By Clarence Kukyama, Nipponese Baseball Prospectus National Columnist

12/28/2014: Tokyo, Japan – Our old friend and Ghosts first baseman Baden Tamburrino stopped by the offices of Nipponese Baseball Prospectus to complain that he had been robbed. Specifically, robbed of any votes in the Shinjinshou (Rookie of the Year) voting.

Actually, Tamburrino was on an off-season promotional tour to market his new line of men’s shaving lotions and colognes, dubbed “Body By Baden”.  He was joined by the manufacturer’s publicist, a young woman named Veronica, who wanted him to talk about the products, not baseball.

But it didn’t take long to get Tamburrino revved up when we asked what he thought about the results of the Shinjinshou voting.  “A travesty.  Let me ask you – who won the SSG Rookie of the Month Award in June?  Me!” he yelled.  “Who won the SSG Rookie of the Month Award in July?  Me!  Who won the SSG Rookie of the Month Award in October?  Me!

“And how many votes did I get in the SSG Shinjinshou balloting?  Zero! Not one!  Yet I was Rookie of the Month for three of the season’s six months!  What’s up with that?  Something is very wrong with this system.”

We explained to the irate Australian that Rookie of the Month voting is done by Baseball Japan, while Shinjinshou voting is done by LRS general managers and owners.  The two systems could reflect two different perspectives.

“But not one single vote?  That means even [Ghosts GM Mike] Dunn didn’t vote for me?  Son of a [expletive deleted].”

Tamburrino was particularly furious that of the 11 rookies who did earn votes, four of them were Ghosts teammates. Centerfielder Tokugawa Hirano, with 43 stolen bases on the year, was the second-highest vote-getter. Other Ghosts earning votes were LF Masahiro Murakami and young starting pitcher Kata Nakamura. Even a far less noted Ghosts pitcher, Kazushi Chikafuji, earned some votes despite going 2-11 with a 4.66 ERA.

“Chikafuji!  Chikafuji?” yelled a bewildered Tamburrino.  “That’s nuts!”

Then he played the race card.  “I’ll tell you what this is about.  It’s because I’m gaijin.  The league doesn’t want gaijin winning awards.  There – I said it.  Don’t tell me others haven’t been thinking it.”

At this point, publicist Veronica began shifting in her chair and interrupted, asking me, “Have you tried Baden’s cologne?”

Ignoring her, we reminded Baden that Kuwana gaijin starting pitcher Arthur Gardner was the second-highest vote-getter in the BBG Shinjinshou race.  And Hyakujuu gaijin catcher Samuel Finn was the sixth-highest vote-getter amongst SSG Shinjinshou candidates.  “Those was for show,” scoffed Tamburrino.

When reached for comment, Dunn issued this statement: “We highly value Baden’s contributions to the team in his rookie season and expect him to remain a Ghost for a very long time.  That said, we chose to cast votes in the Shinjinshou for others, including our first-place vote for “Eager Beaver” Mizutani, then with Akira, who had a superlative rookie season.”

When informed of Dunn’s statement, Tamburrino said, “That [expletive deleted]…” Veronica quickly ushered him out.

This isn’t the first time Tamburrino has gone on a public tirade.  In 2012, after winning the Outstanding Hitter Award of the Single-A Ruukii Kyuugi, Tamburrino lashed out at Ghosts management for not promoting him, a tirade that inspired the Japanese pop hit “Mr. Tamburrino”.