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02/13/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Dragons Say ESPN Millar Report "Nonsense""
Millar for Sanders Deal in Works? No Way Say Dragons
According to Sports Nippon, the Kevin Millar matter may be settled, perhaps as soon as Thursday. Quoting an ESPN report that I haven't been able to find as yet, the deal would return Millar to Florida and the Dragons would have the $1.2 million it paid for Millar's rights refunded. Then Florida would transfer Millar's rights to Boston for an undisclosed sum. In return, Boston may sign Sanders, who could then be sold to the Nagoya-based club, providing, of course, nobody tries to claim the 35 year old oft- injured outfielder on waivers. This has caused Sports Nippon to refer to it as a "triangle trade."
Obtaining Sanders would lend the Dragons some much needed pop and he's a pretty good defensive outfielder, much better than what Millar would do there, and he still has above average speed. But the question is, would he be able to hit Japanese pitching, from which he is likely to see few fastballs? Furthermore, Millar is younger, in better health, and has a batting style more suited to the Japanese game. A retread such as Sanders, whose retirement is only a year or two down the road, may end up being the booby prize here. Too, He would be playing on astro turf at his new home park, which would put stress on his aging body. And what happens if Sanders balks and decides to go with another MLB nine? Is there a plan B?
The former Diamondback has reportedly entered into negotiations with Chunichi. There is no word on how they are proceeding as yet, however. It will also be interesting to see if Millar keeps his promise about making a public apology to Chunichi for his change of heart.
Having said all that, here is the kicker: according to Chunichi Sports, Dragons president Junnosuke Nishikawa refers to the above reports as "complete nonsense" and that "there are no negotaitions with Sanders." He met with owner Bungo Shirai today at the parent company's headquarters in Nagoya and once again stated that the team will continue to hold Millar's contract.
Okinawa to Build New Ballparks
Despite it being the poorest of Japan's prefectures, the Okinawa prefectural government intends to waste scant economic resources, not to mention put lots of money into the pockets of the yakuza, who control the construcution labor force in Japan, in order to build a new ballpark in hopes of luring occasional regular season pro baseball games there. The last time a contest that counted occurred there was in 1975. Proposed sites for the new stadium are Onnamura, Kunigamimura, and Kumejima.
What's more, Onoyama Stadium in the city of Okinawa would be torn down and, in its place, a new facility holding 30,000 people will be erected, mainly for use in spring training, though they, too, hope to attract some regular season action. Last year, pro teams helped bring around $9 million to Okinawa during the spring and that could reach as high as $22 million this time around.
At the same time, however, each of these projects will cost hundreds of millions of dollars. The strategy of attempting to prime the economic pump with lots of public works projects has been a big loser so far and resulted in little more than monster budget deficits while Japan remains mired in a persistent long terms recession.
In the U.S., new ballparks have been a mixed proposition at best with taxpayers being left holding the bag for the Ballpark at Arlington due to a sales tax hike imposed to build it, Miller Stadium at Milwaukee, where attendance took a huge digger last season and the outlook for the future isn't optimistic, and Safeco Field, where business and leisure travellers have to fork out extra bed taxes at their hotel to subisidize that project, driving up the cost of doing business there. In L.A., taxpayers have said a firm NO! to renovating the Coliseum for an NFL pro football team. Consequently, it appears that Japanese taxpayers have gotten hosed again.
Team Reports
Yomiuri First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara may be left behind when the exhibition schedule opens to further rehab his left hamstring....Yomiuri announced that it is doing away with a general admission seating section in the outfield and all will now be reserved. This is reportedly due to fan complaints that the ooendan participants were abusing this section and taking seats. They are the first team to make all seating reserved.
Yakult Kevin Hodges threw in the bullpen today, working as if he was in real game situations. He reportedly threw mostly out of the set position and had batters stand in the box as he concentrated on running the ball in on them. Of his 77 pitches, only about 30 were fastballs. The former Mariner is scheduled to throw batting practice late next week....Hodges will be part of a three man rotation that will be in place for the Swallows' games against the Giants. Also taking frequent turns against the kyojin will be lefthanders Shugo Fujii and Masanori Ishikawa. Hodges won five games against Yomiuri in 2002, but after absolutely handcuffing the brawny Giants order the first few starts, Hodges had quite a bit more difficulty against them the latter part of the schedule. Fujii surrendered six homers to Hideki Matsui last year and lost six games to Yakult's crosstown rivals. So how effective this strategy will be remains to be seen....Third baseman Akinori Iwamura, after the regular practice session was over, engaged in a special workout where a coach was hitting balls to his left and right. The purpose was to enhance the Gold Glover's reaction to the ball. He also took some extra hitting off of a pitching machine.
