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11/16/2002 Archived Entry: "Bonds Slams Big Leaguers to First Victory Over Japanese All Stars"
Bonds Receives MVP for Big Blast
NPB starter Chang Chih-chiah was hardly on his best footing for five innings Thursday at Sapporo Dome, pitching out of a couple of big jams before being taken deep by first baseman Jason Giambi to tie it at 1-1 in the fifth. After the Japanese offense put up a three spot in the bottom of that inning to go ahead 4-1, the Taiwanese righthander then totally ran out of gas in the sixth, loading the bases and walking in a run before Hirotoshi Ishii was brought in to face DH Barry Bonds. Ishii threw a fastball and Bonds murdered it, pounding it deep into the rightfield stands for a go ahead grand slam that proved to be the big blow in a 6-5 victory by the MLB side.
Brian Lawrence started for the MLB all stars and had a strong outing, going four innings of one run ball on three hits, though he didn't figure in the decision. Instead, Rodrigo Lopez, who was excellent when he started against Yomiuri, was credited with the shiroboshi even though he was done up for four runs, three earned, on five hits in just a bit under three innings.
Chang was blitzed by the Giants in the Japan Series and he didn't begin the game too auspiciously here, as rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki singled to right on a changeup and second baseman Roberto Alomar singled to center to open the match. Centerfielder Bernie Williams grounded to first to move the runners up. Bonds flew out to rightfielder Hideki Matsui and the runners held. Chang then plunked Giambi to pack the sacks. But leftfielder Pat Burrell grounded out to second and the threat went by the wayside.
The NPB forces appeared as if they would get someting going in the second, when DH Michihiro Ogasawara and second baseman Hiroki Kokubo each singled to center with one out, but leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada, who can't buy a post season hit to save his life, grounded out to third and catcher Masaumi Shimizu flew out to right and that was that.
The big leaguers returned in the third, as Alomar leadoff with a single to left. Williams popped one straight up the shoot behind the plate, where it was gathered in by Shimizu. Bonds singled to right. But Chang struckout Giambi and Burrell's frustration continued when he flew to left and Chang had extricated himself once again.
The Japanese then drew first blood in the bottom of the third, when shortstop Kazuo Matsui walked and went to third on a single to right by centerfielder Takayuki Shimizu. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura, battling a hangover, got Little Matsui in, but at the expense of a 6-4-3 double play ball. Godzilla Matsui popped out in foul territory to third and the frame finished with the score 1-0 NPB.
MLB put two more on in the fourth, when Chang nailed catcher A.J. Pierczynski with one down and Ichiro singled to right with two away, but Alomar took strike three to snuff that chance.
In the fifth and with two outs, Giambi golfed a changeup down and away into the rightfield seats, a phenomenal piece of hitting, and it was even at 1-1.
Undaunted, the NPB offense went to work in its ups against Lopez. Masaumi Shimizu checked his swing and made contact anyway, the ball rolling up the first base line and kicking off the bag and down the line for a freakish leadoff double. Kazuo Matsui grounded to second and Shimizu moved over to third. Takayuki Shimizu cracked a single to center and his last namesake jogged in with the lead run. Nakamura dug in and cranked a 1-0 slider that was on the outer half of the plate just into the leftcenterfield bleachers for a two run homer and a 4-1 NPB advantage. Hideki Matsui walked and stole second on the second pitch to first baseman Alex Cabrera. However, Cabrera grounded out to short and Ogasawara slapped a comebacker to Lopez, who went to first for the final out of the stanza.
So on to the disastrous sixth for Chang and the Japanese team. Third baseman Eric Chavez singled to left to ignite the revolt. Pierczynski flew out to left. Shortstop David Eckstein walked. Ichiro whistled one by Chang. Even though Shimizu isn't noted as a defensive genius, being three down, Chavez decided to play it safe and went only to third to load the bases. Alomar popped up and the infield fly rule was called for the second out. Williams walked and Chavez strutted to the plate to make it 4-2 NPB. Southpaw Ishii was summoned from the pen to face the lefty hitting Bonds. Ishii threw Bonds a 93mph fastball and the homer record holder deposited it into the mezzanine section in right and the tables had turned, with MLB now in the driver's seat at 6-4.
NPB, though, dented Lopez again in their turn at bat. With one down, Wada walked. Masaumi Shimizu rapped a single to center and Wada blazed for third safely. On the first pitch to Kazuo Matsui, Pierczynski committed a passed ball and Wada crossed to shrink the deficit to 6-5. With the tying run now at second, Matsui drilled a Lopez delivery, but right at Alomar, for the second out. Takayuki Shimizu grounded to second and that was it for that opportunity.
