[外電] Karstens rediscovers game overseas
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Karstens rediscovers game overseas
Team USA right-hander reunites with teammate Wang in Taiwan
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- It would be easy to overlook Chien-Ming Wang during the summer,
the right-hander keeping a low profile between opportunities to throw his
trademark heavy sinker to big league lineups.
Home for the offseason in his native Taiwan, it's a different story. The
Yankees' ace is among the most revered figures in his homeland, a phenomenon
that teammate Jeff Karstens experienced firsthand this week.
Karstens, who draws a start for Team USA in the IBAF World Cup quarterfinals
matchup on Friday in Taipei City, was given a personal tour by Wang on a
recent off-day and treated to a Beyonce Knowles concert.
"We had a seat wherever we went," Karstens said in a telephone interview.
"I've never seen anything like it. You see things like that in Hollywood, or
maybe in New York with [Derek] Jeter, but what he is over here is almost like
a god.
"There were people chasing him. We had people following him from our team
hotel all the way to Taipei. He laughs about it, too, so I think that's the
best part. Everyone just looks at me as Chien-Ming's friend."
Karstens, 25, was selected for Team USA after playing an aborted 2007
campaign with the Yankees. One of several rookies to start for New York this
past season, Karstens saw his season interrupted when he was placed on the
disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis in Spring Training, then he
suffered a broken right leg on April 28 against the Red Sox.
Hoping to log more innings after posting an 11.05 ERA in just seven games for
New York and missing the postseason roster, Karstens pitched six shutout
innings of five-hit ball to lead Team USA past Mexico on Wednesday, striking
out two and walking one.
Karstens, who is half-Mexican, said that the event had special meaning for
him.
"Getting the opportunity to play with this team is just an honor," Karstens
said. "I never thought I'd be playing for Team USA or have a shot to play in
the Olympics next year in 2008.
"I was talking with people on the flight here, and it's not like we're
looking at it in a different way. Everyone just wants to win that gold. I'm
really excited, because this team we have is great offensively and I don't
think we've played up to our ability yet."
Team USA (6-1) finished pool play at the World Cup by beating Chinese Taipei
and finishing first overall in its bracket. Karstens will face Korea as the
team, led by manager Davey Johnson, opens the quarterfinals in its last
tuneup before the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
"I've just been trying to think about it one out at a time, even though that
didn't happen too much in New York," Karstens said. "Everything comes with
ups and downs, and I've just been trying to stay relaxed."
Karstens said that he and Wang discussed some topics relating to the Yankees'
2007 season, including rumors that had made their way to Taiwan -- Wang
mentioned a possible deal that would have sent him to the Minnesota Twins for
left-hander Johan Santana, a possibility that Karstens said Wang was not
distressed about.
"Chien-Ming, he doesn't worry," Karstens said.
The Yankees -- who hired Joe Girardi to replace Joe Torre as manager,
tendered offers to catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera and
re-entered negotiations with All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez after a
brief standoff -- have had an unusually busy early offseason period.
"They're going to do whatever they have to do and what's best for them to win
a World Series," Karstens said. "That's the goal year in and year out there.
I heard it from the first day of my first big league camp -- we have one
goal, and it's not to win the American League East; it's to win the World
Series. They're going to do what they have to do."
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