Hideki Okajima, once a workhorse lefty in the Boston Red Sox's bullpen, picked a good day to sign a Minor League deal with the Orioles and attempt a comeback: Throwback Thursday.
Okajima, who turned 40 last month and has pitched a total of 12 1/3 Major League innings since 2010 -- none since 2013 with Oakland -- accepted a deal with the O's that does not include an invitation to the big club's Spring Training camp.
Instead, Okajima will report to the Orioles' Minor League camp in Sarasota, Fla., where he will begin his attempt to flash back to 2007-10, when he made 261 appearances for the Red Sox and went 17-8 with a 3.11 ERA. He was an All-Star as a rookie in 2007, when he sported a 2.22 ERA and a 0.971 WHIP in 66 games.
Okajima made a successful return in 2014 in Japan (2.11 ERA in 44 appearances with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), but he had little success last season, working only 7 1/3 innings in 10 appearances with an 8.59 ERA for Yokohama.