PEORIA, Ariz. —
Pierce Johnson was living on the other side of the world when he sent his pregnant wife, Kristina, off to Colorado in August to prepare for the arrival of their son, Breck. Alone in Japan the final several weeks of the Hanshin Tigers’ season, the 28-year-old reliever slowly packed up the rest of the couple’s belongings as he contemplated an uncertain future.
Johnson had plenty of reasons to hope his upcoming journey back to the United States would be a permanent one.
He just had no way of knowing.
Not even after blowing through the Nippon Professional Baseball the way he had.