Archived Weblog Entry - 03/08/2003: "Japanese Baseball News: Kokubo May be Out for Season; Giants are Meat Against Nippon Ham"

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03/08/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Kokubo May be Out for Season; Giants are Meat Against Nippon Ham"

Nippon Ham Outhustles Giants 6-3

Carlos Mirabal posted a solid five inning outing of one run ball on five hits and Nippon Ham Fighters hitters exploited two errors to grab a three spot in the first before steadily chipping away for three more over the rest of the game to whip the Yomiuri Giants Thursday at Sapporo Dome 6-3. Masumi Kuwata started for the kyojin and couldn't get his slider going in the early momemts of the game and paid for it with the loss.

Centerfielder Hichori Morimoto, who has been the most pleasant surprise of the spring for the Fighters, began the contest with a single to center and motored to third on a hit and run single to left by shortstop Makoto Kaneko. First baseman Michihiro Ogasawara grounded to second for the RBI, but Toshihisa Nishi let the ball get by him and Kaneko headed for third. One out later, D.H. D.T. Cromer singled to right to plate Kaneko, Ogasawara sprinting successfully for third. One out later, rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi singled to right and it was 3-0 Nippon Ham.

The Giants got one of those back in the second when centerfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi slugged an eighth pitch 89mph fastball that was up and on the outer half of the plate to the opposite field and over the nearly 19 feet high leftfield wall to reduce the deficit to 3-1.

The Fighters counterattacked in the fourth when Kuwata hung a slider to third baseman Yukio Tanaka, who mashed it into the leftfield seats, to put them back up by three at 4-1.

Takahashi came back in the bottom of the inning to single to center with one away. He then took off for second and stole it, but got spiked just below his ankle bone in the process. He said after the game that it was no big deal, but it did break the skin. Takahashi was ultimately stranded, as third baseman Akira Etoh struckout and catcher Shinnosuke Abe flied out to end the inning. Etoh is off to another bad start, batting a lowly .222 so far.

Nippon Ham then created a blief flurry of knocks for another tally in the seventh. With two gone, second baseman Ken Tanaka singled to right and Morimoto singled to center. Kaneko singled to right to usher Tanaka in to make it 5-1.

The Giants produced their second run when catcher Shunsuke Hara doubled down the leftfield line and went to third on a groundout. One out later, Takahiro Suzuki, who got a rare start in rightfield, spanked a single to center to recall Hara and it was 6-2 Fighters.

Once more, Nippon Ham surged back thanks to a triple to center by reserve leftfielder Yoshinori Ueda off of Giants number two draftee Yuya Kubo, and, one out later, a single to right off the bat of backup third baseman Kokichi Akune to give the Fighters a 6-2 advantage.

Yomiuri kept themselves within striking range in the eighth when leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu banged a shot against the rightfield fence for a double off of Hiroshi Shibakusa and, one out later, went to third on a single to left by DH Takayuki Saito. Daisuke Motoki singled to right to convert Shimizu and it was 6-3 Fighters. A subsequent flyout and strikeout prevented any further damage.

Naoyuki Tateishi sought to finish it in the ninth, but it was still tense. He plunked Mototsugu Kawanaka to open the inning and then surrendered a single to left by rookie pinch hitter Masahiro Nagata. Now with every hitter representing the tying run manager Trey Hillman resorted to the bullpen and Masashi Date. Suzuki grounded into a 6-4 force. Rookie substitute leftfielder Kenji Yano popped out to short and the dangerous shortstop Tomohiro Nioka grounded to short to turn out the lights.

Special hitting instructor Futoshi Nakanishi has been working with Takahashi on his timing, getting him to wait just a split second longer on balls away while being able to pull the trigger on balls in.

As an indication that he wasn't going to have a good night, Kuwata threw 12 sliders in the first inning, eight of them balls.

Fighters skipper Trey Hillman told the press that he liked all the aggressive baserunning he saw in this one.

For Nippon Ham, leftfielder Angel Echevarria struckout in three at bats and is at .067. Cromer was 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .267.

