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11/10/2002 Archived Entry: "MLB Monsters Wreck Tokyo"
Bonds, Giambi Each Homer Twice to Overpower Yomiuri 8-1
Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe had said earlier this month that the quality of major league baseball was falling, especially the pitching. But Saturday's result at Tokyo Dome forced the hot tempered Japanese baseball kingpin to do yet another 180, as a team of MLB all stars, lead by two bombs each from leftfielder Barry Bonds and DH Jason Giambi, demolished his precious Giants 8-1. Baltimore Orioles rookie Rodrigo Lopez went five superb shutout innings of one hit ball to nab the victory.
The decidedly mediocre Yusaku Iriki, who hasn't started a game in more than a month, was the chief culprit in Yomiuri's demise, as he saw two first inning pitches leave the field of play and was ultimately charged with five runs on seven hits in three innings to get hung with the loss.
Former Giants longball king Sadaharu Oh threw out the first pitch and then after Iriki fanned MLB shortstop David Eckstein, the rout got in gear, as second baseman Roberto Alomar parachuted a jam job into left and was wild pitched to second with centerfielder Bernie Williams at the dish. Williams grounded to short for the second out, bringing up Bonds. Iriki got ahead in the count 1-2, but then hung a forkball up and on the outer half of the plate and Bonds mashed it, the ball reaching the front row of the rightfield seats in the blink of an eye for a 2-0 MLB lead. Iriki got behind to Giambi 3-1 and tried to sneak a fastball on the inner half of the plate and Giambi flattened it center backscreen stylee 410 feet and it was 3-0 big leaguers.
Derrick Lee, whose dad just caught on with Orix as its batting coach, then kicked off another MLB rally in the second by singling to right, but was erased at second on a 3-6 groundout off the bat of rightfielder Jacque Jones. Catcher A.J. Pierczynski singled to left. On the second pitch to Eckstein, Jones took off for third. Yomiuri backstop Shinnosuke Abe made an accurate throw to third, but somehow Daisuke Motoki whiffed on it with his glove and the ball rolled down the third base line as Jones got up and did the cadillac strut home, Pierczynski easing into second. Eckstein rolled one up the middle. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi made an outstanding play getting to it, but Eckstein beat it out, Pierczynski moving to third. Alomar banged a ball into center for a knock and an RBI to put MLB up 5-0.
Abe laced a single to center in the second, but the other three batters went away quietly. Iriki then fashioned a perfect third and called it a night.
Hisanori Takahashi came on in the fourth and surrendered a single to right by Eckstein but otherwise escaped unscathed. However, the same wasn't true of the fifth. With one down, he went 3-2 to Bonds and then threw an 85mph fastball that was down and on the inner half of the plate and the MLB batting champ laid into it bigtime, rifling it 450 feet away into the rightcenterfield stands, Godzilla Matsui not even bothering to move as the ball rocketed overhead. Takahashi went full to Giambi, too, and then hung a slider that was boomed well into the rightcenterfield bleachers and now it was getting
embarrassing for the proud Yomiuri squad at 7-0.
Tsuyoshi Jobe was dispatched to the center of the diamond for the sixth and he was greeted by Jones lasering a shot down into the rightfield corner for a double. Jones went to third on a subsequent groundout to first and, following a walk to pinch hitter Jimmy Rollins, scored on a groundout to short by pinch hitter Junior Spivey to widen it to 8-0 MLB.
San Diego Padres righthander Brian Lawrence assumed the mound duties for MLB beginning in the bottom of the sixth and fashioned a perfect inning, but then in the seventh saw Matsui line a pitch near the leftfield line for a single, Pat Burrell getting to it quickly to keep the Yomiuri cleanup man at first. Abe grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but first baseman Takayuki Saito outran a dribble toward first. Pinch hitter Koichiro Yoshinaga torqued one, but it was right at Lee, who snagged it to end the frame.
Three Yomiuri relievers held the MLB nine to one hit over the final three innings and then the team's offense came up for its last shot in the ninth against Minnesota's J.C. Romero. Akira Etoh, pinch hitting for DH Koji Goto, struckout. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi tapped a little ground ball toward third. Romero got to it and heaved it toward first, but Takahashi was safe. Matsui then drilled a Romero pitch, but right at Rollins at short, who then gunned it toward first attempting the double play. The ball sailed past Lee and Takahashi was able to hustle to second. Abe squirted a Romero offering between first and second and into right, Takahashi motoring home to make it 8-1. Yoshinori Murata was sent up to pinch hit for Saito and was called out on strikes to put it in the books as an 8-1 MLB triumph.
Since this was Matsui's last game playing with the Giants, the fans started to chant his name after the final out. The cheering went on for ten minutes. However, by the time Matsui was apprised of this, he had already removed his uniform and put it in a laundry bag. So he hastily removed the uni from the bag, put it back on, and then went out to bow and wave to the 55,000 strong crowd.
