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02/22/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Play Ball!"
Mirabal Gets Hillman First Japanese Win 8-5
Carlos Mirabal, utilizing his fastball effectively, was superb and manager Trey Hillman showed off the new dash and flash of this year's Nippon Ham Fighters ballclub, as they ran their way to an 8-5 victory at Nago Stadium in Okinawa Saturday over the Chunichi Dragons despite three jacks from the Nagoya nine. Takashi Ogasawara had some control problems, walking three, and was victimized by a big miscue from rookie leftfielder Yoshimi Sakurai to absorb the loss.
Ogasawara walked the first man he saw in the game, centerfielder Hichori Morimoto, and then proceeded to strikeout the side, including first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara on a big overhand curve ball that was taken for strike three. But it began to fall apart for him in the second. With one away, rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi banged a single to center and third baseman Yukio Tanaka walked. With catcher Shinji Takahashi at the plate and the count 1-2, Hillman flashed the hit and run sign. Takahashi fouled it off and ultimately popped out later in the at bat. Now with second baseman Yuji Iiyama up, he hit a little fly ball that first baseman Ivan Cruz geeked, and Tanaka and Tsuboi, who were running on contact, both made it home for a 2-0 Fighters advantage while Iiyama hustled all the way around to third. Cruz was given an error on the play. Morimoto walked and shortstop Hiroshi Narahara was plunked to load the bases. Up stepped the dangerous Ogasawara, but he grounded to second and further disaster for the Dragons was averted.
In the fifth, though, Nippon Ham put this one in the refrigerator. Backup shortstop Shigeyuki Furuki slapped a ball between Sakurai and centerfielder Hidenori Kuramoto. As they went to cut the ball off, Furuki put it in fourth for second and slid in safely for a hustling two bagger. Ogasawara finally woke up and laced a double down the leftfield line to bring in Furuki. One out later, leftfielder D.T. Cromer walked. Tsuboi singled to right to usher in Ogasawara and Cromer turned for third. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome got to the ball and fired a one hop bullet, the ball arriving so far ahead of Cromer that Hiroyuki Watanabe probably had time to finish the sports section of the newspaper before applying the tag. Substitute third baseman Kokichi Akune walked. Takahashi smacked a single to center to recall Tsuboi and it was 5-0 Fighters. Akune digging for third. Iiyama spanked a single to left and Sakurai allowed the ball to get through him. Akune jogged in while Takahashi set the controls for the heart of home plate and beat the relay for a 7-0 Nippon Ham lead.
Veteran starter Hiroyuki Sekine came on for the Fighters to start the sixth and Kuramoto immediately took him over the leftfield wall. Two batters later, Cruz got a hanging slider on the inner half of the plate and rifled it through the 27mph wind blowing right to left and just missed clearing the entire ballpark for a mammoth solo shot to right to put the Dragons within 7-2.
The following stanza, Chunichi rocked Sekine again. DH Mitsunobu Takahashi leadoff with a single to left. Watanabe clocked a knock to right. Shortstop Masahiko Morino then went boom to left for a three run homer and now it was 7-5.
Nippon Ham couldn't get out of the infield against Yuichi Hisamoto during his two innings, but then Shinichiro Koyama was inserted and the Fighters went running again. With one away, backup second baseman Ken Tanaka walked. Second line centerfielder Tsutomu Ishimoto singled to right and Tanaka blazed to third. With Furuki up, Hillman ordered the squeeze. Koyama, trying to get the ball up and in to foil the bunt, but he plunked Furuki and now the bags were juiced. Sub first baseman Takaya Hayashi grounded to third and Tanaka made a beeline for home and Nippon Ham was back in control at
8-5.
Masashi Date tossed a perfect inning on 11 pitches and it was "game setto." Hillman, who had 855 victories as a minor league manager, was a winner again. On how his contingent did in this one, he averred, "They were aggressive and they used their heads."
The promising Sakurai was 0-2 with a walk.
For Chunichi, Cruz was 1-3 with an RBI and is at .333.
