[Previous entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Millar Morphs into a Dragon; Sasaki Aims to Cut Matsui Down"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "1/12/03 MLB Recent Signings"]
01/10/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: The Dorky Side of the Game"
Hot Shots....
According to the Boston Globe, Yokohama Bay Stars reliever Takashi Saito "may not fit into the [Red Sox] immediate plans." Whether this is just GM Theo Epstein trying to job Saito's asking price down remains to be seen, but that is not an encouraging signal from a club that is desperate for bullpen help. The righthander left Thursday for Anaheim, where he will do some training with Mariners reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa. He will return to Japan on the 21st....Meanwhile, Yokohama has acquired Colorado Rockies righthander Matt Whiteside, who has a career MLB record of 18-15 with nine saves. He will wear number 32....Given Todd Hollandsowrth's injury history, the Marlins are going to regret letting Kevin Millar go....The Fort Worth Star Telegram says that the Yomiuri Giants have sent feelers out to Ivan Rodriguez, though that really doesn't make any sense. Consequently, I wonder if either Rodriguez' agent or the paper made that up....Will Shane Spencer, who just cadged a spot with the Cleveland Indians, be keeping an eye on the boxscores of the guy who replaced him in the Bronx, Hideki Matsui? Matsui arrived in New York with a police escort that guided him out of the airport through a back exit, frustrating a 150 strong Japanese press contingent as well as a similar number of fans that were awaiting his arrival in the lobby. One also has to call into question why debt ridden NYC is forking out public money to take care of a ballplayer's transportation needs. Godzilla will visit the site of the former World Trade Center and lay flowers there Saturday. He also called NYC the "greatest city in the world." Sankei Sports says that Matsui is considering living in an apartment on the 90th floor of a building near the U.N. Derek Jeter reportedly lives in the same building. This doesn't come cheap at $15,000 a month. Among Matsui's other future neighbors would be Bill Gates and Clint Eastwood, if he does move into those digs....The Mariners have indicated that even if Hideo Nomo is made available by the Dodgers, his $7 million salary is more than they can handle. Instead, they will pursue Paul Wilson....The Yomiuri Giants are opening an office in New York and heading that up is Kota Ishijima, who has acted in the past as an interpreter for Hideki Irabu and Masato Yoshii. He will not only be looking for new foreign players, but will spearhead negotiations for whatever projects Yomiuri undertakes outside of Japan. The Giants will be dispatching more personnel to that office in the coming weeks....Speaking of Yoshii, who is 37, he told Chunichi Sports that his goal is to toss 180 innings for Orix this season and last 6-7 innings per start....NHK announced today that they will be broadcasting nationwide the Yankees opening day game on March 31st against Toronto at the Sky Dome....The Chunichi Dragons have come up with a couple of family oriented discount plans they hope will encourage the attendance of more children, who the ballclub sees as their future fan base. They have also made some price reductions in the outfield seats. Contact Nagoya Dome for more info....Chunichi Sports is saying that the Mets are hoping that Tsuyoshi Shinjo will hit well enough to be the everyday centerfielder since they are going to unload birdbrained outfielder Roger Cedeno....Orix centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani revealed that he hopes that both him and his fiance, judo star Ryoko "Yawara" Tamura, will be able to participate in the 2004 Athens Olympics....Seibu outfielder Tatsuya Ozeki, who batted .314 in the two hole behind shortstop Kazuo Matsui last season, says that he hopes he can covince manager Haruki Ihara to reduce the number of sacrifice bunts he orders Ozeki to lay down so that he can attain 200 hits. Ozeki lead the PL in sac bunts with 43. "I want to make it so that [Ihara] will believe that having me bunt is a waste of time," said the speedster. Ozeki has also been ratcheting up his weight training regimen in hopes of showing more pop this coming spring....Japanese players association head Atsuya Furuta lambasted his team, the Yakult Swallows, for not attempting to strengthen themselves by making acquistions off the free agent market. "It's nonsense," the great backstop asserted. "If you add a big name, the fans will appreciate it." This was part of a press session where Furuta said that he will contine the fight with team owners over shortening the service time necessary to qualify for free agency, a proposal the honchos rejected recently....According to Sports Nippon, Satoru Komiyama is interested in a roster spot with Yokohama again after his one season in New York was a failure. However, he is going to wait until January 15th for any MLB offers before turning his attention back to the Kanagawa Prefecture outfit....Sadaharu Oh spent some time earlier today reminiscing with old teammates and alumni of Waseda Jitsugyou High School at a Tokyo area restaurant. The theft of his late wife's ashes from the Oh family grave site remains unsolved thus far, but reportedly enjoyed the reunion despite that cloud hanging over him....Hanshin righthander Taiyo Fujita spent his Friday camping under a freezing cold waterfall in Gifu Prefecture for 110 seconds in one of those ludicrous attempts at a spiritual toughening up that many Japanese players engage in every year. "I thought it would kill me," the youngster, who was shaven bald and wore white garments that made him resemble a Buddhist monk doing "omisogi," a kind of cleansing rite, told the assembled press of the force with which the water cascaded down on him....And ratcheting up the dork factor even more, the Nippon Ham Fighters motto this season under new boss Trey Hillman is "ethos, pathos, logos," which in greek all has to reportedly do with developing a winning attitude. This is the first time in Japanese history a pro club has used a greek catch phrase. I'm not sure how much Hillman's charges (I mean c'mon, we're talking about baseball players here, not a bunch of philosophy majors) will be motivated by those words, but I guess we'll find out. For Japanese fans out there, the reaction is no doubt a big, "huh?"....Lotte closer Masahide Kobayashi was given an award by his native Yamanashi Prefecture for helping to improve the image of that mostly rural area....Hey, here's anew bulletin: Ace Kei Igawa will be Hanshin's opening day starter when they start counting on March 28th.
Horace Wilson, Four Others Elected to Japanese Baseball Hall
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Matsui Leaves for America
See story at: Associated Press Article
See related story at: Japan Times Article
Chasing Godzilla
See story at: NY Post Article
Shinjo May End Up Back in New York
See story at: Bergen Record Article
Thank you to Baseball Guru.com reader Jeff Sedik for making me aware of this piece.
In a similar vein is this bit: Newsday Article
Nakamura-Kintetsu Negotiations Progressing
See story at: Japan Times Article
Former Lion Manuel Named Coach at Christian Academy
Barry spent almost all of his time with Seibu in the minors, seeing only one inning of action with the big club in 1999, but for those of you wondering what happened to the righthander, see story at: Opelousas Daily World Article
The Winter Ball Experience
See story at: Sporting News Article
Spring Training Starts Early for Mariners
See story at: Mariners.org Article
Nilsson Looking to Get Back into MLB
See story at: SMH.com Article
Viagra: the New Image of Baseball
As much as I respect Rafael Palmeiro, that commercial definitely fell under "too much information." Pop Matters Article
Legislators Push for Reinstatement of Blacklisted Taiwanese Players
See story at: ETaiwan News Article
Second Japanese Player Joins KBO
See story at: Korea Times Article
Best Wishes
I would like to take this opportunity to send my prayers out to former MLB umpire Durwood Merrill, who is in critical condition following a heart attack. Merrill was a class act during his long career and here's to hoping that he recovers fully.
Replies: 1 Comment
Test
Posted by Craig Tomarkin @ 01/11/2003 09:24 AM EST
