SF Giants Taira Uematsu wants to be MLBs first Japaneseborn base coach Why stop there

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Taira Uematsu’s day began, like it always does, before dawn. It’s 6 o’clock now, as he slides into the corner table under his name at a sushi hotspot here — he just ran into Ichiro’s translator at the same spot last week — 12 hours since he arrived at the ballpark, first in the building, as usual. Twelve-hour days are tame for Uematsu, who puts in his order and begins to play with his chopsticks. His hands tell a story. His left thumb is permanently altered from a Hunter Strickland fastball, and the index finger next to…