He tips forward, checking himself on his left foot once, twice, and then rocks back until all his weight has shifted onto his back foot again.
However awkward Wada looks teeter tottering as he tries to time pitchers' deliveries, once the ball leaves the pitcher's hand, it's in jeopardy of being hit and hit hard.
Playing everyday for the first time in his career, the balding 30-year-old has been one of the secrets to Seibu's success this season although it has not been easy. Batting behind the most dangerous hitter in the Lions lineup, Alex Cabrera, the pressure has been on to produce when opponents pitch around the Venezuelan slugger.
Wada leads the Lions in hitting into double plays with 12. This should be no surprise as Cabrera is on first base one third of the time, and Wada runs OK, but he's wearing a knee brace and he's not one of those batters who just uppercuts the ball or strikes out all the time.
"I don't concern myself with (the double plays), though there have been a lot," said Wada at Seibu Dome on Tuesday.
What he does concern himself with is the fact that opponents consider him an easy out compared to Cabrera.
"I failed far too many times in those situations, right from the beginning of the season," said Wada. "That's my fault. Although now I'm getting used to the situation."
He ought to be. If first base is open, Cabrera can count on one finger the number of strikes he can dream of seeing.
"They're still not afraid to pitch to him," said Cabrera, who leads the PL with 77 walks. "Nothing's changed for me."
However, Wada's smoking bat in recent weeks has made pitchers pay the price for passing on Cabrera as the Lions have been nearly unbeatable in August.
In last Sunday's game against the BlueWave, Orix opted to pitch around Cabrera twice. Wada responded once with a two-run homer and another time with an inning-ending double play in the ninth inning against BlueWave fastballer Kazuo Yamaguchi. "I was looking for his best fastball, he took something off it, and I was out in front," said Wada.
The Lions were leading by a run--thanks in part to Wada's two homers and one from Cabrera--and won the game in nine innings, but the twin killing cost his team the chance to blow open a one-run game.
A graduate of Sendai's Tohoku Fukushi University, where more than a dozen current pros went to school, Wada took the long way to the pros. He played for Kobe Steel after his college coach convinced him that corporate ball was the way to go.
"That was great advice. It's a real challenge catching against hitters with metal bats. I learned a lot about catching."
But catching time for the Lions' No. 4 pick in the 1996 draft has been hard to come by. Shifted full time to the outfield this season, Wada has yet to catch a game this year and doesn't expect to.
"I'd definitely love to catch," said the unmasked man, who still has his gear ready for an emergency.
"Ito's doing a great job," said Wada of player/coach Tsutomu Ito. "So there's not really any chance for me to play. It's about what's best for the team."
Although he's been seeing action in the outfield for several years, it's still something of an adventure. Wada started the season in left field until jamming his left knee into the fence prior to the All-Star break. The knee was swollen for nearly a month and frequently hurts.
"I've been doing a lot of weight training to build up the muscles around the knee and take some of the pressure off it.
"Still, playing baseball is fun, but winning makes it a lot easier to come to the ballpark everyday."
As a reserve, Wada played a small but crucial role when the Lions clinched the PL pennant in 1998 and then barely played in the Japan Series.
"It's been a long time. I'm looking forward to playing in the Japan
Series."
The Hot Corner appears each Thursday in The
Daily Yomiuri .