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12/12/2002 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Nakamura, Matsui, You Know the Drill"
Hot Shots....
Orix hurler Masahiko Kaneda was "shocked" with the raise he received from his ballclub today, especially after winning the ERA title. The Blue Wave front office gave him a $160,000 increase to $560,000....Well, here we go: each offseason, the Japanese ballclubs come up with some silly new slogan and the Seibu Lions have fired the first shot in that regard. their 2003 rally cry? "With all our might to glory." I wonder who the genius was who came up with that inanity....Lions closer Kiyoshi Toyoda, who set new Pacific League records for saves and save points this past season, ripped his team's front office after he deemed a proposed $320,000 raise to $1.2 million inadequate. He had hoped for $1.6 million and left the Seibu offices red faced, he was so angry ....Much happier was "lefty killer" Toshiaki Inubushi, who received a $170,000 increase to $250,000 or thereabouts. However, ace Daisuke Matsuzaka quickly agreed to a $160,000 decline in the size of his pay packet. Setup man Shinji Mori, though, who had been praying that his pay would be doubled, was offered only about $250,000 to $800,000 plus incentives. He signed, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about it.... Mariners reliever Kazuhiro Sasaki will make a cameo appearance in an NHK weekly Japanese period drama series called Musashi, which is about the life of the famous samurai Musashi Miyamoto. He will portray a retainer to fuedal lord Hideyori Toyotomi named Harufusa Ono. Sasaki says he will just try to play it as straight and honestly as possible, according to Sankei Sports. He got the role due to his friendship with another actor who is also in the drama. The episode with Sasaki will be aired in Japan on February 2nd....Chunichi Dragons shortstop Hirokazu Ibata pocketed a $240,000 increase to $720,000. His teammate, pitcher Shigeki Noguchi, was rocked by a $120,000 pay cut to just a little over $1 million....Yokohama reliever Atsushi Kizuka had his salary knocked down by $48,000 to about $510,000....A hundred members of the Japanese media greeted Norihiro Nakamura today when he arrived at Narita Airport. He says he will eliminate one of the two Japanese teams that are interested in him on the 17th. Moreover, according to Sports Nippon, Nakamura taking his time has engendered a lot of grumbling from fans in his hometown of Osaka. However, he still wants to see what the five MLB teams said to be considering him are going to come across with. If a Hochi Shimbun report is correct, the Cubs are one of them....Yakult manager Tustomu Wakamatsu told draftees Yuhei Takai and Masayoshi Izumi to aim to be Japan's answer to Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. Yep, no pressure there....Former Swallows sidearming sixth round draft choice Kazumasa Takahashi will be joining Hitachi Seisakusho's industrial league team next season....According to Sports Nippon, Arn Tellem was recommended to Hideki Matsui by Jason Giambi....21 year old Kintetsu starter Hisashi Iwakuma accepted a $120,000 raise to $200,000. He will also be changing his uniform number from 48 to 21....Lotte took the machete to third baseman Kiyoshi Hatsushiba's salary, as he saw it fall by $56,000 to just a tad over $500,000....
Nakamura Leaves Without Offer
See story at: Japan Times Article
Nakamura Impressed With Mets Facilities
See story at: Associated Press Article
Mets Ponder Options as Nakamura Heads Home
See story at: New York Times Article
Torre: Matsui No Irabu
See story at: Staten Island Advance Article
Floyd Still Desired by Yanks Despite Matsui Interest
See story at: NY Post Article
Giambi: Matsui Still Great Even After All Star Series Struggles
See story at: NY Post Article
Jim Allen Gets into Lotte Boss Yamamoto's Kitchen
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Samsung Lions Dominate KBO Gold Gloves
See story at: Korea Times Article