Chunichi Pitcher Kazuhiro Hiramatsu's relationship with 24 year old actress Akiko Yada is ending, according to Hochi Sports. No reason is given for the split. The pair has been seeing each other for about two years....Rookie Yoshimi Sakurai will DH and bat cleanup tomorrow when the Dragons hold their first intrasquad game, reportedly astonishing the 18 year old. Sakurai took 89 swings in batting practice and knocked 8 into the seats....In the minor league camp, veteran hurler Masahiro Yamamoto threw 100 pitches in the bullpen today, averring that he needed to better his balance.
Hanshin Southpaw ace Kei Igawa threw batting practice today, as did Lou Pote, Jeff Williams, rookie Yasuhiro Nakamura and others. Manager Senichi Hoshino was ecstatic with the American and the Australian, who look as if the will make the Tigers pen much more formidable this season than last. Even with injuries to second baseman Makoto Imaoka and leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto and Hideki Irabu being sent down to the minor league camp so that he can have a lighter workout regimen while he recovers from a throat infection, Hoshino gave the first phase of the team's spring training a nine out of ten....A charity that takes care of kids who have lost theri parents from illness or disaster expressed its gratitude to Hanshin today for its campaign to solicit funds for such organizations.
Yokohama First baseman Steve Cox needed surgery on his right knee after all, though the procedure only took 20 minutes. He is expected to be back in action in about a month....Third baseman Katsuaki Furuki crushed a 3-0 fastball on the inner half of the plate and lined it beyond the rightfield fence and against a billboard in the fourth inning in his second at bat during an intrasquad game today. Furuki says that he isn't the type of hitter that the team can play hit and run or small ball with, so he is most suited for the cleanup role in the batting order."I want to be the face of the team," the 22 year old second year man bubbled....Ace Daisuke Miura had his first bullpen session in the minor league camp in the wake of elbow surgery last December and threw 30 pitches. He said he felt better afterward than he expected and experienced no pain.
Seibu Rookies Chikara Onodera and Shuichiro Osada will start an intrasquad game on the 22nd. Today was an off day, so the pair participated in a strawberry hunt in Kochi Prefecture....Alex Cabrera is due to arrive in Japan on the 25th, though manager Haruki Ihara is getting pretty antsy about not having him there already. Ihara wants the slugger to see lots of exhibition action and the exhibition schedule kicks off on the 23rd. Ihara isn't worried about Cabrera reporting out of shape, though. "He doesn't rest until he's done his weightlifting, so he'll be ready to go."
Kintetsu Pitcher Kevin Beirne, who was likely to get a rotation shot with the Buffs, threw batting practice today and had control problems, as more than half of his 50 pitches were balls. Beirne said that he was still getting used to the Japanese mound, which is four inches lower than its MLB counterpart, and that it was the first time he had faced hitters this spring, so he doesn't have any big worries about his control. Manager Masataka Nashida said that Beirne showed good movement on his cutter and that overall he was okay....Swingman Ken Kadokura felt a twinge in his back while weightlifting and was given the rest of the day off....Sekiguchi has come down with a slight fever from a cold and received treatment at a Hinata area hospital....Second baseman Eiji Mizuguchi's calf is well enough now to where he was able to hit off of a pitching machine today....The mayor of Hinata brought ten cases of strawberries and mineral water to the Buffs camp today. He also told skipper Nashida that the citizens of the town are rooting for the Buffs to seize a Japan Series title.
Daiei Righthander Hayato Terahara was a little wild throwing batting practice today, as he threw 16 balls in a 40 pitch turn on the mound. He had good movement, though. He will make the start on Febrauary 28th at Fukuoka Dome against Yomiuri.... Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo put on a real power display today, hammering 83 homers in 186 swings, including 41 blasts in 78 swings facing a batting practice pitcher. He then had a special batting session (presumably off of a tee), where he drilled three balls more than 490 feet. Kokubo is using a new bat that is the same weight as the one he used last season, one he feels helps him get more batspeed.
