitter on the team. I was decent in the field but I was clearly the best pitcher, even one of the best in the league that I played in. So I think that’s when I decided to put a little more effort into that side of the game.

高校時代には、常に競争相手やチームメイトと自分を比較することがあったと思う。そしてある時、自分のバッティングはチームの中で良くないほうないほうだったと気づきました。守備はそこそこだったけれど、ピッチャーとしては明らかにトップで、所属していたリーグでも上手いほうだった。だから、そのときから、ピッチングにもう少し力を入れようと思った。

HTEN: Do you have siblings, and what kind of things did you do for fun?

兄弟はいますか？子供頃は一緒に何をしていましたか？

BK: I have an older sister. She was the smart one. I mean, she was athletic too, but she’s a dermatologist now. So I was the athletic one. She was the smart one. We would play a lot of sports, video games… I was a big Nintendo fan growing up, along with Xbox and stuff like that.

姉がいます。彼女は賢い方だった。まぁ、運動神経も良かったのですが、今は皮膚科医になっています。私は運動神経がいいほうだった。姉は賢い方だった。私たちは、スポーツやビデオゲームなどでよく遊びました。私は任天堂の大ファンだった。あと、Xboxとかも好きだった。

HTEN: Did you have a favorite video game?

好きなゲームは？

BK: It would depend on the season. In the winter, I would play NBA 2k, and in the summer, MLB All Star 2003 was one of my favorites. The one where Jeter was on the cover. I also played all the Mario games, Halo, Call of Duty… I played a lot of them.

季節によりましたね。冬は『NBA 2K』、夏は『MLBオールスター2003』がお気に入りでしたね。ジーターが表紙を飾ったやつです。あとは、マリオや ヘイロー、コール・オブ・デューティ… 全部やりました。たくさんやりましたよ。

HTEN: What would you say characterizes Brian Keller?

自分自身の特徴は何だと思われますか？

BK: I would say I’m on the quiet side, a bit shy. I think that’s how I would describe myself as a person… quiet, shy.

私は、静かな方で、少しシャイだと思います。自分自身を表現するならば…静かで、内気な人だと思うんです。

HTEN: How would you describe yourself as a pitcher once you get on the mound?

マウンドに上がったら、投手としての自分をどう表現しますか？

BK: As a pitcher, I would say very analytical and sort of meticulous about my plan. I like to have a game plan going in and then expose the hitters’ weaknesses. I think that’s my best quality. I have four or five pitches, and I can choose which of those pitches to use to best attack a hitter based on what I’ve learned that they do well or don’t do well.

投手としては、非常に分析的で、自分のプランに綿密であると言えるでしょう。ゲームプランを持って臨み、打者の弱点を突くのが好きなんだ。それが私の一番の長所だと思います。私には4つか5つの球種がありますが、そのうちのどの球種を使うかは、バッターの得意・不得意に合わせて最適なものを選ぶことができるのです。

HTEN: Sounds like you put a lot into preparation.

準備に力を入れているようですね。

BK: Yeah, definitely. Michael King – he’s a Yankees reliever now – was a teammate in 2019. And I learned from him just how much better you can pitch if you have a plan going into it. And you just stick to your plan and you execute that plan. He was even more meticulous than I am and I learned so much about that… and look where it’s gotten him. He’s one of the game’s best relievers now and that’s definitely part of the reason.

ああ、確かにね。マイケル・キング–今はヤンキースのリリーバーだが–は2019年にチームメイトだった。彼から、計画を立てて臨めばどれだけ良い投球ができるかを学びました。そして、そのプランに忠実に実行するんだ。彼は私よりもさらに几帳面で、私はそれについて多くを学びました…そして、その結果、彼は今、世界最高のリリーバーの1人ですが、その理由の1つは間違いなくしっかり準備することです。

HTEN: I was looking back on teams you’ve played on in the past, and it seems like you’ve been on the same roster as guys like Johan Mieses, Hirokazu Sawamura, Gosuke Katoh, and Ryan McBroom. Did you have any interactions with those guys? Did they help lead you to come to Japan?

過去にプレーしたチームを振り返ってみたのですが、ヨハン・ミエセス、澤村 拓一、加藤 豪将、ライアン・マクブルームといったチームメイトがいたようですね。交流はあったのでしょうか？彼らがきっかけで日本に来ることになったのでしょうか？

BK: Yeah, last year, I played with Mieses, and Sawamura came down for a week or so at the end of the season down to Worcester in AAA. So I played with those two, and then in 2019 in Scranton, for the Yankees AAA, I played with Gosuke, Trey Amburgey, who’s playing for Yokohama this year, Chris Gittens with Rakuten, and Ryan McBroom. Also, Brooks Kriske played for Yokohama last year. So that team was loaded with guys that play in Japan now. I think that’s pretty cool. It shows how deep that Yankees farm system was. A lot of good players.