Pitching Lines:

Nippon Ham:

Mirabal (W, 2-0) IP 5.0 BF 19 PC 70 H 5 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 0.90
N. Takahashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shibakusa IP 1.1 BF 8 PC 35 H 5 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 7.71
Tateishi IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Date (S, 2) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 9 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yomiuri:

Kuwata (L, 1-1) IP 5.0 BF 21 PC 73 H 5 HR 1 K 6 BB 0 R 4 ER 2 ERA 2.25
Y. Maeda IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 32 H 3 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Kubo IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 20 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.60
J. Kawahara IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: K. Goto, Nishi
SB: Y. Takahashi
2B: Hara, T. Shimizu
3B: Y. Ueda
HR: Y. Takahashi (2), Y. Tanaka (2)
RBI: Kaneko, M. Ogasawara, Cromer, Y. Tanaka, Akune, Y. Takahashi, Motoki, T.H. Suzuki
HBP: Kawanaka (Tateishi)
GIDP: Ken Tanaka, Nishi
LOB: Nippon Ham 6, Yomiuri 8

Season Series: Nippon Ham 1, Yomiuri 0

Game Time: 3:06
Attendance: 28,000
Umpires: Nishimoto (HP), Kawaguchi (1B), Watada (2B), Akimura (3B)

Kosaka's Three RBIs Spearhead 5-0 Lotte Win Over Dragons

Chunichi Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada had good cause for berating his relief corps in a post game meeting for permitting too many runs this spring, as the Chiba Lotte Marines noted a pair against Eiji Ochiai and another three off of Masataka Endo in the late innings to win it 5-0. Soichi Fujita was credited with the victory after an inning of one hit scoreless relief while Ochiai accepted blame for the defeat.

Shingo Ono, who was useless the first half of last season and then had some occasional good outings the second half, was solid in his Thursday assignment, tossing three shutout innings on two hits and a walk.

Shigeki Noguchi started for the Dragons and had his strongest showing in a long time, as his fastball was going to the plate at a pre-injury normal 89mph and his slider was sharp over his three frames of two hit scoreless ball.

This game was so well pitched that nothing much happened until the fourth with two outs, when Lotte first baseman Kazuya Fukuura scorched a double into the leftcenter alley off of Eddie Gaillard and went to third on a groundout. But Gaillard induced Rick Short to popout in foul territory to third and that opportunity went by the wayside.

Masahiro Yamamoto was shaken down for a leadoff double to leftcenter by Kiyoshi Hatsushiba, but Yamamoto put the boot in and struckout the next two men and lured shortstop Makoto Kosaka into grounding to second to kill that threat off.

Lotte was finally able to break through in the seventh when Ochiai was in the center of the diamond. Short cracked a single to center and was sacrificed to second. Takashi Tachikawa walked. Both men moved up on a little ground ball by the mound, the only play for Ochiai being to first. Kosaka then drilled a hotshot into the leftfield corner and Short and Tachikawa busted for the plate to make it 2-0 for the Chiba side.

In the top of the ninth, Lotte effectively put it out of reach when Tachikawa doubled off the centerfield fence with one down and catcher Toshiya Tsuji splattered one against the leftfield wall for an RBI two bagger. Kosaka then hit it where nobody was to deep center and the speedster put it into overdrive for third while Tsuji loped home. Centerfielder Saburo Omura squirted the ball back up through the middle to send in Kosaka and it was 5-0.

Ken Yamasaki isn't used to closing, but he worked a perfect home portion and it was "game setto."

For Chunichi, centerfielder Alex Ochoa was 1-3 and is at .500. First baseman Ivan Cruz was 1-3 and is at .278.

For Lotte, Short was 1-3 and is at .250. DH Derrick May was 0-4 with two strikeouts and a walk and is at .000.

Pitching Lines:

Lotte:

S. Ono IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 56 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Kobayashi IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Watanabe IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Fujita (W, 1-0) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
A. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 6 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K. Yamasaki (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 25 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Chunichi:

S. Noguchi IP 3.0 BF 10 PC 38 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Gaillard IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Yamamoto IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 34 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Ochiai (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 23 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 13.50
Endo IP 2.0 BF 13 PC 64 H 5 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 16.62

E: Fukuura
2B: Fukuura 2, Hatsushiba, Fukudome, Kosaka, Tachikawa, T. Tsuji
2B: Kosaka
RBI: S. Omura, T. Tsuji, Kosaka 3
GIDP: Haru, Cruz
LOB: Lotte 9, Chunichi 4

Season Series: Lotte 1, Chunichi 0

Game Time: 2:54
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: T. Kobayashi (HP), Okada (1B), ? (2B), Nagami (3B)

Kokubo Shreds Knee in Hawks Win Over Seibu

Starter Akio Mizuta and reliever Hayato Terahara each pitched exceedingly well in this 4-1 Daiei Hawks win over the Seibu Lions, but slugging third baseman Hiroki Kokubo busted up some knee ligaments in a collision at home and is lost for at least three months and perhaps even the season in a crippling blow to the Fukuoka ballclub. He will be re-examined next week after the swelling subsides and a determination on the need for surgery will be made at that time. Should he have to undergo the knife, he will have to bid sayonara to his 2003 season and perhaps even the shot at MLB he wants to take.

