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01/31/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Fall In! Players Report to Spring Camp"
Matsui in the Morning
According to Sports Nippon, Yomiuri owned Nippon Television (NTV) will have a live item every weekday morning just after 7.a.m. Japan Time about Hideki Matsui on its Zoom In Super program that starts at 5:30 a.m. the station announced. The first such packages will begin as soon as Godzilla reports to the Yankees spring camp and will last five to ten minutes each. Moreover, they may extend this to their weekend broadcasts, though that is merely under consideration at this point.
Tokyo-born actress Ai Itsumi, 27, who went to college in England and majored in dance, is one name mentioned as to who will get that reporting assignment and they will hook up with Yankees owned YES Network for file footage. So you can expect lots of clueless questions since Itsumi has no sportscasting or journalistic experience. She also paints and has had her work exhibited in an art gallery in Tokyo. You can see a pic of her Here. She is the eldest daughter of the late Fuji Tv announcer Masatake Itsumi.
In other Matsui related news, according to Sports Nippon, his agent, Arn Tellem, brought his marketing man to Japan with him. The three time homer king has just signed a more than $800,000 deal to flack for Lotte Snow, an ice cream company, in a commercial that will begin airing in mid-March, but the purpose of Tellem calling in the marketing specialist was to gauge not only the Japanese market, but to see just what endorsements they can line up for Matsui on a worldwide basis.
The interesting thing about Matsui's tieup with Lotte Snow was that a spokesman for that company said that if he had approached him while he was with Yomiuri, they wouldn't have been able to sign Matsui up.
Tellem also revealed that two clauses that are in Matsui's Yankees contract give him the right to refuse either being demoted to the minors or being traded. Furthermore, Tellem has been informed by two of his clients, Randy Wolf and Jason Giambi, that he might want to look into fronting for Seibu superstar shortstop Kazuo Matsui.
Hot Shots....
According to Nikkan Sports, the Chunichi Dragons are looking at suing Kevin Millar. Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada also got in on the controversy, setting a February 10 deadline for the Bosox wannabe to report. And to add to the fun, hammered his front office, specifically team president Junnosuke Nishikawa, for saying that Millar could arrive anytime. "I can't comprehend that," the former Hankyu Braves hurler sputtered. "I want him to get into games and get used to playing here as soon as possible." The team is also looking at perhaps acquiring another foreign player if Millar doesn't show up. They would, though, still claim rights to the ex- Marlin....But maybe they won't need Millar after all, if a remark by minor league batting instructor Kenichiro Kawamura, who also coached Ichiro Suzuki at Orix during his first two years, is accurate. "he's just like Ichiro," Kawamura said of 5'8" 154 pound 18 year old rookie infielder Ryosuke Morioka while the lefthanded hitter sprayed liner after liner to the opposite field. Morioka, who spearheaded his high school team to a Koshien title, was grateful for that kind of high praise, but he was also embarrassed by it. "Ichiro is like a god to me," he blurted....Dodgers lefthander Kazuhisa Ishii says he hopes to win 18 games this season. He should have a greater comfort factor since his son Kanta and wife Ayako Kisa will be living with him while he is in the U.S. this time around, whereas he was by himself in 2002....Kazuhiro Sasaki started gearing up for the start of the MLB season today, throwing 30 pitches,including a cut fastball he wants to add to his arsenal, in a workout in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture. His doctor pronounced his elbow, from where he had bone chips removed a few months ago, as ready to go. He also ran into new Yokohama acquisitions Steve Cox and Matt Whiteside and said that he remembered facing Cox. He also wished the former Devil Rays first baseman, who he has had some trouble containing, good luck. Whiteside told a reporter that he knows how big Sasaki was for the Stars and that "I will practice hard to try to approach that"....Cox got himself some ink in Sankei Sports when they found out he ordered a 35 inch bat. That's not particularly earthshaking, but it is about two inches longer than what most hitters in Japan use, so they have dubbed Cox's weapon of choice "the clothesline bat." They also quote Cox as disclosing that he has watched episodes of the period drama Musashi to try to pick up some Japanese. I like that attitude...Note to Mets: those orange unis suck! It makes them look like a bunch of Orange Julius counter workers....Lotte ace Tomohiro Kuroki threw at half speed in the bullpen today at the team's spring camp in Kagoshima and said he felt a little bit of pain in his armafter the 55 pitch session, not what his team wanted to hear....Kintetsu Buffaloes closer Akinori Otsuka won't participate in his team's spring camp at Hinata, Miyazaki Prefecture, for the time being, according to Sports Nippon. He has apparently still not decided what he wants to do about his future with the Buffaloes, but he did say that attempting to cadge an MLB job is "impossible" right now and he will take that subject up again after the regular season ends.... Daiei owner Nakauchi and an unspecified number of players and coaches went to a Fukuoka area shrine today and prayed for a pennant win. 3500 of the team's fans also showed up to lend encouragement. In addition, The birds of prey announced their slogan for the year, which is "victory again---habatake Hawks." Even with the prayers Daiei has already run into some bad luck, as outfielder Pedro