そうですね、去年はミエセスと一緒にプレーして、シーズン終盤に澤村が1週間ほどAAAでウースターに降格してきたんですよ。それでその2人とプレーして、2019年はスクラントンで、ヤンキースのAAAで、ゴースケ、今年横浜でプレーしているトレイ・アンバージー、楽天のクリス・ギッテンス、ライアン・マクブルームとプレーしました。また、昨年はブルックス・クリスキーも横浜でプレーしていました。つまり、あのチームには、今、日本でプレーしている選手がたくさんいたのです。ヤンキースのファームシステムがいかに深かったかを示している。いい選手がたくさんいる。

HTEN: Did anyone bring up playing in Japan amongst those guys? Or how did you get over here in the first place?

その中で、日本でプレーすることを話題にした人はいましたか？そもそもどうやって日本に来たん ですか？

BK: Yeah, my agent had been putting that in my ear for a couple of years, that it would be a real possibility once I finished my minor league contract, which was up at the end of last year. He was preparing me for that possibility and I asked around to see if anybody knew anything about it, or had played over there. All I ever heard was great things about it. So I think that made the decision a bit easier, knowing that other guys had had good experiences playing over here.

昨年末にマイナーリーグの契約が満了となったのですが、僕のエージェントは2年ほど前に日本でプレーする可能性は十分にあると耳打ちしてくれていたんだ。その可能性に備えて、向こうでプレーしたことがある人がいないかと周りに聞いてみたんです。その結果、日本の素晴らしい評判を耳にすることができた。他の選手が日本に来たときにいい経験をしたことを知って、日本でプレーする決断ができました。

HTEN: Was it tough to make? I mean, even if you hear good things about it, you’re still jumping into a new culture with a language barrier. Did you have any anxiety about making this move?

決断するのは大変なことでしたか？良い評判を聞いても、言葉の壁があるし、新しい文化に飛び込むわけですから。不安はなかったのでしょうか？

BK: I think the decision to come over here was pretty easy for me. It’s something I definitely wanted to do. It’s a great opportunity. Not only do I get to play for a great organization, I get to travel to a country I’ve never been to. I get to support my family financially. And I get to do all that while playing baseball. It’s a dream come true kind of thing.

日本に来るという決断は、私にとってわりと簡単なことだったよ。日本でプレーしてみたかったし、素晴らしい機会だ。この良い球団でプレーできることだけでなく、今まで行ったことのない国へ行くこともできた。家族を養うこともできる。しかも、野球をやりながら、そのすべてを実現できる。夢が叶うようなものです。

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Impressions of Japan & Hanshin

HTEN: So you spent February down in Okinawa, and now you’ve been up in mainland for almost two weeks. What kind of impressions do you have in general of Japan, of Hanshin, and of Koshien Stadium?

2月は沖縄に滞在され、本土に戻ってきて2週間ほどですね。日本、阪神、そして甲子園球場について、どのような印象をお持ちですか？

BK: Okinawa was very cool, very much like the nickname – Japan’s Hawaii. That’s exactly what it’s like. I’ve never personally been to Hawaii, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful. And Okinawa is the same way, absolutely beautiful. We stayed right on the ocean; it was awesome. And mainland Japan is so cool. There are such huge cities. I love cities. I love all the stuff that comes with it, like all the crazy foods and the people everywhere… I think it’s a cool environment. And then you get the ocean, you get the mountains, I feel like it’s got everything. And then seeing the stadium… I’ve only played in AAA stadiums. Well, I’ve played briefly in a major league stadium. But Koshien is big. That was my first impression, very cool. And the entire dirt infield is something I’ve never seen before in person. I think that’s a really cool thing, very unique.

沖縄はとてもクールで、まさに”日本のハワイ”というニックネームにふさわしい。まぁ、私は個人的にハワイに行ったことはないのですが、美しいと聞いています。沖縄も同じで、本当に美しいです。海のすぐそばに宿泊したのですが、それは最高でした。そして、日本もとてもクールです。巨大な都市があって、大好きです。例えば変わった食べ物とか、どこにでもいる人たちとか…全部好きです。クールな環境だと思う。それに、海も山もあって、すべてが揃っていると思う。それから、球場の様子は… 私はAAAスタジアムでしかプレーしたことがないんです。まあ、メジャーリーグの球場で少しプレーしたことはあるけどね。でも、甲子園は大きいですね。それが第一印象で、とてもかっこいい。それに、内野が全部土というのは、実際に見たことがない。とてもユニークでクールなことだと思う。

HTEN: You’ll get to experience the full impact of playing in front of 40,000 people which, as you know, even if you’re playing in the majors, you don’t always get. So that’s gonna be special, I think.