For Nippon Ham, DH Angel Echevarria was 0-5 and is at .000. Cromer was 1-2 with a walk and is at .500. Mirabal was clocked at 92mph.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
T. Ogasawara (L, 0-1) IP 3.2 BF 18 PC 78 H 2 HR 0 K 5 BB 3 R 2 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Endo IP 1.2 BF 10 PC 38 H 5 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 5 ER 4 ERA 27.00
Hisamoto IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 29 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Koyama IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Nippon Ham:
Mirabal (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 18 PC 63 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sekine IP 2.0 BF 12 PC 50 H 6 HR 3 KI 2 BB 0 R 5 ER 5 ERA 22.50
Y.H. Sakurai IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Date (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 ER 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Cruz, Y. Sakurai
SB: M. Araki 2, Morimoto
2B: H.Y. Watanabe, S. Furuki, M. Ogasawara
HR: Kuramoto (1), Cruz (1), Morino (1)
RBI: Kuramoto, Cruz, Morino 3, M. Ogasawara, T. Hayashi, Tsuboi, S. Takahashi, Iyama
WP: Endo
HBP: Narahara (T. Ogasawara), S. Furuki (Koyama)
LOB: Chunichi 4, Nippon Ham 8
Season Series: Chunichi 0, Nippon Ham 1
Game Time: 3:07
Attendance: 2500
Umpires: Okada (HP), Watada (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Fukatani (3B)
Two Run Homers by Furuki, Aikawa Flatten Yakult 8-3
Yokohama Bay Stars third baseman Katsuaki Furuki, who drilled nine homers in only 34 games the last two months of 2002 and then was an absolute gorilla at the Intercontinental Cup Tournament, carried on from where he left off Saturday at Urazoe, Okinawa, as he connected for a two run homer and drove in another run with an RBI double to spearhead the Stars to an 8-3 pounding of the Yakult Swallows. Two of the three tallies by the birds came when rookie outfielder Satoshi Kubota sliced and diced one into the rightfield seats in his first pro at bat.
Last season's Central League Rookie of the Year, Masanori Ishikawa, got crushed under the spikes of a 13 hit Yokohama attack, surrendering six runs on nine hits in four innings.
Yokoyama started for the Stars and picked up the shiroboshi with two innings of scoreless ball, though he was shaken down for three hits.
Ishikawa got behind right away, as shortstop Takuro Ishii and centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo squirted basehits to center and to left respectively. Leftfielder Takanori Suzuki then bopped a single to single to center to send Ishii in. Furuki yanked a shot down the rightfield line to convert Kinjo and strolled into second standing up. First baseman Tyrone Woods lifted a fly ball to right and Suzuki tagged up and scored to make it 3-0 Stars.
DH Mitsuru Manaka flamed one into the rightfield corner to leadoff the bottom of the first, but there he stayed. The Swallows had two men on with one out in the second, too, but couldn't turn that into anything. Yokohama then posted another run on the big board in the top of the third. With two gone, Furuki dumped one into centerfield for a single. Woods whistled a pitch into the rightfield corner and Furuki, not known as a speedster, managed to trek home anyway and it became 4-0 Stars.
Despite the bombardment, Yakult boss Tsutomu Wakamatsu sent Ishikawa back out for the fourth and removed all doubt as to who was going to pocket a W today. With one down, second baseman Hitoshi Taneda pinged a single to right. Ishikawa then tried to get a fastball in on the hands of catcher Ryoji Aikawa and didn't, enabling Aikawa to get some of that old time extension and carry it well beyond the leftcenterfield fence to widen it to 6-0.
Yakult blew another opportunity in the fifth, but then scratched for a token run in the sixth. With one out, second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi singled to right and went to second on a subsequent free pass to centerfielder Tetsuya Iida. Pinch hitter Kazuhiro Hatayama singled to left to push Dobashi across. Any further incursions on home plate were prevented, however, when shortstop Yoshiyuki Noguchi grounded into a 6-4-3 twin killing to keep it at 6-1 Stars.
Yokohama saw that one and raised them one in the seventh when Ishii singled to center and, one out later, Yataro Sakamoto ran a cutter up to the inner half of the plate and Furuki air mailed it through the wind and halfway up the rightfield stands for an 8-1 Yokohama advantage.
Yakult at least made it respectable in the eighth. Third baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi whiffed on strike three from Fukumori to kick off the frame, but the ball went to the backstop and Shiroishi beat it for first base. Shiroishi moveed to second on a groundout, bringing up Kubota. Fukumori hung a first pitch forkball on the outer half of the plate and Kubota, who had his dad Kiyoshi watching from the bleachers, put a whippin' on it, the ball getting out in no time to right, and it was 8-3 Yokohama.
Fukumori pulled the curtain down on one hit in the ninth and Stars shot caller Daisuke Yamashita had his first "open sen (exhibition game)" win.
Yakult managed to rack up 13 hits, but just three runs. I hope that doesn't become a trend.
For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 1-3 and is at .333. Firist baseman Todd Betts was 0-3 and is at .000.
