By Jim Allen, KYODO NEWS - Nov 21, 2017 - 07:50 | Sports, All

Although he lived through a year of individual records and team triumphs this season, Pacific League MVP Dennis Sarfate admitted to nearly retiring during the middle of his greatest season.

The 36-year-old former big leaguer sped at a breakneck pace from records to milestones. It was a season that never let up until his three critical innings clinched the SoftBank Hawks' Japan Series victory. Sarfate saved a record 54 games, despite being away from his family as his wife, Jada, looked after their three daughters while dealing with chronic health issues.

"She needed her husband and my girls needed their dad," Sarfate recently told Kyodo News, explaining that despite his success, the situation back home made him want to quit several times this past season.

"That was the main part of me saying, 'No. I want to go home.' But we had talked about it. We have responsibilities. I'm making a salary to provide for my family. Do we walk away from that? Then it was, 'Can we get through this year and see what happens?'," adding that his wife was the "tough one" and the real "superstar."

Still, it was no easy feat to stick to that plan and play a game on the other side of the Pacific during his family's time of need. Sarfate, who became a Christian after coming to Japan with the Hiroshima Carp in 2011, believes he was able to stick it out because his religious faith provided him with subtle reminders to do the right thing.

"This year was tough," he said. "This year I did not want to talk to anyone. My wife was gone away from me. I had a lot of stress. I almost retired four or five times: quit, walked into the stadium, told the team I'm going home. And every time, God used something to change my mind."

He said it was his wife who reminded him he was in Japan for a reason that was a lot bigger than himself and more to do with his faith.

"You've just got to remember we're not here for ourselves. We forget it. I forget it from time to time, and you need that little reminder, that little kick in the butt."

The hard-throwing right-hander, who said that even in the major leagues he was "a one-pitch pitcher," has varied his game by mastering his curveball here and developing a forkball.

But while he has become a more complicated problem for batters to solve, Sarfate focuses on simplicity in games: "Stay back and try to throw the ball through the catcher."

Ironically, he said that anxiety about his family allowed him to eliminate unnecessary distractions within the game.

"It actually made this season, the baseball side, a little easier," he said. "I didn't care what happened on the field. I just had to do my job and go home and then talk to my wife and kids after the game was over."

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Sarfate said that what he had accomplished this season didn't really begin to sink in until he was on the plane bound for the States and there was no more baseball and no more records to deal with until next year.

He was motivated by others encouraging him to chase records, such as breaking Marc Kroon's NPB mark for saves by a foreign closer and the single-season saves record. Once he was flying home he could put his mind at ease about having to win the playoffs and the Japan Series.

"So when I got on the plane, I was, 'Wow. This was an unbelievable season.' We got through a lot with my family. It's good to be home and to sleep in my own bed and know it's over. I'm so glad I got to accomplish those things, especially as a team, to win it all."

Recounting those three final innings of the Japan Series was harder than he imagined, probably because it was all "a blur." It came back like a rush when he watched the video recording with his wife.

"I was like, 'I'm just going to keep doing it. If I have to throw a fourth inning, I'm going to throw a fourth.' It was just one of those things. If it had been Game 7, I'm going back out if we don't score. There's no way I'm letting them take me out. (Now) I'm glad to be home. Glad to be spending my time with my wife and the kids."