ALBERS IS ISOLATING IN A FARAWAY LAND
Former Major League Baseball pitcher from the Battlefords waiting in Japan
When it comes to COVID-19 isolation, Andrew Albers is on a pitching mound of his own, far, far away.
Stationed in Japan, Albers keeps chucking baseballs with the hope of playing games soon.
Albers — who grew up in the Battlefords, where he taught at John Paul II Collegiate during the off-season just a few years ago — awaits the start of the 2020 season in Japan.
The former Major League Baseball pitcher, who had stints with the Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners, has spent the last two years playing professionally for Japan’s Orix Buffaloes.
Albers, who turns 35 in October, still believes he has a few years left in his southpaw arm. He’d love to give the MLB another shot, but he’s realistic, knowing that the window is quickly closing.
“Unfortunately, teams don’t tend to offer a lot of contracts to super-soft-throwing lefties that are 35-plus,” he quipped. “But we’ll see what happens in the future.”
Q: How are you coping with the COVID-19 global pandemic?
A: Our season has been put on hold for now until at least the beginning of June. I will be surprised if we get started before July, though. As for me, we are not in a complete lockdown so we still have individual practices close to a daily basis. That at least gets me out of the house most days and that is a good thing. Other than that, we are supposed to be practising the social-distancing here. So we are not supposed to meet in large groups or go out to eat in restaurants or anything of that nature.
Q: Do you expect to play in front of empty stadiums, like they are doing in Taiwan?
A: I’m not sure what they will do here. I don’t believe they have the huge TV contracts like teams in North America. I could certainly see us playing exhibition games without fans and then once the regular season starts allowing the fans to come back in, possibly with some stadium restrictions. I am not sure what those would be, though.
Q: How’s the pitching arm these days?
A: Arm is feeling good. Coming off of back surgery this winter, it is nice that the arm feels good. I am still having some issues with a nerve in my right leg, which isn’t helping matters, but I feel like I am now at the point where I would be able to pitch in games without it affecting me too much.
Q: What’s it like to be on the other side of the world during all of this COVID-19 pandemic stuff ?
A: Luckily these days, with the cellphones and all the messaging apps and video calls and all that good stuff, it is pretty easy to stay connected to people back home. So that has been nice. Otherwise I’m sure I would feel even more isolated than I already am. But you definitely have that feeling of being on your own a little over here.
Q: Nobody knows if, or when, MLB will be played this season. What would you do without baseball, if you couldn’t play? A: That’s a great question. To be honest, I am not sure. A lot of it would depend on where I was located at the time. I don’t know if I would teach, or try to coach, or what I would do. I am kind of waiting for the career to finish and see where I end up and make a decision from there. I am fortunate in that I believe I will have some options once my career is over.
Q: You’ve played baseball in so many different parts of the world and in so many leagues. What did that experience do for you, not only as a player but also as a person?
A: As a player, it has been a great experience just to be able to play in so many different places against so many different countries and realize that you can compete with anyone. I think it has helped my confidence knowing that I have played baseball against pretty much every country’s best players and, even though it hasn’t always gone as well as I would have liked, I’ve always been competitive.
As a person, it’s been neat getting to experience different ways of life and different cultures. Seeing what other parts of the world value and how they interact with each other and just their general customs and traditions have been a unique learning experience for me. I think it has helped broaden my horizons and not look at the world quite as one-dimensionally as I would have had I not experienced playing in all these different countries.
Baseball has provided me with so many experiences that I would have never had otherwise. I am extremely grateful for that and feel incredibly blessed to have had these opportunities.
Q: If you had to pick out a couple of highlights, what would they be? Your first MLB appearance? First pro contract?
A: If I had to pick out my top three highlights, I think I would have to go with getting to start the gold-medal game at the 2011 Pan Ams in Mexico and helping us to a 2-1 win over the United States. It was Canada’s first ever gold in men’s baseball at any tournament and although the tournament was non 40-man (MLB) roster guys, it was still special.
I think the next two would have to be my first two games in the big leagues in 2013. Throwing eight-and-a-third shutout innings against the Royals and following that up with a complete-game shutout against the Indians at home against the best players in the world is something that I could never have even dreamt of doing. Those are two nights that I will never forget. To have ground it out like I did with the ups and downs and then to be rewarded with not only getting an opportunity to play in the big leagues, but to start my career like that, was just incredible! I wish the rest of that year would have gone a little better, but those first two starts were a lot of fun.
I don’t think there’s much doubt that the career is starting to wind down. As much as you try to fight it, Father Time is still undefeated.
Q: You’re 34, almost 35. Where are you at in your baseball career? How much longer would you like to pitch?
A: I don’t think there’s much doubt that the career is starting to wind down. As much as you try to fight it, Father Time is still undefeated. … But as for how long I hope to play, I would love to get two or three more years after this, depending on my health and whether or not anyone will be willing to offer me a job. Even if it was to play in Independent ball or who knows maybe another country somewhere, I think I can still compete for a few more years.
Q: At this point, is there still a desire to pitch in the majors? Or are you quite content pitching in Asia or elsewhere?
A: I would love to go back and give it one more shot in the majors, maybe build on the season I had in 2017. I am also realistic in the fact that it would take a perfect set of circumstances for that to ever happen. Unfortunately, teams don’t tend to offer a lot of contracts to super-softthrowing lefties that are 35-plus. But we’ll see what happens in the future.
My contract is up here in Japan at the end of the year and I have really enjoyed my time in Japan and would certainly be open to re-signing here if they wanted me back. However, there are so many things up in the air right now, especially with COVID-19 going on, that there is so much uncertainty on all sides right now it is difficult to have any projection for what will happen.
For now, it’s just worrying about what I can control and that’s just trying to get healthy and get ready to compete for this season and hopefully help my team win some games here. Once the season is over, then it will be time to start worrying about all the other things.