For Yokohama, Woods was 1-3 with two RBIs and is at .333.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Yokoyama (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 29 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Taniguchi IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 40 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Morinaka IP 2.0 BF 10 PC 24 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.50
H. Yamada IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Fukumori IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 39 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.00
Yakult:
Masanori Ishikawa (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 21 PC 60 H 9 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 6 ER 6 ERA 13.50
Y. Sakamoto IP 3.0 BF 11 PC 46 H 2 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
Yoshikawa IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 11 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: K. Furuki
SB: Kinjo
2B: K. Furuki, Manaka, Woods, Kashibuchi
HR: Ryoji Aikawa (1), K. Furuki (1), S. Kubota (1)
RBI: T. Suzuki, K. Furuki 3, Ryoji Aikawa 2, Woods 2, Hatayama, S. Kubota 2
SF: Woods
WP: Fukumori
GIDP: Y. Noguchi
LOB: Yokohama 4, Yakult 12
Season Series: Yokohama 1, Yakult 0
Game Time: 2:52
Attendance: 7000
Umpires: Yoshimoto (HP), ? (1B), Mori (2B), Watamari (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Veteran lefty Kimiyasu Kudoh did some running and long tossing today as he recovers from a calf injury. Manager Tatsunori Hara would like the former Seibu and Daiei mainstay to be ready by mid-March, but that is being referred to as a "50-50" proposition. He will have a bullpen session Sunday....Yusaku Iriki, who is hoping to nail down a back of the rotation spot, will start tomorrow's exhibition tilt with Kintetsu....Kazuhiro Kiyohara blasted 14 homers in 37 swings in batting practice today, but in a press conference, he expressed frustration with the slow healing hamstring injury he has. One has to believe that surgery may be in the cards if things don't change in the next month or so....Due to nagging shoulder discomfort, Akira Etoh will only DH during the club's next intrasquad game.
Yakult And the injuries just keep on coming in the Yakult camp, as third baseman Akinori Iwamura has a barking hamstring and skipped batting practice Friday....Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto also has painful hammies in both legs and catcher Atsuya Furuta is having groin problems.
Chunichi Alex Ochoa flew into Japan today and he is in an odd position. With the near euphoric response that greeted the signing of Kevin Millar and the subsequent disappointment that ensued when Millar decided he wanted to play in Boston, Ochoa is going to start out with a lot of pressure on him even though his predecessor never even played an inning in Nagoya. At the very least, though, with Ochoa and Kosuke Fukudome in the same outfield, opposition baserunners are going to be pretty conservative since both men have cannons....Incidentally, unless the Dragons front office isn't revealing that Millar has indeed sent his regrets to the Dragons, still no word on Millar issuing the promised formal apology as yet.
Hanshin Rookie Yasuhiro Nakamura will appear Sunday against the Sebu Lions. He has been a pleasant surprise after being drafted out of the industrial league and could give manager Senichi Hoshino another lefthanded stud in the bullpen to complement Jeff Williams if he can keep it up....Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka sprained an oblique muscle while hitting off of a pitching machine today an is now unlikely to open the regular schedule with the team. Kataoka has talked of retiring if the upcoming campaign turns out the way it did in 2002. So we may see a man fighting for his career this season....
Hiroshima Rookie righthander Nagagawa faced six men in a simulated game today and allowed just one hit ....Sports Nippon had an interesting stat today. Due to all the injuries that he has suffered over the years, it has been eight seasons since outfielder Tomonori Maeda had taken any special defensive practice. So manager Koji Yamamoto oversaw today's drill personally....Two years ago, Toshikazu Sawazaki had surgery on his elbow and is hoping that he can make a full comeback this year. To further that end, he threw 130 pitches in the bullpen, saying that he doesn't feel bad.
Yokohama Manager Daisuke Yamashita told the Japan Times after his first pre-season victory today, "Our players proved they can hit. They did everything I'm hoping to see from them throughout the season. But, this is just a preseason game and we're going to have to raise our level some more.".
Seibu Righthander Chang Chia-chiah is in manager Haruki Ihara's doghouse, as he was pulled from an intrasquad game and may be demoted to the minors due to the his rounding into shape too slowly. Chang says he is feeling sore all over and couldn't throw his fastball in today's workout. Chang wants to play in MLB one day, but with his lackadaisical approach this spring, he is hardly knocking scouts out despite his considerable skills....The Lions had to cancel an intrasquad game to day due to bad weather, but it was revealed that Hiroyuki Oshima will bat third in an exhibition game against Hanshin tomorrow.
Daiei Brandon Knight got into an intrasquad game today amid a cold rain and was lit up for a pair of runs in his first inning of work before recovering and striking out the side in the second. Nevertheless, given the conditions, headman Sadaharu Oh was still satisfied with what Knight, who was clocked around 93mph, showed him....Kazumi Saito also managed to get in some work in the game before Oh called it off and spun a hitless inning.
