60 CARDINALS MAGAZINE
Alabama who admits Japan wasn’t remotely
on his radar. So he called MacLane for advice.
“He told me to go. He told me I’d love
it,” Dickson recalls. “To be honest, I had
never even thought about Japan. At that
point, I hadn’t even been married a year.
I talked it over with my wife and we decided
it would be just one year of our lives and if
it’s a good one, hopefully it’ll help lead to
another chance back in the States.”
Six years later, Dickson is savoring life in
Japan – even if he hasn’t acquired a taste for
the octopus that’s a dining staple there. But
he has adjusted to most other kinds of sushi
and nearly everything else about baseball life
overseas. Especially the career certainty.RARE ACCOMPLISHMENTS
American players have been going to
Japan and South Korea for years, whether
to revive careers, extend them in a different
setting or take advantage of bigger paychecks
than they could draw in the minor leagues.
A couple of current examples of “revival”
that are close to home (in the NL Central)
have made headlines.
Brewers slugger Eric Thames credits his
time in the Korean Baseball Organization,
which emphasizes split-finger and off-speed
pitches, with helping him become more
disciplined at the plate. And Cardinals starter
Miles Mikolas found his groove as a starting
pitcher in Japan during an impressive 2015-17
run with the Tokyo Giants.
While both men parlayed their success
into return tickets stateside, Dickson
has remained abroad, content with the
opportunity and security he’s found there.
Now in his sixth year with Orix, Dickson
has pitched more seasons than any foreigner
in franchise history, surpassing the record of
four held by two players.
He averaged nine victories a year over his
first five seasons in the Buffaloes rotation.
While they weren’t numbers that had
American scouts booking flights to Japan,
only one Orix pitcher earned more wins,
and Dickson’s 3.24 earned-run average was
tops among the club’s rotation regulars.
Dickson admits he’s felt some frustration
over the elusiveness of that 10th win, but
another former Cardinal, So Taguchi – now
in his third season as the organization’s
minor league manager – has been impressed
with the pitcher’s results.
“One thing you have to understand,”
Taguchi explained during the Buffaloes’
spring training, “is that the whole time
he’s been here, our offense has not been
that good. With greater run support, he
definitely would have double-digit wins.
His pitching has been that good. He’s been
indispensable to the starting rotation because
he’s stayed healthy and been reliable. You
have to look beyond the numbers and not
underestimate those things.”
The two-year contract extension Dickson
received last September is the second oneLA N D OF OPPORTU NITY
Dickson pitched in eight games for the Cardinals, including one start for the 2011 team that
would win the World Series. But by the end of 2012, after seven years in the organization,
the prospect of career stability seemed better suited to starting fresh in Japan.