Abe was given a Fighting Spirit Award for his two hits and also pocketed the $850 that came with it. Nevertheless, the young catcher remarked, "playing against world class superstars is an experience that money can't buy."
Upon seeing his charges annihilated like they were, Watanabe uttered to reporters, "I didn't know major league baseball was at such a high level," yet another indication how clueless this clown is.
Hisanori Takahashi, who was also taken deep by Bonds in the first game of the 2000 series, noted how patient both Bonds and Giambi are. Clearly, though, manager Tatsunori Hara's strategy to go after MLB hitters with fastballs by two guys who need a hurricane behind them to hit 90mph, was a huge blunder and as the shot caller for the NPB all star team now plans to use more off speed pitches.
Iriki sounded like a man who should never have been allowed to play in the first place: "A pitcher like me can't contain players making tens of millions of dollars."
Bonds, who likes coming to Japan, which he says is "one of my most favorite countries in the world, not just to play baseball, but to indulge his home electronics hobby in shopping trips to the Akihabara district in Tokyo, said that "it was nice to be able [to homer] in my first at bat." The future Hall of Fame inductee is on his fourth voyage to the Land of the Rising Sun. He also enthused that he would like to take Matsui back home to Pac Bell Park with him.
Matsui declared to reporters that while he still doesn't have an agent, he has hired a lawyer. Lawrence posited that the Ishikawa Prefecture native "is a fine hitter. Do I think he'll do well in the big leagues? Yes I do. He'll do pretty well."
Lopez was clocked consistently in the 90mph range, but struck Matsui out on a changeup in the fourth. He will be shut down until spring training once this tour ends.
Giambi is picking up where he left off, as he played in the 1998 series and batted .385 with a homer.
A lot of the players are turning this tour into a souvenir collecting opportunity. Alomar gave his opposite number, Nishi, a signed cap and bat while Bonds and Kiyohara traded signed bats.
See related story at:Yomiuri Finds Out the Meaning of "Slugger"
See pics at:
Bonds Unloads
Bonds Away!
Kiyohara Receives Bonds Bat
Matsui Connects for a Hit
Matsui Starts His Swing, Rear View
Matsui Bows to Crowd After Game
Matsui Swarmed by U.S. Media
Oh Throws Out First Pitch
Oh First Pitch, Another View
Pitching Lines:
MLB:
R. Lopez (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 PC 63 H 1 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Lawrence IP 3.0 PC 39 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Romero IP 1.0 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yomiuri:
Y. Iriki (L, 0-1) IP 3.0 PC 58 H 7 HR 2 K 3 BB 0 R 5 ER 3 ERA 9.00
H. Takahashi IP 2.0 PC 41 H 3 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.00
Jobe IP 1.0 PC 19 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Kashiwada IP 1.0 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kamoshida IP 1.0 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
J. Sakai IP 1.0 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Motoki, Rollins
SB: J. Jones, Nishi
2B: J. Jones
HR: Bonds 2 (2), Ja. Giambi 2 (2),
RBI: Bonds 3, Giambi 2, R. Alomar, Spivey, S. Abe
WP: Y. Iriki, Romero
HBP: Nishi (R. Lopez)
GIDP: S. Abe
LOB: MLB 4, Yomiuri 5
Series Status: MLB 1, Yomiuri 0
Game Time: 2:37
Attendance: 55,000
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), Young (1B), Ino (2B), Sederstrom (3B)
Lineups:
MLB:
SS Eckstein (2-3, K .666)
(PH, SS) Rollins (0-1, BB .000)
2B R. Alomar (2-3, R, RBI .666)
(2B) Spivey (0-2, RBI .000)
CF B. Williams (0-3 .000)
(CF) Hunter (0-2 .000)
LF Bonds (2-3, 2R, 3 RBI, K .666)
(LF) Burrell (0-1 .000)
DH Ja. Giambi (2-4, 2R, 2 RBI .500)
3B E. Chavez (0-3, K .000)
(3B) Hinske (0-1 .000)
1B: D. Lee (2-4 .500)
RF: J. Jones (1-4, 2R, K .250)
C Pierczynski (1-3, R .333)
(C) LoDuca (0-1 .000)
Yomiuri:
LF T. Shimizu (0-4 .000)
DH K. Goto (0-2, BB .000)
(PH, DH) Etoh (0-1 K .000)
RF Y. Takahashi (1-4, K .250)
CF H. Matsui (1-4, K .250)
C S. Abe (2-4, RBI, K .500)
1B Takayuki Saito (1-3, K .333)
(PH) Murata (0-1, K .000)
3B Motoki (0-2 .000)
(PH) Yoshinaga (0-1 .000)
(3B) Fukui (0-0 0.00)
2B Nishi (0-2, HBP, SB, .000)
SS Kawanaka (0-3, K .000)
(SS) M. Kawai (0-0 .000)
Note: Positions listed in parentheses are for non-starting players.
Matsui Not Leaning Toward New York
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Matsui: Monster or Myth?