Kintetsu Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura took 101 swings in batting practice today, propelling 11 balls beyond the fences. He also engaged in bunting practice, though he will almost certainly never be called on to do so during the season....While Akinori Otsuka broods away at home, the Buffs have reappointed, at least for now, Motoyuki Akahori the closer. Akahori is a five time Fireman of the Year, but shoulder surgery in 1999 handed the job to Otsuka.
Nippon Ham After going down with shoulder pain a couple of weeks ago, pitcher Itsuki Shoda played catch today....Catcher Kazunari Sanematsu hit off of a tee today, as he rebounds from a fractured palm.
Lotte Closer Masahide Kobayashi threw 70 pitches in batting practice today and has thrown 1150 pitches over the last ten days....Manager Koji Yamamoto announced that rookie Tsuyoshi Nishioka will hit eighth and play second in tomorrow's exhibition contests with Hiroshima. Nishioka replaces the departed Bobby Rose.
Orix Boy, bad news for the Blue Wave. Makoto Suzuki has a calf muscle pull and will not be able to even workout for three weeks. As a result, he likely won't see game action until mid-April....Shigeki Sano was in today's intrasquad game and stunk it up, walking three and being touched for five hits and four runs in two innings. He then headed for the bullpen and threw for about 15 minutes to examine his mechanics ....Doing much better was Ogura, who rendered the other side scoreless in three innings and was clocked at about 90mph....Korean hillsman Koo Dae-sung tossed two perfect frames and exhibited a sharp slider. With a surgically repaired knee, let's see if he can post the kind of outstanding year he had in 2002.
Miscellaneous The Yankees have issued 113 press credentials just to Japanese media. Wow....Matsui's absence seems to be having an effect on the number of fans coming to see Yomiuri workouts this spring. At this time in 2002, almost 200,000 showed up during the first 17 days of the Giants workouts. This season, that has declined to about 186,000, according to Sankei Sports....Matsui practiced taking balls off the leftfield wall fungoed by Lee Mazzilli for 30 minutes Friday, as Godzilla hasn't played that position since 1993, when he played 48 games out there. He was also scheduled to take part in a relay drill today. In addition to the six homers in 32 batting practice swings yesterday, Matsui also took another 75 cuts off of a pitching machine and a total of 105 hacks hitting into a net as a coach lobbed balls into him. Ben Rivera, an ex-Hanshin Tiger who is now with the Yanks, was one of those who pitched to him today....The crowd in the stands was cheering Matsui enthusiastically as he took his time in the batter's box and former Toei Flyer (now Nippon Ham) Don Zimmer told him to wave to the crowd. When he finished hitting, the fans gave the slugger a standing ovation. There is also an article in Hochi Sports today talking about three changes that Matsui has made to his routine. For one, he now makes his own breakfast, whereas that was largely done by his mom previously. He is also getting up early and going to bed "automatically" at 11 p.m. and he has given up golf to concentrate solely on baseball. Hochi Sports is also saying that Matsui may not play on March 4th against Boston....Tomokazu Ohka threw 30 pitches in batting practice today for the travelin' Expos. Matsui will be featured in an upcoming issue of Business Week about the economic impact on both NYC and the Yankees he brings with him....Ichiro was reunited Friday with an old nemesis, pitcher Takehiro Ishii, who is now the pitching coach for the KBO's Lotte Giants. Ishii held Ichiro to 11-41 during their PL confrontations, a .268 average. Ishii and several of the Korean players stopped by at the Mariners workout in Peoria Arizona and Ishii stated that his charges are happy for the opportunity to face an MLB team in exhibition games on the 25th and 26th. It shouldn't be close, though, as Lotte was pathetic last year and finished last....Friday was a no throw day for Hideo Nomo, so he worked on sac bunts instead....By the way, the Sandy Koufax item run by the NY Post has gotten into the Japanese press....According to Nikkan Sports, outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo's cholesterol level has gone up since he started in MLB due to an Americanized diet. Therefore, nowadays he is going to eat just Japanese food, which is low in fat.
Today's Pictures
Trey Hillman Watches and Grades His Players
Hillman Greets Tsuboi After He Scores
Hillman Congratulates Masashi Date on a Good Job
Hideki Matsui and Bernie Williams Collide Thursday
Mariners Satisfied With Japan Trip Security
See story at: The Olympian Article
See related story at: MLB.com Article
Godzilla Next to Invade America
See story at: Fort Worth Star-Telegram Article
Former Fighters Hurler Ohme on Hideki Matsui; Taguchi at Second?
He has some interesting thoughts. See story at: St. Louis Post-Dispatch Article
Shin-soo Choo on Fast Track at Seattle
See story at: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Article