In the seventh, Cabrera singled to center with two gone and was pinch run for by Takuro Ishii. MLB manager Art Howe dialed local for Scott Schoenweiss. Ishii stole second and third in three pitches with Makoto Imaoka at the dish. Imaoka, though, popped up to second and Ishii was stranded.
The following inning, Schoenweiss surrendered a two out single to center by Masaumi Shimizu and Kazuo Matsui made Chavez hurry on a little ground ball to third for the Oakland third sacker's second miscue of the contest. Howe went to the pen again, choosing Eric Gagne to face backup centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani, who walked to put the winning run on second and loading the bases. Nakamura, unfortunately, grounded a 94mph fastball to third and another shot at tying this thing was wasted. Gagne then put away three of the four men he saw in the ninth on outfield flies and that was the ballgame.
Bonds revealed to reporters after the game, "I wanted to hit homers in all the ballparks, so I was glad to do it in Sapporo Dome." Barry also liked the cold Hokkaido weather, walking around in the snow outside the ballpark before the game. He also offered that he didn't think much of Ishii's heater. The National League's last granny was against San Diego on June 25th. When queries as to if he would like to play in Japan once he hangs up his SF Giants uniform, Bonds said no.
Bonds and Godzilla Matsui will engage in a homer hitting contest Friday, with each man getting 20 swings.
According to Japanese press reports, Nakamura was the first domestic player to homer in consecutive games in the history of NPB-MLB faceoffs. Can that be right? The burly slugger is also pondering trying out some maple bats like Bonds uses.
One other stat that seems weird is that while Ichiro has hit over .400 against MLB clubs as a member of Orix, this was the first three hit game he ever had in these all star confrontations.
See related story at:Yomiuri Shimbun Article
See another related story at: Associated Press Article
Pictures:
Another View of the Big Bonds Swing
Yet Another Pic of the Bonds Clout
Nakamura Big Hack on His Homer
Pitching Lines:
MLB:
Lawrence IP 4.0 PC 69 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
R. Lopez (W, 1-0) IP 2.2 PC 58 H 5 HR 1 K 1 BB 2 R 4 ER 3 ERA 10.13
Schoenweiss IP 1.0 PC 22 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Gagne (S, 1) IP 1.1 PC 19 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
NPB:
Chang (L, 0-1) IP 5.2 PC 100 H 8 HR 1 K 5 BB 3 R 5 ER 5 ERA 7.94
H. Ishii IP 1.1 PC 14 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.70
S. Mori IP 1.0 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Kobayashi IP 1.0 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Chavez 2
SB: H. Matsui, B. Williams, T. Ishii 3
2B: M. Shimizu
HR: Ja. Giambi (1), N. Nakamura (2), Bonds (3)
RBI: Ja. Giambi, B. Williams, Bonds 4, T. Shimizu, N. Nakamura 2
HBP: Ja. Giambi (Chang), Pierczynski (Chang), T. Ishii (Gagne)
PB: Pierczynski
GIDP: N. Nakamura
LOB: MLB 9, NPB 11
Series Status: MLB 1, NPB 3
Game Time: 3:24
Attendance: 43,000
Umpires: Yanagida (HP), Young (1B), Suginaga (2B), Sederstrom
Lineups:
MLB:
RF: I. Suzuki (3-5, R, K .222)
2B R. Alomar (2-4, K, .300)
(2B) Spivey (0-1, K .142)
CF B. Williams (1-4, R, RBI, BB, SB .166)
DH Bonds (2-5, R, 4 RBI, K .294)
1B Ja. Giambi (1-3, R, K, HBP .153)
(1B) Lee (0-1 .285)
LF Burrell (0-4, K, .000)
(PH, LF) J. Jones (0-1, K .000)
3B Chavez (1-4, K, .375)
C Pierczynski (0-3, HBP .250)
SS Eckstein (0-2, R, K, 2 BB .400)
NPB:
SS K. Matsui (0-3, R, 2 BB .461)
CF (T. Shimizu (2-4, R, RBI .500)
(PH, CF) Tani (0-0, BB .428)
3B N. Nakamura (1-5, R, 2 RBI, 2 K .312)
(C) Tanishige (0-0 .428)
RF H. Matsui (0-4, BB, SB .117)
1B Cabrera (1-4 .470)
(PR, 2B) T. Ishii (0-0, BB, 3 SB .250)
DH M. Ogasawara (1-3 .363)
(PH, DH Imaoka (0-1 .333)
2B (1B) Kokubo (1-4, BB .428)
LF K. Wada (0-3, R, BB .000)
C M. Shimizu (3-4, R .750)
(PR, 3B) Iwamura (0-0 .166)
Hot Shots....
