Former De Smet Spartan Makes Mark Overseas

When the Minnesota Twins defeated the Detroit Tigers in a one-game playoff to win the American League Central Division in 2009, it was in front of a national television audience.

The game was also watched by the management team of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s Pacific League. They decided that night that they wanted to sign the game’s winning pitcher – Bobby Keppel.

“They want big-league pitchers,” said Keppel, a 2000 De Smet graduate who was drafted by the New York Mets out of high school. “Once they saw that game, they tracked me down.”

Keppel, who spoke with Patch in a phone interview last week, spent six years in the Mets’ farm system before signing a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals. He made his Major League debut on May 25, 2006 and started six games for the Royals.

He was dealt to Colorado in 2007 and, after three appearances, Keppel was sent to Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. He spent 2008 with Florida’s AAA team, the Albuquerque Isotopes and signed a minor league deal with the Twins that December. He was called up to the big leagues on June 22, 2009, leading to his Oct. 6 start against the Tigers.

Instead of entering 2010 spring training as Minnesota’s 13th pitcher, Keppel signed with the Nippon-Ham Fighters.

“It was an opportunity to make some good money and have some stability,” said Keppel, who was instantly placed into the regular starting rotation and was 7-1 on the season with an earned run average of 2.39 through June 24.

His high school coach, Greg Vitello, isn’t surprised by Keppel’s ability to sustain a professional career for a decade.

“He was a dream to coach – hard working, intense competitor,” Vitello said. “He played for pressure situations. This was when he was at his best. He was a leader through and through, totally respected by his peers, coaches, and teachers. Did we think he was going to make ‘the show?’  Definitely. He had all the tools. 

“His brief stints with various clubs in the Majors showed that he could pitch. I have not coached a better baseball player or Christian individual in 43 years of coaching high school athletes.”

Keppel, who turned 30 on June 11, admits that he nearly went to play in Korea in 2009 before the Twins came calling. But when he had a guaranteed starting position in Japan, the decision to play in Asia was an easy one.

Keppel said he felt comfortable signing with a Japanese organization because he had spent time in Japan as an 11-year-old on a Junior Team USA club. The Keppel family has another connection with the Land of the Rising Sun. Bobby’s sister, Kathleen, spent the 2009-2010 school year in Japan teaching English. The two siblings got to spend a week together in March, 2010 when Kathleen was finished with her school year.

“People think we have some connection with Japan,” their mother Denise said, “but it’s just pure coincidence. I really think Japan is a great experience for him.”

Bobby Keppel said the differences between Japanese and American baseball go beyond a 144-game schedule compared to 162 games.

“It is very intense,” Keppel said. “Baseball over here is like NFL football in the states. It’s the No. 1 sport here. Every one of the fans here has such a passion for the game, maybe even more than back home.”

Fewer games also make it easier for the body to heal and Keppel said traveling across a smaller country means he can see his two children more often. He does fly with his family back to St. Louis for the offseason.

The Japanese also do fewer player appearances, although the Nippon-Ham Fighters did hold some charity events to raise money for the victims of the earthquakes and subsequent tsunami that struck the country in early May.

Although he and his teammates were not directly affected by the natural disasters, Keppel said he was on the 26th floor of the Tokyo Dome Hotel when the first earthquake struck.

“I’ve been in earthquakes before and you felt it coming on,” he recalled. “You feel the beginning of it, but next thing you know, after about 30 seconds, you see the studs start coming out of the wall.”

At that point, Keppel said he went to the middle of his room and held onto the bed for another minute until the quake stopped. He then walked into the hallway, where he saw the maids clutching the wall in fear. The Japanese are used to earthquakes so when Keppel saw how afraid the maids were he “realized it was a big deal.”

After the disaster, Sports Illustrated reported that the league delayed the start of the season, drawing comparisons to the way Major League Baseball paused following the 9/11 attacks. Many games in Japan were also rescheduled to take place during the day to conserve energy.

Keppel said nobody was panicking and the quake's magnitude and its aftershocks weren’t truly felt until the tsunami made landfall.

Denise Keppel admitted that she took the news of his signing with some reservations.

“Naturally I thought I wouldn’t see him much,” she said. “I’m a mom, I want to see him. But here he was traveling all over the place, so it wasn’t that different. I was able to travel to see some of his games so that’s changed. You’ve just got to let them go and spread their wings.

“We Skype often,” she added. “We take advantage of technology. It’s great. It’s awesome. He’s enjoying it and we’re happy when our kids our happy, so we’re happy for him.”