Valdez will begin spring training late due to what was termed "an unfortunate family problem"....Hiroshima introduced former independent league slugger Jimmy Hurst to the press today at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium. He acknowledged that the Carp is expecting him to supply a lot of sock, as he is replacing the departed Tomoaki Kanemoto in the outfield. "I have confidence in my offensive and defensive ability," he told reporters. "I hope to lead the team to the pennant." In an article about Hurst, a writer for Sankei Sports compared his size and strength to pro wrestler Bob Sapp, but then fell into a couple of verbal traps that could be construed as racist, referring to Hurst as possessing "gorilla power" and being "a different kind of wild beast." The latter may have been meant as a play on Sapp's nickname of "the beast," but it also underscores the fact that Japanese often don't exhibit the same kind of racial sensitivities as westerners do and they often end up inadvertantly causing hurt feelings because of it....And while we're on the subject of Kanemoto, he is really hurting right now due to an infection that occurred after receiving dental implants last October. He is experiencing headaches and diarrhea was a result and that has kept him from sleeping very much recently and his appetite has been diminished. He is taking antibiotics and pain killers for the malady. He will report to Hanshin's spring camp, but he won't be able to do much until he recovers. As much as I hate to say it, Japanese dentists have come in for a fair bit of stick from the foreign community in Japan and I would reccommend that if you are living in Japan and need oral surgery, do it in the U.S....Hanshin manager Senichi Hoshino has come up with a bizarre idea: after an exhibition game between two team's young players, the losing squad would have to do some work around the ballpark as a penalty. He says he is going to talk with Hiroshima boss Koji Yamamoto, with whom he is very close, about it. This only shows, though, what a buffoon the former pitcher sometimes is. More distinguished is batting instructor Koichi Tabuchi, who is having outfielder Osamu Hamanaka monkey with his batting mechanics by shortening up his stance and work on his leg movement as he takes his cut...Kintetsu outfielder Tuffy Rhodes will report a couple of days late due to a home related matter. Buffs pitcher Kevin Beirne reported today....From the calling all quacks department, Lions ace Daisuke Matsuzaka has begun wearing something called a "dry fit body map seamless underlayer," basically a glorified undershirt, according to Japanese press reports. The claim made by the company that purveys this product, Nike, is that it will help prevent injuries and is suited for helping pitchers ratchet up their velocity by providing pressure to the chest and arms to stimulate muscles and nerves. You gotta hand it to Nike. They suckered millions into buying way overpriced tennis shoes made in third world sweatshops and now this....You also gotta love the Japanese press, who have been making some hay the last couple of days over the passionate relationshp between Yomiuri batsman Roberto Petagine and his wife Olga. Upon getting news that a special double bed had been ordered from Fukuoka to replace the twin beds originally in a resort hotel that the Giants are putting the Petagines up in, Sports Nippon did a story using phrases such as "love room" and "love nest." However, the article also noted that since there are no facilities in the suite for Olga to cook, she won't be allowed to do by hotel management. Thus, the couple will have to eat out. Petagine says that he doesn't care, he just wants to win the Japan Series. Giants ace Koji Uehara is hoping to get the start when they play the Oakland A's on March 22nd. That would still allow him to be the starter on opening day ....New Orix batting coach Leon Lee has reported to the club, saying that the first thing he wants former Cub Roosevelt Brown and erstwhile Rockie Jose Ortiz to focus on is hitting .300. He also talked about how his brother Leron helped him adjust to Japan and taught him how to relax in new surroundings, things that he intends to impart to the aforementioned Japan newbies. About what he sees for the upcoming season, Lee assessed, "there is a lot of hard work ahead, but I will enjoy it." Make no mistake about it, Orix will find that they are lucky to have Leon, who is one of the quality people in all of baseball, in the fold....Blue Wave infielder Yuji Goshima also told the press that he has bought a season seat at a cost of around $1500 for his newlywed wife Mikiko (I hope I've transliterated that correctly) so that she can attend the games. Why he should have to do this is questionable. It's not like there has been a shortage of empty chairs at Kobe Green Stadium the last couple of years. Most Japanese players' wives don't go to the park to see their husbands play....Pitcher Carlos Mirabal reported to Nippon Ham today and said that the finger he fractured last season, which caused him to miss a significant chunk of the second half, is healed and that opposing hitters can expect lots of cheese on the inner half of the plate. Mirabal's teammate, outfielder D.T. Cromer, has also reported. Righthander Chris Seelbach's arrival is being held up by a visa delay, but he is expected to see Japan by the end of the weekend....
Matsui to Enter NY Pressure Cooker
See story at: Japan Times Article
See related story at: Reuters Article
Chunichi Sends Negotiator to Talk With Millar
See story at: Japan Today Article
Buffs Will Try to Hold on to Otsuka
See story at: Japan Times Article
Batting Around With Jean Afterman
See story at: MLB.com Article
M's Owner to See His First Ever Live Team Game
See story at: KOMO Tv Article
Lee Sang-hoon Becomes Highest Paid Korean Player
See story at: Korea Times Article