For the Lions, who are without Alex Cabrera until the 15th while the big man prepares himself to eventually enter game action, they are not getting much run production out of anybody not named Kazuo Matsui. Thursday, they managed just four hits total, half of them by the superstar infielder.

Hsu Ming-Chieh started for the Tokorozawa kingpins and got burned by a fourth inning misplay to give up an unearned run in his four innings of toil, where he permitted four hits and walked one while striking out two.

The Lions jumped on the big board in the first, as Matsui yanked a double down the rightfield line and went to third on a groundout. First baseman Taisei Takagi walked. DH Masahide Kaizuka flied out to center and Matsui tagged up and chugged in to put Seibu up 1-0.

In the third, the Hawks endeavored to charge back, as second baseman Bryant Nelson singled to right and shortstop Munenori Kawasaki singled to center. But catcher Kenji Johjima bounced one to second, where it was snagged by Hiroyuki Takagi, who flipped to backup shortstop Hiroaki Ueda, who then chucked it to first for a rally snuffing twin killing.

The Hawks offense made some more noise in the fourth, though it could have put an end to their chances at the PL pennant. Kokubo, who was going to be rested but asked to be allowed to play since he wanted to hit against a PL opponent, leadoff by grounding to Scott McClain at third, who kicked it. First baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka laced a rocket up the leftcenter gap. Kokubo decided to try to score from first. The relay and Kokubo arrived at the dish almost simultaneously and he was safe, but began writhing around on the ground holding his knee. He was whisked away by ambulance with ligament damage and the game tied at 1-1.

Daiei then hustled their way into another run in the fifth when rightfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi singled to right and Nelson singled to left. Kawasaki laid down a sac bunt. Catcher Takumi Shigi grabbed the ball and threw it to third, where it was not only late, but went into leftfield to permit Takahashi to score and make it 2-1 Hawks. Nelson was stranded, however, when Lions reliever Tomoki Hoshino was able to get a popout, a strikeout and a flyout to escape further difficulties.

The Lions offense was going absolutely nowhere, but the Hawks could use some insurance runs and they got them in the top of the ninth. DH Chen Wen-pin rolled to Ueda, who bobbled it for an error. Centerfielder Masashi Matsuda then cleared one for takeoff and landed it in the rightfield seats and that was how it ended, 4-1, as Terahara saw Kazuhiko Miyaji double and then he retired the next three hitters for the save.

Lions shot caller Haruki Ihara lamented that his young players aren't taking advantage of the chances he is giving them. Seibu has now lost three in a row.

As for Terahara, Hawks pitching coach Obana said that the young righthander looked like a completely different person this time compared to the debacle that was his last outing.

For Daiei, Nelson was 2-3 with a steal and is at .364. Chen was 0-2 and is at .167. Starting DH Pedro Valdez was 0-2 and is at .143.

For Seibu, McClain was 0-3 and is at .167.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Hsu IP 4.0 BF 17 PC 50 H 4 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 0 ERA 2.57
T. Hoshino (L, 0-1) IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 21 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K.Y. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hoashi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Toriyabe IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 23 H 1 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 1 ERA 4.50

Daiei:

A. Mizuta (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 18 PC 59 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Terahara (S, 1) IP 4.0 BF 14 PC 56 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.29

E: A. Mizuta, McClain, Shigi
SB: Nelson
2B: K. Matsui, Matsunaka, Miyaji
HR: M. Matsuda (2)
RBI: Kaizuka, Matsunaka, M. Matsuda 2
SF: Kaizuka
GIDP: Johjima
LOB: Seibu 4, Daiei 8

Season Series: Seibu 0, Daiei 1

Game Time: 2:35
Attendance: 47,000
Umpires: Kakigizono (HP), Sugimoto (1B), Maeda (2B), Kodera (3B)

Two Asayama Homers, Fine Newman Outing Gets Carp Over Orix 3-0

Rightfielder Toyo Asayama, whose career had been retarded by a string of knee injuries, crushed a pair of solo homers and lefty Alan Newman had an outstanding time in his first spring start to spur the Hiroshima Carp to a 3-0 triumph over the Orix Blue Wave Thursday at Kobe Green Stadium. Hisashi Ogura was hung with the kuroboshi after being racked for two runs on four hits in three innings for the Blue Wave.

