When talking to Japanese players about the difficulty of adjusting to American culture and the American style of baseball, several of said players have also marveled at the adjustment that American baseball players must make in traveling to Japan and adjusting the Far Eastern baseball culture.

Even more of an adjustment is expected of an American Manager relocating his family and his life to Japan, but that’s exactly what Trey Hillman did when he left behind his experience as a manager in the New York Yankees minor league system and as Director of Player Development for the Texas Rangers and, instead moved eastward to become the manager of the Hokkaido/Nippon Ham Fighters in 2003. Hillman was also a candidate for the Oakland A's manageral position prior to the 2007 season, and voiced his desire in the interview to eventually return to baseball in the United States during a phone interview from the Land of the Rising Sun.

Hillman, who candidly described his Japanese as still “brutal” after five seasons, was Hideki Okajima’s manager with the Ham Fighters in Japan last season and was kind enough to sit down for a truly long distance phone call about Okaji and his surprising first season in Boston.

Here’s a transcript of the Q & A:

Is Okajima’s success a surprise to you after managing him in the Japanese Leagues last season?

TH: “I’d be lying if I said I thought he would have been this successful in the Major Leagues during his first season and that the transition would have gone this smoothly – given not only the difference in baseball but also the cultural differences and the necessary adjustment.

There’s actually a big difference between the kind of baseballs used and preferred by the pitchers in Japan as opposed to the United State. In Japan, pitchers don’t want to use a ball that isn’t “clean” and will in some instances throw it in and get another simply if the ball has hit the turf or even on a routine fly ball. It’s just the opposite in the United States where a pitcher might get more action on his pitches after a ball has been roughed up a bit during game action and definitely prefers a ball that isn't totally clean.

“Here in Japan the pitchers are in a culture where they literally throw every single day and I actually think Okajima has gained a little more pop on his fastball than when he was pitching for us [last season]. I’ve had reports that he’s popped 88 and 89-mph fastballs while pitching [in Boston] and for us he would top out velocity-wise at 87-mph and was commonly throwing between 85-87-mph.

So in that way I think the American throwing program that the Red Sox have Okajima on has strengthened his arm and added a few feet to his fastball. He’s always a lot of torque in his delivery and I think John Farrell has done a very good job of learning that unique delivery and helping him with his mechanics.

“I think [his season] is also just a continuation of his development and that’s something that I’ve always stressed to my players. No matter how old you are and how much experience you have, you’ve got to keep improving and developing as a pitcher and that’s exactly what Okajima has done.

Okajima had a very good bounce back season pitching for you with the Ham Fighters after a difficult final season with the Yomiuri Giants…was there anything you did differently with his mechanics or the pitches he was throwing?

TH: “What I did was I used him…I used him consistently. I made sure I didn’t abuse him. He was wonderful. There were probably no more than three times where he told me he needed a day [off]. If a Japanese guy tells you he needs a day off then that means his arm is about to fall off.”

He was the same pitcher…there was some work I remember to get his arm angle and release point consistent but other than that we had two pitching coaches – one that we still have now -- and Mike Brown – who is a scout in the United States with the Arizona Diamondbacks – but there wasn’t a whole lot of tinkering we had to do with [Okajima].”

It also looks to me like he’s throwing more of a circle change than the split-fingered change up that he threw with us last season. The change he’s throwing has a lot of deception to it and some real depth that the other pitch only occasionally had…it’s become a power change up and a real weapon for him.  It's a really good pitch.

The curveball was the real weapon that he used with us as well and he'd work off that 87-mph fastball with a 78-80 mph change that sometimes had a little depth to it but more often than not just functioned as a straight change.

Did you get a sense he wanted to play Major League baseball?

TH: “I talked to him fairly regularly out in the outfield and I talked to him after the scouts had started calling and we knew he was gone [from the Ham Fighters after last season]. I assumed he was going back to the Giants because his family is Tokyo-based and I guess he had already put the word out that he wasn’t resigning with us. It seemed to be [difficult] for him to be away from his family and he went back to Tokyo as much as he could during the season.”

“He had mentioned to me when I asked him what his plans were that he already had a couple of offers from teams in the United States and I said ‘Good for you man…that’s outstanding’. I told him there would be no hard feelings from me no matter what he did and I wished him the best of luck, and that I would give him as much help and support as he needed. I would have loved to have him stay with us over here, but I am very proud of what he’s been able to accomplish in Boston so far.”

What kind of a player was Okajima to interact with on a daily basis?

TH: The Japanese call it “Hazukashi” or shy…he’s a very quiet guy, he’s a very humble guy and nothing bugs him. I would go over and tell him that everything was okay after he had a rough outing, but he didn’t need a lot of that reassurance and was a very low-maintenance guy. He was a wonderful guy to have on the club because he was low-maintenance.

“He was the kind of guy that some managers might take fore granted because he’s quiet and to himself a little bit, but I certainly didn’t. Some of the reports over here told me that he was comfortable coming to the States after having me as a manager. I don’t play a card game with the players, whether it’s just to try to reach a guy to say hello every day or give a guy a pat on the back. You try to relate to everyone on some level every day of the season. At least that's what an ordinairy Joe like me always tried to do”

The piece below was from the Minneapolis Star Tribune last week and continues to fuel the speculation that the Red Sox can and will deal third baseman Mike Lowell if the right deal arises. How would Mark Texeira look into a Red Sox uniform? Better yet, how would Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena look in a Red Sox uniform...oh wait, we already saw that:

How about Lowell?

Since the Twins appear to be looking into upgrading at third base, there might be a player in Boston who is available.

Mike Lowell entered Wednesday batting .311 with 11 homers and 47 RBI. He's in the final year of a contract paying him $9 million, but it's believed the Red Sox would be willing to eat a chunk of the salary.

At first glance, it wouldn't make sense for the Red Sox to part with Lowell, but there are some whispers that Boston would like to move Kevin Youkilis to third base and go after the Texas Rangers' Mark Teixeira.