4万人の観客の前でプレーするというのは、ご存知のように、メジャーでプレーしていても、なかなか経験できないことです。だから、それは特別なことだと思う。

BK: Yeah, I’ve heard it’s absolutely wild in the stadium. So I’m excited.

ああ、スタンドは絶対的に熱いらしいね。だから、楽しみです。

HTEN: As you probably know, the Central League does not have a DH. What are your thoughts on that?

ご存知と思いますが、セ・リーグにはDHがありません。それについてどうお考えですか？

BK: Yeah, that’ll be interesting for me. I haven’t hit in probably 10 years, since high school, so it’s gonna be interesting.

ああ、それは僕にとって面白いことだ。高校以来、10年ぶりくらいの打席になるので、楽しみですね。

HTEN: Did you take a lot of BP while you were down in Okinawa?

沖縄では、打撃練習をたくさんされたのでしょうか？

BK: Just off the machine. I would do a lot of bunting practice. I mean, I think a big part of my job is going to be to get the runners over when I can. Hopefully, the better hitters can drive them in. I tried to work on that and improved quite a bit over the month.

マシン打撃だけだったね。バント練習をたくさんやりましたね。打者としての仕事の大部分は、できる限りランナーを進塁させることだと思うんだ。うまくいけば、上手い打者がランナーを還してくれる。バントをたくさん練習し、この1カ月で上手くなったかなぁと思います。

HTEN: What would you say is your favorite pitch to throw? At what point did you start to feel confident using it?

自身の好きな球種は何だと思いますか？どの時点から自信を持って使えるようになったのでしょうか？

BK: I guess I could go a few directions with this. I throw four, sometimes five pitches. And my favorite two are my fastball and my slider. I’d say over the past two years, since learning the new slider, that’s been the most fun to throw. It’s a big, sweeping slider and I get some good reactions from the hitters when I start it at their hip and they back out of the way and then it slides in for strikes. That’s pretty fun.

いろんな角度から答えれるけれどね。私は4ー5球種を投げ分けます。好きな球種はストレートとスライダー。この2年間、新しいスライダーを習得してからは、スライダーを投げるのが一番楽しくなったね。大きく曲げて、バッターの腰のあたりからゾーンに入って、バッターは反応できない時には気持ちいいんだ。

HTEN: You were out in Nagoya a few days ago. How was that?

数日前は名古屋の遠征に行ってきたんですよね。どうだったでしょうか？

BK: That was a good experience. I got to travel to a different city, play with the minor league team over there. I got to pitch four innings and did pretty well. Cool experience.

いい経験でしたね。違う都市に行って、二軍でプレーできて良かったなぁと。4イニングを投げて、手応えはあったかな。楽しかったですね。

HTEN: So you’re with the farm team, and they’ve got pitching coaches and a manager, and then the top team has pitching coaches and a manager. Do you know how the communication shakes down after your mound appearance? How does word get to manager Okada or to the people that need to know that?

二軍にも一軍にも投手コーチと監督がいるんですけど、登板後、どのように連絡が行き交うか知っていますか？岡田監督や、登板の結果を知るべき人たちに、どのようにその情報が伝わっているのでしょうか？

BK: That’s a good question. I think there’s probably a good line of communication between the coaches. They are probably always talking with each other, and then it’s important that I’m communicating with the coaches and giving my input so that we’re on the same page of how I need to prepare for the game, how many pitches I’m gonna throw, how many innings, that sort of thing, as we build up and get ready for the season.

いい質問ですね。コーチ陣の間には、しっかりとコミュニケーションを取れていると思います。そして、私がコーチとコミュニケーションをとり、試合前に意見交換をして、試合に向けてどのような準備が必要か、何球投げるか、何イニング投げるかなど、シーズンに向けての準備を進めていく上で、同じ考え方になるようにすることが大切です。

HTEN: Were you able to make good connections with some of the coaches down on the farm? Obviously, you’ve got the interpreter to help you out…

ファームのコーチ陣とは、いい関係を築けたのでしょうか？もちろん、通訳の方の手伝いはあったと思いますが…。

BK: Yeah, I spoke to the coaches. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time there. I was only there for a few hours, really, just pretty much for the game. So I didn’t get to talk to them too much. I spoke with some of those guys down in Okinawa when they were in Ginoza. They were there briefly, so I met some of them before. But all of them are very nice guys. Very nice people – the players, coaches are super nice.

ああ、コーチと話をしたよ。ファームの時間は短かった。数時間しかいなかった。ほとんど試合のためだけにね。だから、あまり話をすることができなかった。けど、宜野座にいるときに、何人かのコーチと話をしました。どの人もとても優しいです。選手も、コーチも、とてもいい人たちです。

HTEN: You’ve had a decent amount of exposure to a variety of players. Which of your teammates would you say that you’ve spoken or hung out with the most since arriving back at the end of January?