The Carp swam out to a 1-0 lead when leftfielder Kazuki Fukuchi leadoff the game with a single to right and stole second. He was then advanced to third on a sac bunt. Shortstop Andy Sheets flied out to center and Fukuchi tagged up and scored.

Newman had his breaking stuff working and Orix hitters were killing worms. In the meantime, Asayama checked in to commence the second and clubbed a forkball on the outer half of the plate into the leftfield seats to make it 2-0 Carp.

Asayama struck again in the fourth, this time launching a fastball on the inner half into the leftfield bleachers and it was 3-0 Hiroshima.

Orix had its best chance in the seventh against Shinichi Nishikawa, when shortstop Makoto Shiozaki singled to left and leftfielder Roosevelt Brown used his speed to beat out a roller toward first. One out later, backup third baseman Koichi Oshima walked to load the bases. Rightfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani struckout and Nishikawa then obtained the third out and that was it for the Blue Wave order.

For Hiroshima, Sheets was 0-1 with an RBI and is at .143. DH Jimmy Hurst was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .000.

For Orix, Brown was 2-3 and is at .333. Third baseman Scott Sheldon was 0-2 and is at .300.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Newman (W, 1-0) IP 3.0 BF 9 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Tsuruta IP 3.0 BF 10 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nishikawa IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 24 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Tamaki (S, 1) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 24 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Orix:

Ogura (L, 0-1) IP 3.0 BF 13 PC 42 H 4 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 6.00
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00
Kase IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T. Kawaguchi IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 20 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Imamura IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 29 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: Kurihara
SB: Fukuchi 2
2B: Brown, Morikasa
HR: Asayama 2 (3)
RBI: Sheets, Asayama 2
SF: Sheets
HBP: J. Hirose (T. Kawaguchi)
GIDP: T. Arai, J. Hirose, Tani, Hurst
LOB: Hiroshima 6, Orix 3

Game Time: 2:21
Attendance: 2000
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Tsuchiyama (1B), Sato (2B), Kittaka (3B)

Team Reports

Yomiuri Roberto Petagine hit 64 balls off of a tee and also took part in a defensive drill Thursday. However, he didn't give a date as to when he would be able to hit off of live pitching again.

Yakult Coaches seems to be convinced enough that righthander Manabu Hiramoto has ironed out his control problems to the point where he will probably begin the regular season with the big club. He will be taking the place of the injured Ryota Igarashi while Igarashi recovers. The long term plan is to use him in relief to add another power arm in the pen once he is sincerely ready to be an eveyday part of the roster. He was clocked at 92mph in his last appearance, but in college was said to have been clocked at 95mph, leading to interest for the Yankees.

Hanshin Hideki Irabu made an instructional league start Thursday and pitched well, throwing three shutout innings on three hits and striking out five. He was clocked at 91mph and threw his breaking pitches for strikes. A Hiroshima scout said that he was particularly impressed with the big righthander's changeup and he expects Irabu's velocity to rise as the weather warms up and noted that Irabu is throwing everything out of the same arm slot and with the same arm speed, increasing his deception. He is now likely to see action at the big club level over the next three weeks....Tomoaki Kanemoto will start for the first time on the 15th against Nippon Ham, according to Sports Nippon. He will be slotted in as the DH.

Yokohama If you are at Yokohama Stadium and wonder what that tune is that they are always playing between innings is, it is a version of the Stars theme song, "Atsuki Hoshitachi yo" rendered by well known jazz pianist Yosuke Yamashita. Yamashita is reportedly a passionate follower of the coastal community's ballclub. After team victories, they are reportedly going to play Brazilian-Japanese singer Marcia's late 80's hit, "Blue Light Yokohama"....Steve Cox took batting practice Thursday for the first time since having knee surgery and it appears that he will be available opening day. Cox told Hochi Sports that his batting is in good shape, but that he can't really run yet. Coaches were very pleased with what Cox did in the cage.

Kintetsu Akinori Otsuka will not be included in the Buffaloes' team year book, according to Sports Nippon. "It's because he isn't under contract yet," said a club official.

