[Previous entry: "Godzilla Crosses the Pacific"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Godzilla Goes Bigtime"]
11/01/2002 Archived Entry: "Media Ga Ga Over Godzilla"
Matsui, Matsui, Matsui!
See NY Times article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/01/sports/baseball/01MATS.html?ex=1036818000&en=985ea4252af7e8c2&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE
See Mainichi Shimbun article in english at: http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20021101p2a00m0fp016000c.html
See Hartford Courant article at: http://www.ctnow.com/sports/hc-yankees1101.artnov01,0,7595285.story?coll=hc-headlines-sports
See Associated Press article at: http://www.covers.com/ap/article.asp?articleID=106305&league=MLB
See Yomiuri Shimbun article at: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20021102wo51.htm
A well done piece by George Nishiyama at the Monterey Herald at: http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/sports/4419453.htm
See NY Post article at: http://www.nypost.com/sports/yankees/24605.htm
The Man on the Street Weighs in on Matsui's Leaving
Enough with what the media thinks. How do fans feel? See Japan Today story at: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=popvox&id=308
Dodgers Pass on Matsui
See San Gabriel Valley Tribune article at: http://www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205%257E12224%257E962844,00.html
SF Giants on the Fence About Matsui
See Sacramento Bee story at: http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/5025164p-6033161c.html
Matsui, Cabrera Named MVPs
See Japan Times story at: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp.pl5?sb20021102a1.htm
Yankees Forgoing Payroll Concerns for Matsui
See Greenwich Time article at: http://www.greenwichtime.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-yanks012986963nov01,0,3754062.story?coll=ny-yankees-print
Cubs Batting Instructor Leon Lee: Matsui "Would Make an Impact" in Wrigley
See NY Daily News article at: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/story/31842p-30200c.html
Thank you to Baseball Guru.com reader Jeff Sedik for alerting me to it.
Nagashima Disappointed in Matsui Decision
See Japan Today article at: http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=6&id=236987
Yomiuri Owner Watanabe Goes Ballistic; MLB "Socialistic"
For those such as myself wondering when Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe was going to blow his stack over the defection of his star centerfielder, Hideki Matsui, to MLB, we didn't have to wait long, if a Sports Nippon report is correct. In a dinner meeting at a tony restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza district with friends from the financial industry, the outspoken Japanese answer to George Steinbrenner began with conciliatory verbiage about rewarding Matsui for his contributions to the Giants and accomodating his cleanup hitter's dreams while also working closely with the Yankees, but then quickly moved to a heated assessment of Major League baseball and Matsui's role in it.
"It's major league this and major league that," the former foreign corrspondent went on. "Even if you look at the World Series, the pitching there is terrible. Matsui can hit 50 homers off of that. Besides, all you have there are labor problems and teams are teetering on the brink. The majors have been corrupted by socialism. All of the major league teams are going to go under. So why should he go over to save the nearly bankrupt major leagues? Furthermore, as for the question of [Matsui] hoping to return to Japanese baseball, if he wants to play in Japan again, then I hope he does. Except will there be openings at that time? There won't be any guarentees two or three years down the road."
Even with all that, Watanabe emphasized that if Matsui is going to leave, he wants him to go to the Yankees, according to another report in Sankei Sports.
Keep in mind that Yankees president Randy Levin is arriving in Japan next weekend to put the final touches on the working agreement with Yomiuri. Leave it to Watanabe to create some controversy before that is supposed to take place. This is also the same Watanabe who accused Ichiro Suzuki of "selling out his country" when he asked to be posted.
Meanwhile, Seibu Lions first sacker Alex Cabrera has weighed in on Matsui's chances in MLB, insisting that he "has the ability to hit 40 homers" in the big leagues. "He's a great player. He has power. Someone with that kind of ability will undoubtedly be a success in the majors." Cabrera, who made these comments while at a Tokyo area hotel to pick up his Pacific League MVP award, also noted that, "he will probably go to the Yankees, where the park has a short porch in right that is made for lefthanded hitters. 30 homers? 35 homers? No way! He's going to do better than that." As for advice he would give to Matsui, the ex-Diamondback offered, "in the majors, pitchers can throw 97-98mph. Therefore, the way they pitch to you is different from Japan. He will have to ba able to make adustments. That will be the key for him."
Cabrera then sent Matsui off with this kind remark: "next season, even though we will be separated by an ocean, I would like to compete with him in who will hit the most homers. And I intend to give the fans something to be excited about."
Given that Matsui is now going to play elsewhere next season, the Giants are expressing renewed interest in Kintetsu Buffaloes third baseman Norihiro Nakamura and Yakult Swallows first baseman Roberto Petagine. However, Watanabe says that he will require that the burly Osaka native stops dying his hair brown and keeps it black to maintain Yomiuri's squeeky clean, "gentlemanly" image.
Cabrera Slams Lions for Releasing Batting Coach
According to Sports Nippon, Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera was not happy when is team opted to not re-sign batting coach Kanamori in the wake of pathetic run production during the Japan Series. "I don't believe it. That is the worst!" the dissapointed former Mexican League MVP grumbled. "He always gave me good advice. He really looked after me. He is a fantasitc coach. He fostered three 30 homer guys and four .300 hitters.
Even despite his hammering manager Haruki Ihara in the press after the Japan Series debacle and vehemently disagreeing with club management about Kanamori, Cabrera is saying again that despite feelers from 4-5 MLB teams, he is going to play one more year in Japan and then will think about what he wants to do. He also said that he looks forward to winning it all in 2003. Those words should allay the fears of Lions fans, who were perhaps contemplating the team without their big gun next season.