Congratulations to Nippon Ham reliever Yoshinori Tateyama, 26, who is getting married to Miyako Tanaka, 30, a housekeeper, on December first in Osaka. They met through mutual friends six years ago....Also getting hitched is Tateyama's teammate, pitcher Kiyoshi Sasaki, 21, who will swear his vows with new wife Asami Murakami, 21 on December 22. They were introduced by Murakami's younger sister, who was a classmate of Sasaki's in high school....Lotte ace Tomohiro Kuroki says that he is no longer experiencing pain in his shoulder ....Norihiro Nakamura met with Kintetsu negotiators today and was pleased with what they had to say....If the Chunichi Dragons can't sign Roberto Petagine, they may end up getting George Arias as a consolation prize should the former Swallow catch on with Hanshin. If neither of those things happen, they will pursue a player from an MLB organization's AAA team....In a more long term timeframe, the Dragons are circling around Brazilian-Japanese switch hitting Nissho Gakuen High School first baseman Norberto Semanaka. They say that the ball explodes off of the 6'1" 200 pound 18 year old's bat. He slugged a 420 foot homer at Koshien Stadium during the nationwide tournament there this past summer in a 9-8 loss. Some MLB clubs have also shown some interest....The lawyer who will help Hideki Matsui negotiate with MLB clubs is a Kyoto University graduate who speaks english, according to Hochi Sports ....The Red Sox are mulling trading Trot Nixon and putting Matsui in his place.... Yomiuri southpaw Kimiyasu Kudoh revealed that he had arthroscopic surgery on his elbow this past week in Fukuoka. He had apparently felt pain in the elbow since around mid- season and decided to have it operated on. Kudoh is expected to be able to open spring training with the team.... Japanese pop singer Maki Oguro may be asked to pen Nippon Ham's new team theme song when it moves to Sapporo in 2004. If she is actually hired to do it, she will be the first female songwriter in Japanese baseball history to pen a club's anthem...Free agent pitcher Kenichi Wakatabe has agreed to a three year, $850,000 a season contract with Yokohama....Japan lost to Holland 6-1 in Intercontinental Cup play. However, they are still in contention to win it all....From the "what are they thinking?" department, the Chunichi Dragons have gotten together with Lotte on a trade that will see nifty outfielder Toshio Haru, 32, shipped off to Chiba in exchange for the much less helpful infielder, Tadaharu Sakai, also 32....With no interest being expressed in him by other MLB teams since his release by the Rangers, Hideki Irabu appears to be an early lock to end up in Hanshin's pen next season, possibly for around $1.2 million....Ironically, the brother of Irabu agent Dan Nomura, Kenny Nomura, is involved in a lawsuit against the Tigers over a contract to bring the Osaka side new foreign players....Orix reliever Kazuo Yamaguchi had surgery on his shoulder and has now checked out of hospital. He says he hopes to be able to start playing catch by year's end. It is unlikely he will be back until the middle of 2003....Nikkan Sports says that Yomiuri is prepared to offer Petagine $12 million for each of two seasons. Are they serious?
Stars Shining in NPB-MLB Series
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Matsui-mania Rules, But Cabrera Reigns
See story at: Greenwich Time Article
Matsui Unaware of Meeting With Yankees Officials
See story at: Associated Press Article
Ichiro Voted Most Popular Sports Star in Japan
See story at: Mainichi Shimbun Article
The Ichiro Museum
There's something kinda creepy about this: Jim Caple Article
Orioles to Make Play for Matsui?
Before you read the item below, Sports Nippon is reporting that Baltimore GM Syd Thrift (geez, hasn't he been fired yet?) was pumping Japanese reporters for info on Godzilla Matsui at the recent GM meetings in Arizona. Now on to our feature. See story at: Baltimore Sun Article
Mariners Have Eyes Only for Kazuo Matsui
See story at: Seattle Times Article
Schramek Forsakes Orix for Independent League
For those of you who don't remember a few months back, Cincinnati Reds draft pick Mark Schramek, a third baseman, was in the midst of difficult negotiations with that MLB club and decided to tryout for the Orix Blue Wave, who were interested in signing him, but demanding that it would be a long term deal so that they could take advantage of Schramek's development. There is a new chapter in this saga in an article by Baseball America at: Schramek Article
Seung-yeop Lee Wins Fourth MVP
See story at: Korea Times Article
Samsung Slugger Proved He is a Star
See story at: Joong Ang Ilbo Article
Taiwan Loses to Panama in Intercontinental Cup Action
See story at: Taipei Times Article
On the Late Ken Raffensberger
Nice piece about the recently departed ex-hurler for the Reds at:York Daily Record
GOP Takeover Bad for Pro Athletes (Satire)
See column at: Stanford Daily Article