See story at: North Jersey Record Article
Matsui Gets Taste of MLB Competition
See story at: NY Times Article
Godzilla Just Getting Warmed Up
See story at: Japan Times Article
Matsui: "I Haven't Made Up My Mind"
See story at: Associated Press Article
Oh Envies Matsui's Going to MLB
See story at: ESPN Article
Obando Dumped by Fighters; Marlins' Banks May Replace Him
According to Sports Nippon, the Nippon Ham Fighters have given Sherman Obando his walking papers and are contemplating replacing him with 32 year old Florida Marlins outfielder Brian Banks. This year at Albuquerque in AAA ball, the Mesa, Arizona-born Banks hit .310 with 19 homers and 89 RBIs in 130 games.
A second round choice by Milwaukee in 1993 out of Brigham Young University, the 6'3" 210 pound switch hitting Banks can also play some first, third and has done some catching, too, in addition to the work in the outfield. He was called up to the big club for the first time at the end of the 1996 season, where he went 4-7 in four games. For the totality of his MLB career, he has been in 181 games and batted .251 with nine homers and 41 RBIs with an OPS of .694 in 346 at bats. He has proven to be strikeout prone, racking up 91 whiffs in that span.
Obando battled injuries this season and posted a .263 average with 26 homers and 68 RBIs in 118 games, mostly as a DH. Lifetime in four Japanese seasons, the 32 year old Panamanian has hit .293 with 91 homers and 282 RBIs. His best campaign was in 2000, when he hit .332 with 30 homers and 101 RBIs, all personal Japan bests.
Hot Shots....
After working out a couple of days on the new Tokyo Dome artificial turf, Ichiro Suzuki said that while the feel of it is closer to natural grass than the original turf that was installed in the facility, he said that Japanese teams still need to reconsider their preference for fake surfaces. Only five parks in the majors use non-natural turf. David Eckstein, for whatever reason, tried to make a diving catch during batting practice and basically plopped on the turf instead of sliding, as he would with other artificial surfaces. Fortunately, he wasn't injured ....Seibu Lions first baseman Alex Cabrera is appealing to Tokyo Dome to change the stupid rule where a ball that hits the roof in fair territory is in play. Cabrera lost a homer this past season when a high drive that was destined for the far reaches of the leftfield seats banged off the roof and dropped back on the field for what became a single.... Tuffy Rhodes chatted with Norihiro Nakamura for two hours over Chinese food in Shizuoka earlier this evening in an attempt to convince the slugger to stay with the Buffaloes. That team's next offer to Nakamura may be a six year deal in the $4 million a year range....Daiei Hawks manager Sadaharu Oh is calling for a first round compensation pick if a club's free agent star is signed, noting the defection of Pacific League stars to the rival Central League....Yokohama says it may go after Hosei University ace Ryutaro Doi ....As more proof that new Nippon Ham boss Trey Hillman is enjoying his Japan tour, he has offered to sign autographs for anyone who comes to see the team practice at Kamogawa, Chiba Prefecture....Cuba, the hosts of this year's Intercontinental Cup, won its first game against Holland 5-0. Among the players for the Dutch was former major leaguer Hensley Muelens. Starter Jose Ibar went eight innings and fanned 13 to earn credit for the victory. Japan will open its participation with a battle against the Dominican Republic tonight ....Chinese baseball team making that nation's debut in international baseball play....Orix formally announced the signing of Cubs outfielder Roosevelt Brown and Rockies infielder Jose Ortiz....Congratulations to Seibu Lions righty Chang Chih-chiah, who will be getting married in the 2003 offseason to his high school sweetheart, Lee Min-sen, 22, who is said to resemble Japanese actress Yukie Nakama....Hochi Sports has an article out today that seems to say that the plan for moving the fences in at Shea Stadium will help the Mets in their bid to aquire Matsui. Now THAT is comedy!....The Yakult Swallows say that they are considering drafting diminutive 24 year old sidearmer Masahiro Yoshikawa from Lawson of the Japanese industrial leagues. They say the slider and sinkerballer reminds them of their closer, Shingo Takatsu. He is likely to go on the third round or lower.....After reports that free agent rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama would sign a deal with Hanshin, he has changed his mind and will look to see what offers he receives by other clubs. He is reportedly unhappy with the team not offering him a signing bonus as well as believing the incentive provisions don't
compensate him enough if he meets those targets....Leon Lee's deal with Orix gave him a $250,000 signing bonus and $250,000 in salary, according to Sports Nippon. Not bad bread for that job. However, he is only signed for one year. He will wear number 77. Leon also said that he intends to drop from his present 235 pounds to his old playing weight of 190 while he is in Japan.
Williams Underwent MRI Before Leaving for Japan
See story at: Greenwich Time Article
Debate Over Baseball in Olympics Still Ongoing
See story at: Associated Press Article
Korean GI Baseball League May Shut Down
See story at: Stars and Stripes Article
