But no, it’s not Kuroda Hiroki. Nor is this an article from 1995 reporting the signing of Nomo Hideo.
The pitcher is Robert Boothe, a recent graduate of Asia University in Tokyo. Boothe is the son of an American father and a Japanese mother. He is 21 years old and was reportedly sought after by multiple teams in the recent Japanese Professional Baseball Draft.
Boothe was signed to a minor league contract and was scouted and signed by Japanese Dodger scout Keiichi Kojima, who was part of the recent Dodger contingent that came to Japan to talk with Kuroda.
From the L.A. Times:
“We feel Robert has a good chance to become an effective Major League pitcher,” said Dodger General Manager Ned Colletti. “Our scouting department has followed Robert for a couple of years and his signing reaffirms our commitment to reaching out worldwide to find players. It is difficult to sign amateur players out of Japan and we are excited at this signing’s historical significance.”
Assistant General Manager of Scouting Logan White had this to add about Boothe:
Robert is a quality athlete with a nice delivery, good arm action and a sound mix of breaking pitches which gives him a chance to become a future Major Leaguer
5 responses so far ↓
1 John Brooks // Dec 6, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Interesting development, from the article it seems the Dodgers have really did their homework on Boothe. I’m a little shocked that NPB teams didn’t show more interest, though I guess he had his mind set on MLB too.
2 A.S. // Dec 6, 2007 at 3:49 pm
It is interesting…this is like that kid the Braves signed about a month ago. Just out of nowhere…some high school kid no one drafted. We’ll have to follow this one closely.
3 DF // Dec 6, 2007 at 7:22 pm
The article reads a bit like he was signed as a personal favor. The way they highlight Asia University’s connection to the Dodgers.
4 A.S. // Dec 6, 2007 at 11:38 pm
I don’ t know if I’d say that. The connection is between the Dodgers and Asia Univ. if anything. I don’t think they’d sign a player as a favor to a school. They must have seen something.
5 A.S. // Dec 7, 2007 at 1:31 pm
Well, then again I guess it does happen….
http://216.203.39.57/mlb/story.asp?i=20071121032102030000101&ref=rec&tm=25
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