The year was 1977.
The Yakult Swallows had gotten off to a poor start and, by mid-May, they were near the bottom of the Central League standings. Yakult's two foreign players, outfielders Charlie Manuel (yes, the current manager of the Philadelphia Phillies) and Roger Repoz, were underachieving and taking a lot of the blame for the Swallows doing a lot more losing than winning.
In an effort to shake up the club, the Swallows sent a representative in late May to look for at least one — maybe two — new American players. In those days, each Japanese pro team was allowed only two imports per organization. That meant, if the rep signed a couple of new players, Manuel and Repoz would have been released.