 With no major league teams bidding on his services, Birtsas signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball for the season.Shortly after his arrival in Tokyo, Birtsas got into a brawl with Yoshihisa Komatsuzaki of the Chunichi Dragons when he threw a brush back pitch Komatsuzaki felt was a little too inside.In 1992 Birtsas pitched for the Rimini Pirates in the Italian Baseball League, and won two games of the championship series, including a shutout in the third and decisive game, leading his team to the league title with a 3-0 sweep.