NOTE: This was not an original interview conducted by us. We did, however, get to be Randy Bass‘ translator! We have posted the English version of this interview with permission from Daily Sports, who posted articles online on March 30, and in print on March 31. It was such a pleasure to meet Randy (again) and do this important work for him, Daily, and the Tigers nation.

Daily Sports Articles: 1 / 2 / 3

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Daily Sports (DS): First of all, congratulations on entering the Hall of Fame, and thank you for taking the time to be with us today.

Randy Bass (RB): Thank you very much. It’s a pleasure.

DS: Mr. Okada is back as manager this year and you’ve been called to throw out the first pitch (on Opening Day). How do you feel about being back in Japan? How do you feel about Okada being head of the Tigers again?

RB: First, I think Okada is going to do a great job. He has a history of being manager. He has a lot of patience, he knows a lot about baseball, and I really do think he’ll do another good job as manager of the Tigers. For me, I enjoy the heck out of coming back. It’s the first time I’ve been in the Hanshin Hotel in a long, long, long time. Usually, we’d have our players meetings here. I’m really happy to be here. It’s such an honor to be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. I never had any thoughts of making it into the Hall of Fame before.

DS: The last time the Tigers won the pennant was 2005 when Mr. Okada was the manager. How do you view him as a manager?

RB: He was an excellent player and one of my best friends on the team. It was always Okada, Kake, Mayumi, and us four were always the guys pulling things together in meetings and stuff. Moreso them than me because I don’t speak Japanese, but I think he has the experience. He’s been there. He knows what it takes to go through August, not being able to play at Koshien because the high school tournament is going on. He’s been through it, he’s won it before, he’s been part of it. He has Hirata as his assistant manager, who’s been through it, too. So you’ve got two guys who have been through a lot who can tell these young players what it’s all about. It takes a lot of guidance. I wish they had more players who had been there on the coaching staff. But those two guys will do an excellent job.

DS: You experience success with the Hanshin Tigers, and I think it was in your induction speech that you said that Hanshin really needs strong leadership to succeed. Can you expand on that a little bit?

RB: When we played, the team to beat was the Giants. We had to beat the Giants, and there wasn’t first, second, and third place teams. You had to win your division to get in. So Kake, Okada, Mayumi and myself, when we walked into the old Korakuen Stadium, the young players were very very nervous because most of our players knew that Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima had played in that ballpark. Every time we talked to those young players, they were so nervous that they were playing on the same field as Oh-san and Nagashima-san had played on. When we beat them three games, then it was easier for us to explain to them, “You can’t be nervous. It’s just a normal game. Don’t worry about it.” You have to coach them through that period of growing up, being a man, and playing baseball for the Hanshin Tigers.

DS: Are you following the present-day Tigers at all?

RB: No. I mean, they don’t come on TV in America. If you follow them, you have to stay up until 5 am to watch them anyways. But anyways, I think it’s great that Okada and Mickey (Hirata) are back on the team. At least they have a couple of guys that have been there to lead them on.

DS: So then you don’t know about Teruaki Sato, the Tigers’ lefty slugger, right?

RB: Just by somebody saying he’s going to be the next Bass. But I haven’t seen him play. Marty (Kuehnert, Bass’ agent) was explaining to me that he might be the only one to hit over 20 home runs.

DS: He has the same birthday as you as well.

RB: Is that right? I’ll be danged.

DS: How you seen any video footage?

RB: I haven’t.

DS: We hear that you had a pretty good personal relationship with Mr. Okada as well. Any special memories of hanging out with him?

RB: Okada’s wife, Yoko, speaks perfect English. She learned in Montreal. So whenever we went to Hawaii for spring training – we were lucky back in those days – we would hang out together with Okada and Yoko and myself and whoever was pitching, Rich Gale. We would have dinner and drinks, and she would interpret for him, just like you (T-Ray) are for him (the reporter), and she would do it every day. We became very good friends. We would go on boat trips in Hawaii to see the whales… our friendship was very close because of his wife, Yoko, who brought us together and removed the language barrier.