いろんな選手と接する機会がちゃんとありましたね。1月末に入国して以来、最も多く時間を一緒に過ごしたチームメイトは誰でしょう？

BK: I played golf with Nishi (Yuki) and Umeno one day. That was a lot of fun. They were a blast to go play with. I think they enjoyed it, too. And then Suguru (Iwazaki) and I are always doing team stretching together. And I’m always asking him how to say stuff in Japanese. He’s teaching me, so I call him sensei.

ある日、西（勇輝）さんと梅野さんとゴルフをしました。すごく楽しかった。一緒にゴルフができて楽しくてしょうがなかった。彼らも楽しんでいたと思います。それから、スグル（岩崎）とはいつも一緒にストレッチをやっているんだ。そして、いつも彼に日本語を教えてもらっているので、「先生」と呼んでいます。

HTEN: I hope he’s teaching you good stuff.

いいことを教えてくれているといいんですけどね。

BK: I hope so, too. Hope he’s not teaching me some BS (laughs).

そうですね。メチャクチャなこと教えられたら困るから（笑）

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Lightning Round

HTEN: Exactly! All right. Let’s move into the lightning round. I’ve got a dozen questions for you, and you can answer them as quickly or as slowly as you’d like to. Question one: What’s your favorite food or meal?

BK: Usually steak and potatoes.

HTEN: What’s Japanese food do you definitely want to try that you haven’t tried yet?

BK: I think specific to the Osaka area, takoyaki. Right? Am I saying that right? That’s squid balls or something? Octopus? Is that what it is?

HTEN: That’s right. Is there any food that you’ve heard of that you don’t want to try?

BK: Oh, I’ll try pretty much anything. I don’t know… I’m pretty open to trying stuff. I might not eat it again. But I’ll try it.

HTEN: I’ve heard that Akiyama likes to challenge the new guys and offer them new foods they’ve never tried. Has anyone offered you something so far that you had for the first time and you were pleasantly surprised with?

BK: Um, I tried octopus, with the tentacles and head still on it. I didn’t love it, but I tried it. Another thing was smelt fish (wakasagi). I think that’s what it was. Apparently they have it for breakfast. I don’t know if that’s just an Okinawa thing…. But it was alright. It wasn’t great, but I thought it was a little odd as a breakfast food.

HTEN: Do you have a dream car?

BK: Dream car? Probably the next car that I’m going to look at getting some sort of pickup truck.

HTEN: Do you have a favorite vacation spot?

BK: I think so far… Well, I mean, if you can call this “vacation”… Japan has been pretty awesome. But last fall, my wife and I went to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and that was really cool, too.

HTEN: What is the best thing about Wisconsin, your home state?

BK: The best thing… between the golf and the beer, those two things are pretty good in Wisconsin. Even though it’s cold in the winter, it’s beautiful in the summer, and the golf is just awesome up there.

HTEN: What do you want to see the most while you’re here in Japan?

BK: All the cities, Tokyo especially. And Mount Fuji is a big one. That’s gonna be pretty cool.

HTEN: If you get a chance, are you gonna climb it?

BK: I don’t know about climbing it, but hopefully, do some hiking around the area at least.

HTEN: What’s your favorite sport outside of baseball?

BK: Golf, with basketball after that.

HTEN: What’s the biggest success you’ve had as a baseball player?

BK: I would say getting a college scholarship, getting drafted, playing seven years in the minor leagues, and then eventually making it here. I think all those things have been a big success altogether.

HTEN: What would you say is your biggest success off the field?

BK: Off the field? Probably finding my wife.

HTEN: Is there a story behind that?

BK: Not really. I mean, we went to high school together but didn’t really know each other. Then toward the end of high school, we started talking a little bit more. We went to different colleges but decided to date anyway, and did the long-distance relationship thing, and it worked out.

HTEN: Nice. How long have you been married?

BK: Five years.

HTEN: What’s the most interesting experience you’ve had with a fan?

BK: I don’t know if I’ve had too many personal interactions with fans, other than signing autographs and stuff. But I had a lot of Tigers fans reach out on Instagram and DM me, showing their support.  I thought that was pretty cool.

HTEN: Last question. Who do you think is the best Japanese baseball player of all time?

BK: I would have to say Ichiro Suzuki, but it looks like Shohei is on a pretty good path and if he keeps it up, I think he might take the title.

HTEN: Finally, I don’t know if this is coming out before the WBC ends, but we’re recording this just as it’s starting. Predictions about who’s going to win the WBC in 2023?

BK: I think Japan has a good shot. I also like the Dominican Republic team. So between those two, it’s gonna be tough, but I think I’ll go with Japan.

HTEN: Sounds good. Well, Brian, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate your candidness and helping us to get to know you, the player and the man. We’re gonna be cheering for you in 2023.