San Jose's Lenn Sakata became a legend

Lenn Sakata was born and raised in Honolulu and still calls Hawaii home. During the baseball season, however, you can sometimes find him at what he calls his "second house:" 82-year-old Excite Ballpark, home of the San Jose Giants.

Sakata, one of the first players of Japanese descent to appear in the Major Leagues, played from 1977-87 and is best known for the six seasons he spent with the Baltimore Orioles. He was the team's starting shortstop when Cal Ripken began his consecutive games streak as well as a member of the 1983 World Championship team. After retiring as a player he transitioned to managing, and this line of work brought him to San Jose. Again, and again, and again, and again.

Sakata is the winningest manager in the history of the California League, founded in 1942 and now a Single-A circuit. He notched the bulk of his 899 victories in the loop over five stints with the San Jose Giants (1999, 2001, 2004-07, 2014, 2021), winning three championships and nurturing a sizable contingent of future San Francisco Giants along the way -- players from Tim Lincecum to Patrick Bailey.

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San Jose's Excite Ballpark, known as Municipal Stadium for most of its existence, was built in 1942 and exudes baseball history via its idiosyncratic traditions and colorful murals. A painting of Sakata on an exterior wall of the stadium commemorates his San Jose achievements, and in 2019 his number 14 was retired by the team (making him the first person in franchise history to receive this honor).

Congratulations to Lenn Sakata, who now has the first retired number in #SJGiants history. pic.twitter.com/ZIIsu6ewsb

— San Jose Giants (@SJGiants) July 1, 2019

In addition to Baltimore, Sakata suited up for Milwaukee, Oakland and the New York Yankees during his playing days. He said that he had “always wanted to be a Giant” because of the impression that the organization made on him from a young age.

“Especially being Japanese American,” said Sakata, speaking from San Jose’s familiar home dugout prior to a game earlier this month. “The first Japanese player to play in the Major Leagues was [San Francisco Giant] Masanori Murakami. He did it in the ‘60s and to me it was like, ‘It’s possible for a minority to make it that far.’ So that impressed me, inspired me.”

Now on the cusp of his 70th birthday, Sakata isn’t done yet. He is once again employed by the Giants, this time as a player development special assistant.. (Or, as he wryly refers to the gig, as an “independent contractor.”)

“I just pop my head into Spring Training and then try to get out [to Minor League ballparks] a couple times a year,” said Sakata. “So it’s mostly come in and help the coaching staff and then try to evaluate the players and pitch in a little bit.”

Sakata has always preferred the lower levels of the Minor Leagues, where the players are unpolished and open to instruction. These days, a lot of his work is with the coaches as well.

“Coming back [to the Giants], it was mostly to coach the coaches,” he said. “Most of the coaches are half my age … I think it’s just a matter of repetition and being consistent with how you work out and how you practice and what you believe.”

That he often gets to do this work within Excite Ballpark, a place where he’s spent innumerable days and nights, is an added bonus.

“It truly is a historic park, and I’ve got great memories and really good players who have played on this field,” he said. “I really appreciate the whole cast of characters. Not just the guys who made it [to the Majors] but a lot of times it was the second-string-type guys who were a big influence on our success. … And then even some of our coaches today played for me in San Jose. [Hitting coach] Travis Ishikawa and the manager, Ydwin Villegas. It kind of goes on and on.”

Sakata ended his conversation with this writer on a poignant note, providing an unprompted observation as he gazed out onto San Jose’s playing field.

“I don’t know if I could actually really say how I feel about this place, because it really is emotional,” he said. “I still come out here every day, and I’m here early, and I just stare out at the field. Feel the atmosphere, remembering what it was like and some of those people who came through here and ended up going to the big leagues and winning the World Series. But their beginning, it started out here.”