Yakult's Ishikawa, Nippon Ham's Shoda 2002 Rookies of the Year
The results of the Rookie of the Year balloting were disclosed and Yakutl Swallows lefthander Masanori Ishikawa was an easy winner over Yokohama Bay Stars southpaw Yuji Yoshimi, according to Sports Nippon. Furthermore, Nippon Ham hurler Itsuki Shoda was named the best new Pacific Leaguer. "This is an award you can only win once," Ishikawa reacted. "So I'm a happy guy right now." Ishikawa had a 12-9 record for the Swallows this season and is the seventh Yakult player to be so honored.
Shoda had a losing record, 9-11,and Chang Chieh-chiah should have taken home the trophy, in my opinion, but anyway, he became the first Fighter to be the top rookie since Makoto Kaneko in 1996.
Hot Shots....
Ryukoku University hurler Naohisa Sugiyama announced that he will join the Hanshin Tigers. Tigers officials believe that Sugiyama will develop quickly and will be playing with the big club in short order....Kintets said that they will not get involved in a bidding war with Yomiuri over third baseman Norihiro Nakamura. Nakamura's father is a big Giants fan....The Buffs also said that they intend to draft hard throwing Tohoku High pitcher Yuhei Takai....Lefthander Masahiro Doi, 30, released earlier by Daiei, has passed a tryout with Orix and has been added to that club's roster. They hope he can bolster their bullpen....Hosei University manager Masatake Yamanaka, who racked up seven league titles and one All Japan University crown in nine years at the school, is retiring at age 55. He was also the manager of the Japanese olympic baseball squad that played in the Barcelona games in 1996....Daiei manager Sadaharu Oh was impressed by what he saw from China Trust Whales outfielder Chen in the batting practice earlier today. Chen is working out with Daiei and could end up with the Hawks if they think he would be a viable player in the PL.
Hanshin, Seibu working on Trade
The Hanshin Tigers are working on aquiring Seibu Lions outfielder Tetsuya Kakiuchi (32) in exchange for outfielder Tomochika Tsuboi (28). Tsuboi sustained a hairline leg fracture earlier in the season and is rehabbing it. Since they are going to add Tomoaki Kanemoto from the free agent market, they need a righthanded bat and Kakiuchi gives them that. Kakiuchi was in 91 games this season and cracked 14 homers and drove in 38 runs while hitting .226.
Tsuboi had a .293 career average coming into this season, though he has no pop at all. Kakiuchi has rarely hit for a respectable average (.228 lifetime) even though he does have a little thunder in his bat, homering 28 times in 1996. However, that was his only 20 dinger campaign. One could only imagine is that the Lions would hope that Tsuboi would post a higher average in the two hole than light hitting Kazuhiko Miyaji, providing he can stay off the disabled list.
Best Nines Announced
The best players by position in each of the two leagues have been announced. They are:
Central League:
Pitcher: Koji Uehara (Yomiuri); Catcher: Shinnosuke Abe (Yomiuri); 1st Base: Roberto Petagine (Yakult); 2nd Base: Makoto Imaoka (Hanshin); 3rd Base: Akinori Iwamura (Yakult); Shortstop: Hirokazu Ibata (Chunichi); Outfield: Hideki Matsui (Yomiuri); Outfield: Kosuke Fukudome (Chunichi); Outfield: Takayuki Shimizu (Yomiuri).
Pacific League:
Pitcher: Jeremy Powell (Kintetsu); Catcher: Tsutomu Itoh (Seibu); 1st Base: Alex Cabrera (Seibu); 2nd Base: Hiroyuki Takagi (Seibu); 3rd Base: Norihiro Nakamura (Kintetsu); Shortstop: Kazuo Matsui (Seibu); Outfield: Yoshitomo Tani (Orix); Outfield: Tuffy Rhodes (Kintetsu); Outfield: Tatsuya Ozeki (Seibu); DH: Kazuhiro Wada (Seibu).
Quibble: Even though he spent considerable time away due to a shoulder injury, Kenji Johjima of the Daiei Hawks was still the best catcher in the PL this season.
MLB International Style
See very well done George Vecsey article at: http://www.earthtimes.org/oct/societyandsportsbaseballoct31_02.htm
Hawaii Tourism Authority Donates $15,000 for Kids Japan Baseball Tour
See Honolulu Advertiser article at: http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Nov/01/ln/ln13a.html
Today in Japanese Baseball History
This report is for November 2nd and on that date in Japanese baseball history in 1960, Waseda University and Keio University faced off in a six games in a single day slate at Meiji Jingu Stadium starting in the early morning. Three of those contests ended in ties. Waseda University ace submarining righthander Motohiro Ando went all they way in the first five of those games (49 total innings and 564 total pitches) to help secure the Tokyo Big Six University League title for the school. Ando surrendered only three runs (an ERA of 0.55 on the day). He eventually compiled a 35-21 record, tenth all time for the league. See pic from his college days at: http://www.wasedawillwin.com/backnum2/special/0102_100th/imgs/ph16.jpg
Note that I couldn't find the reason why the same two clubs played so many games in one day against each other, but I assume there were some rainouts. It would stretch the bounds of credibility to believe that it would have been scheduled in advance that way.
Ando moved on to the Toei Flyers, where he won 13 games as a rookie in 1962 to get them to a pennant and he then won two more in the Japan Series to secure the championship. However, he only won four more games afterward and was done by 1965 (one assumes to due arm problems) He then went on to work at a construction company and died in 1996 at the age of 57.
Also on that date in 1972, Hanshin great Minoru Murayama announced his retirement. His number 11 was also permanently retired.