DS: Have you had any chances to talk to Mr. Okada since you retired in 1988?

RB: We threw out the first pitch – Okada-san, Kakefu-san, and myself. I had a chance to see him. Yoko wasn’t there but I had Marty to interpret. He’s not as open with Marty as he was with his wife (laughs). He kind of held back with Marty. The reason I really think he became a good manager is that I have never seen him mad. Going through those seasons of us getting to where we won in 1985, he wasn’t hitting the ball great every day or every week, so during slumps, others were needed to pick up the slack. But I noticed he always had an even-keeled temper. That’s what it’s going to take to get the Tigers through to the next level and to become the Nippon Series Champions.

Marty Kuehnert: Excuse me for interrupting. You also used to see him regularly at the Suntory Malts games.

RB: That’s right. We used to always play together in the Suntory Malts games, and laugh. Who was that pitcher who threw to us? (Makihara.) Every time we saw Makihara, we said, “We made you famous, man, with the back-to-back-to-back. They wouldn’t even know who you were without us!” And we’d laugh about it, and he’d laugh with us. Makihara was a great guy. Kakefu-san was a little more serious, and Okada was a little more of the entertainer-type guy.

DS: Now that you’re inducted into the Hall of Fame, people are starting to talk more and more about you. Some are not aware of what you’ve been up to since you left baseball. There’s talk about farming, and then becoming a state senator as well. Can you take us through the years and what you’ve been up to?

RB: Well, 1988 was my last year here. I went home to Lawton, Oklahoma, and the first thing was that I farmed for the next four years. During the farming period, I also joined city council for 8 years. Then a spot in the senate came open and they talked me into running. And I spent 14 years as an Oklahoma State Senator. When I took over being a senator, about halfway through, I leased my farms out. It was just too much for me, I did not have time to do everything, so I retired. I see my kids and grandkids now, and travel, and that’s about it. Somewhere along the way, I did announcing of games for Mainichi Broadcasting System. For three years or so? Mr. Honda set all that up. It was so complicated because I had a young lady translating from Japanese to English, and then another lady was translating me back into Japanese. So, you know, something was getting missed in translation somewhere. It was a lot of fun, don’t get me wrong, but it did not last very long. There were three of us (including the play-by-play guy). It was very difficult to say a whole lot in there. I don’t think the ladies that I was talking to understood baseball as well as I understood the game. I don’t think they even knew what a double play was. That’s OK, though.

DS: What would you say was your greatest accomplishment as a senator?

RB: You know, that’s more of a team effort, where everybody has to vote with you on whatever bill you’re trying to accomplish. I think we made Oklahoma a better place to live, work, and raise families. But it wasn’t just me. It took everybody, you needed 20 votes in the senate for things to pass. It was more like a team sport. You had to get along with everybody, work together. It took a lot of time and effort to get bills to pass. We were able to make Oklahoma a better place to live, work, and raise a family.

DS: When you were inducted into the Hall of Fame, reporters asked Mr. Okada if he had contacted you, and he said, no. He’s remarried and he’s got young kids, so he’s busy. True or false?

RB: In 2002, I got remarried and had a baby, Remi Layne Bass, so I had a little baby girl. She’s my second – Staci is my first one. I don’t know why that meant anything. He could have called me anytime he wanted to. But he never called me. But he wouldn’t have been the one calling me, it would have been Yoko.

DS: How old is Remi now?

RB: She’s 20. She’s not a baby anymore. She’s 6 feet tall.

DS: In total then, how many kids do you have?

RB: Three. One boy, two girls. Zach, Staci, and Remi.

DS: How is Zachary doing? What is he up to these days?

RB: Zachary works for Goodyear Tire Manufacturing Company. He’s doing great. Lawton, Oklahoma has the biggest Goodyear tire manufacturing company in the United States, and he works there. He’s a tire builder.

DS: How old is he now?

RB: He’s 42. He was just a little kid back in the day, running around the field when I had practice.

DS: You’re still living in Lawton now?

RB: Yes. All of us, the kids too, they all live there in the same city.

DS: Are you doing any farming now?

