FORT MYERS, FLA. - Twins owner Jim Pohlad, in Fort Myers on Saturday to watch his team beat the Rays 9-2, went up to second baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka and said, "I'm sorry for what is going on in your country."
Pohlad knows from first-hand experience.
Pohlad was part of a group of board members, donors and staff with the Walker Art Center that was on a trip to Japan when the 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit off the northeastern coast. Pohlad's group of about 20 visitors had just finished lunch on the 51st floor of the Mori Tower in Tokyo when the quake occurred.
"We had come down the elevator and we were in the concourse area, and all of a sudden everything started moving and it just progressed and got progressively worse," he said. "Everyone started running. Not just us but all the people in the offices.
"It was scary. When it is happening -- I had never been in an earthquake before -- there's a lot of noise. There's a lot of creaking. You see things moving, and you don't know what is going to happen."
Pohlad said everyone ran out into the streets and waited for the rumbling to stop. Tokyo is located about 250 miles southwest of Sendai, where the earthquake and resulting tsunami did most of the damage.
The group decided to continue its trip, spending the next day on an island about 400-500 miles southwest of Tokyo. But, after a couple days, they headed back northeast to Kyoto.
"That's when he began to hear about all the nuclear threats," Pohlad said. "We ended up leaving two days early."