Orix Closer Masanobu Okubo will have his knee operated on next Wednesday and will miss the entire season....Kobe Green Stadium got a $2.5 million facelift this past offseason, which included new seating closer to the field near the dugouts as well as what sounds like fiberglass akin to what you see around hockey arenas to protect fans from foul balls.

Hideki Matsui On its front cover today, Nikkan Sports had a full page story on Hideki Matsui's defensive troubles Wednesday, using the term "flailing," to describe his performance....Baseball fan Robert Lu, in his analysis of the AL races for the Sporting News, had this assessment of Hideki Matsui: "the guy is no Ichiro. He is going to bomb under the pressure of playing in the Big Apple and having to deal with the media frenzy from across the globe. Heck, he couldn't even hack exhibition games when the scrutiny was considerably less." That last sentence is highly debatable. The pressure won't kill Matsui in MLB so much as his inability to adjust to the difference in velocity between the fastballs and offspeed pitches here. But let's hope we're both wrong.

Miscellaneous For those of you wondering how Kevin Hodges brother Trey is doing in Atlanta, I came across the following blurb from the Gwinnet Daily Post: "Trey Hodges, battling for the fifth starter�fs job, added two more shutout innings to his spring resume. He didn�ft allow a hit and struck out two. The 24-year-old right-hander has pitched four innings in two games, yielded one hit and one walk, and whiffed five. �gWe kind of compare him to John Burkett,�h Cox said. �gHe knows where the ball is going and that�fs a huge part of pitching. You�fd rather have velocity and control, but who has both? Very few pitchers. Pitchers like Hodges make their fastball look faster then it is. That�fs the art of pitching, deception.�h Hodges featured a heavy sinker, which he used to force two grounders, and he located it effectively. More important, he kept pace with Ramirez in the battle to join the rotation. �gThe guy just keeps getting them out,�h Cox said."....Atsushi Kittaka, who is a Central League umpire and umpiring official, said that for the fan's sake Japanese arbiters would like to avoid a strike. Therefore, they are looking for a "sincere answer" from league owners concerning their demands about pay and working conditions. However, Kittaka also revealed that there is a feeling of distrust between umpires and team owners. "But it they come across with a concrete proposal about changing how we are treated, then a strike can be averted." Kittaka was hospitalized two years ago when he had some ribs broken by outfielder Takayuki Onishi, who kicked him during a dispute over balls and strikes. Onishi was suspended for seven games, apologized, and was fined, but should have been banned for life. Nagoya prosecutors declined to seek criminal charges....Ichiro Suzuki was given a day off by the Mariners, though he did take batting practice indoors for a total of 70 swings....Kazuhisa Ishii threw two innings for the Dodgers Thursday against Baltimore, allowing two hits and a run in two innings, walking two, though he was victimized by a bad hop single. The Orioles took it 6-2. Despite the less than optimum performance, manager Jim Tracy said that Ishii has shown some growth since last season....Japan will send a contingent to the Baseball World Cup that will be held in Cuba this year that will be comprised solely of industrial league players....Tsuyoshi Shinjo said that he's working this spring on deeking runners so that he can use the cannon on his right shoulder to throw more of them out....Oakland third baseman Eric Chavez told Sankei Sports that he is looking forward to playing in Japan: "there are a lot of people there who love baseball and they are very courteous. It should be a good experience"....Doug Creek told Slam Sports about what his playing in Japan did for him: ""It was a chance to get away from major league ball," Creek said. "I think I have re-invented myself. Nobody else may have thought so, but I thought it gave me a fresh start"....Byung-hyun Kim threw four shutout innings on one hit for Arizona Thursday against Anaheim. However, there were only two regulars in that Angels lineup....Jung Bong threw two perfect innings for the Braves Thursday, but is likely destined for AAA this season according to MLB.com.

Today's Pictures

Trey Hillman Congratulates Yukio Tanaka on His Yardwork

Another Shot of Hillman and Tanaka

Manabu Hiramoto Starts Toward the Plate

Hideki Irabu from the Hitter's Vantage Point

Shigeki Noguchi Determined to Locate it Where He Wants

Hayato Terahara Coming to the Plate

Shingo Ono Needs to Have a Big Year After Bad 2002

Yoshinobu Takahashi Wacks it into the Seats

Matsui Changes the Ballpark Slightly

See story at: Tampa Tribune Article

Commissioner Rejects Japanese Umpires' Demands