RB: I leased it out and I am not doing any farming. The people lease it, farm it, take the crops (wheat, cotton, etc.), and they sell it. They just make me a lease payment for the land.

DS: What about baseball? Are you doing anything involving baseball?

RB: I have not been. I had a good friend who was in the senate with me who went to college in Chickasha, Oklahoma, and he was in charge of supporting the athletic department. He asked me to be the batting coach for the college team. But I didn’t feel like I could give it enough time because I was still in the senate. So I told him I would wait until after I got out, but time changes and they got somebody else. Which is great. It didn’t really matter to me. So I haven’t been involved in baseball.

DS: Mr. Okada has grandchildren. How about yourself?

RB: I have five grandchildren. Two boys, three girls. Zach has a boy and a girl, and Staci has a boy and two girls. As a matter of a fact, I have a granddaughter who just turned one-and-a-half. She’s a late arrival, but Charlie is 1 ½ years old. And Okada-san, he has one boy? Two boys?

DS: He has two grandchildren, both boys.

RB: One boy had two grandsons?

DS: Yes. One son and two grandsons.

RB: I remember the boy. He was small back when we were playing, so I remember him. It looks like he went to Tokyo University?

DS: He works in Tokyo. He went to university in Osaka.

RB: Cool.

DS: Do any of your grandchildren play baseball?

RB: They don’t. The boys have graduated and they are in college. The girls play softball, but the boys never played baseball.

DS: As you know, new foreign players come in to play for Hanshin every year. What would you say is the secret to success, coming into the Tigers as a foreign player?

RB: Well, I think they have to want to be here. They have to be willing to do the travel, the batting practice every day. You have to accept the food that you’re getting, the travel conditions… it’s a great place to play, they just don’t realize it. They play for a little while, and maybe they get sat on the bench and they didn’t get to play, and then they don’t want to be here anymore, and they want to leave. And when they want to leave, you might as well let them go because they aren’t going to do anything to stay. It’s not easy. It’s a tough league. You saw, Japan won the World Baseball Classic. They have great players over here. They lose some to America but they don’t lose them all. In Okada’s situation, I think when the Americans come over, he’s got to let them play. You can’t just use them for 1-2 games and then sit them on the bench for 5 games, and then let them play for 2 games and if they don’t do any good… these guys need repetition so they can see the pitchers, get to know what that pitcher throws to them in certain situations. Baseball is a complicated game, and you’ve got to let them figure out how to get there. I wish them the best of luck. When I was here, we had 5 players: 2 pitchers and 3 regular players. They would move one up, move one down. It was hard, the first couple of years. They just have to stick with it and be committed to playing here. It’s a great place to play once you get your game under control.

DS: When you were playing with the team, it is well known that you played shogi a lot and that helped you fit in with the guys and experience Japanese culture. One of the new position players with us, Sheldon Neuse, has decided to use a popular Japanese anime song as his walk-up song. It shows that he is trying to fit in, belong, accept Japanese culture. What are your thoughts on that?

RB: I think that’s great. Kawato taught me how to play shogi. He was a very good player. That kept me busy. You get plenty of time in the clubhouse before the game. You get there at two and don’t play until 6. You take your infield and batting practice, and you’ve still got a couple more hours. So you’ve got to keep yourself entertained. I started playing shogi with Kawato, and I actually got to where I beat Okada, and then Okada wouldn’t play with me anymore. But that’s OK, it was fun. Other players came and played with me, which kept me as part of the team. I was in the clubhouse, and if someone wanted to play shogi, I would always play with them, and I felt like I was part of the team. I couldn’t speak the language, but that helped. I think it’s great that he’s doing what he’s doing. Whatever he does to fit in with the team, I think that’s outstanding. He’s showing that he’s willing to stay and wants to play.

DS: You had some eye issues in the past…

RB: Yeah, I had a detached retina in my left eye. It’s still pretty much the same. A little bit of light comes in but not much. I am not able to focus. Luckily, I have two eyes, and my right eye has 20/20 vision.

DS: That’s all the time we have for today. Thank you so much.

RB: Thank you!