Lotte Team management has come up with a rather different incentive for players to work hard in intrasquad games, according to Sports Nippon. Members of the losing side would have to pay their opposite number on the winning squad 10,000 yen (about $85). And instead of in the past, when the second line players would be on one team and the first string on the other, they will be evenly balanced so that it will be tougher to win. Then once the regular season begins, for every victory during the first 20 games, one player on the big club roster will receive one million yen (approximately $8500). Last season, Lotte dropped its initial 11 confrontations....Ace Tomohiro Kuroki threw 101 pitches in the bullpen today, employing his whole repetoire. He said from the 80th delivery on, he threw hard. He plans to throw again tomorrow, though the weather forecast calls for cooler temperatures.
Nippon Ham The Fighters have invited former Hanshin scouting head Yasuaki Imanari to work for them as part of a reorganization where the club's scouts will operate in a manner more akin to their countrparts in MLB. Imanari left the Tigers on August 31st of last season. Nippon Ham's front office is also shifting its draft orientation from players it can use fairly immediately to a more developmental outlook, where it may require three or four years for them to mold a player into a solid contributor. That would seem to indicate that they are going to draft a lot of high schoolers in the future....Manager Trey Hillman received several cases of Orion Beer from that brewer, which is based in Nago, where the team is training. He also visited the brewery and said that when the Fighters win the pennant he would like team members to douse each other with a combination of Sapporo Beer and Orion brand. An executive with the company replied that he would be more than happy to send some along for that purpose....Hillman and batting instructor Gary Denbo also journeyed over to Ginoza to watch the Hanshin Tigers workout for about 90 minutes. "I knew about the Hanshin Tigers long tradition before I came to Japan," Hillman revealed. "So I decided to use the day off to come over and see what I could learn." The former Rangers farm head told reporters that he had seen Mr. Baseball 15 times before coming to Japan. After Hillman left, Hoshino joked that the Fighters helmsman had asked him about getting Toshhiro Noguchi back since Hillman's first and second string backstops are both injured.
Miscellaneous Former Yomiuri Giants centerfielder Hideki Matsui will have his Yankee uniform top displayed in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame along with a signed baseball and the ball that he managed to hit up into the attic of the Tokyo Dome last season as well as other artifacts from his career...,Matsui got in some running this morning before being called over for a physical exam so that he can obtain health insurance. Godzilla then resumed his workout after lunch, taking 38 swings in batting practice. Unfortunately, most of the pitches were on the outer part of the zone, so he hit most of the balls to left and didn't drive any out....Matsui has a new interpreter, Rogelio Colon, who was born in Japan. Before becoming Matsui's mouthpiece, Colon worked at an IT firm....Dodgers lefty Kazuhisa Ishii threw 80 pitches in the bullpen at the team's camp in Vero Beach today. Both he and Hideo Nomo had physicals as well....Mariners Kazuhiro Sasaki is still suffering some afteraffects of the surgery on his elbow to remove bone chips, according to Nikkan Sports. After he throws in the pen and then ices his arm, a red swelling and an itchy rash emerges around the elbow. Fortunately, that disappears after about half an hour. Trainer Yasu Egawa says that this isn't unheard of for a player after surgery to have this sort of reaction and isn't worried about it....Mariners reliever Shigetoshi Hasegawa had his first bullpen session of spring training today, throwing 65 pitches....Now here's a bit of inanity: because he was recently in a commercial for a Sega video game, Katsuya Nomura, who is now manager of Shidax in the Japanese industrial leagues, won't be able to sit on the bench when his team plays an exhibition tilt against Teikyo University. Collegiate rules forbid entertainers from being part of games there and since he was in a commercial, Nomura is defined as such.
Quote of the Day
This is from Larry LaRue at the Tacoma News Tribune:
Think the Japanese media remains fascinated by Japanese players? Melvin was asked whether Ichiro Suzuki - who doesn't have to report to camp until Sunday--would play in the first 'B' game scheduled this spring. "He might get an at-bat or two if he wants," Melvin said. The next question: "Which is it, one at-bat or two?"
Today's Pictures
Hideki Matsui Today at Batting Practice
Matsui Puts the Wood on the Ball
Matsui Leaps for Deep Fly Ball Near the Fence
Shugo Fujii During His Bullpen Session
Hillman and Hoshino Shake Hands
When is a Strike Not a Strike?
See story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article
Going Gaga Over Godzilla
See story at: Tampa Tribune Article
Matsui BP HR Stirs Media
See story at: Newark Star-Ledger Article
Baseball Game Part of Interchange Between Clemson, Japan
See story at: Greenville Online Article
The Inanities of Spring in Japanese Baseball
See story at: Japan Times Article
Off Topic: NFL Looking for Japanese Cheerleaders
See story at: Japan Times Article
