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03/10/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Lions All Matsui and Little More Again"
Matsui Leads Game Off With Homer, But That's All for Lions in 2-1 Defeat
Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui started off the game by clobbering a slider from Ken Takahashi into the seats at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium Saturday, but his club's offense then took the rest of the night off and they lost to the Hiroshima Carp 2-1. It may be a reflection of how much they miss Kazuhiro Wada and Alex Cabrera, but the Lions are getting few men across the plate these days and they continue to rack up defeats as a result. Moreover, five of the six hits the Tokorozawa nine rang up were distributed between two men, Matsui and DH Hisashi Takayama.
Koji Mitsui started for Seibu and took the loss after being charged with both Carp runs on three hits in four innings while Takahashi was bestowed his first win.
Once Matsui dispatched the souvenir to the folks in the centerfield seats, the Carp swam back upstream to jump in front in the bottom of the first. Second baseman Kazuki Fukuchi and shortstop Andy Sheets walked to commence the home faction's attack. Following two strikeouts, leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to left to drive in Fukuchi and Jimmy Hurst tattooed a fastball right down main street to right to provide what proved to be the game winning hit that transported Sheets home to make it 2-1 Hiroshima.
The Lions got two men on in the second on an error and a single by Matsui with two outs, but rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki, who hit better than .300 in 2002 but isn't hitting his weight right now, grounded out.
In the fourth, Seibu had a sweet opportunity to put this one back in their favor thanks to a single to center bu third baseman Scott McClain, catcher Toru Hosokawa getting plunked by Takahashi and a sac bunt. But Matsui struckout and Ozeki grounded out, and after Takayama's third hit in the fifth, Seibu hitters were mowed down one after another until it was time to pack up and return to the hotel.
Speaking of Cabrera, he blasted 19 homers in batting practice, including five off of Chang Chia-chiah in 50 swings.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 1-1 with a walk and is at .250. Hurst was 1-2 with an RBI and is at .091.
For Seibu, McClain was 1-3 and is at .222.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
Mitsui (L, 0-1) IP 4.0 BF 17 PC 84 H 3 HR 0 K 6 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 4.50
Mizuo IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
S. Mori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
Osada IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 31 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hoashi IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 24 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Hiroshima:
K. Takahashi (W, 1-0) IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 57 H 4 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Lundquist IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 32 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sawazaki IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 13.50
Nishikawa IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Hayashi IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nagakawa (S, 2) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: K. Mizuta, K. Nomura
SB: Higashide, Fukuchi
2B: Sheets
HR: K. Matsui (1)
RBI: K. Matsui, T. Maeda, Hurst
HBP: Hosokawa (Lundquist), Miyaji (Hayashi)
LOB: Seibu 9, Hiroshima 8
Season Series: Seibu 0, Hiroshima 1
Game Time: 2:58
Attendance: 8000
Umpires: Suginaga (HP), T. Yamamoto (1B), Shimada (2B), Sakaemura (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Roberto Petagine took 77 swings against a pitching machine Saturday. He is sceduled to take regular batting practice with the rest of the club Sunday.
Yakult Shugo Fujii has resumed throwing again after hurting his elbow last month and delivered 50 pitches at about 70% of full strength....Yuhei Takai threw batting practice Saturday and displayed good control. He threw 51 strikes in 81 pitches. The team's minor league pitching coach remarked that Takai really showed good arm action onthe final 30 deliveries and overall had good command. Takai will start in an instructional league game Tuesday.
Hanshin Hideki Irabu has been moved back up to the big club roster after spending some time on the farm getting in shape after suffering from bronchitis. He says that he's at about 70-80%.
Yokohama Takashi Saito wasn't very good in an instructional league start Saturday, going two innings and giving up three runs on five hits. Saito said that his pitches are moving, but that he doesn't have very good control right now. Ryuichi Kawamura then followed Saito and also surrendered three runs on five hits in three innings.
Hideki Matsui Matsui singled to center in the sixth inning against the Pirates Saturday to drive in a runner from second, finishing the afternoon 1-3 batting cleanup.
Miscellaneous Found this item Saturday morning by the San Francisco Chronicle's Bruce Jenkins: "Given the sagging economy, the fragile state of world affairs and the fact that baseball has been a runaway hit in Japan forever, why are the A's opening their regular season over there?" Two reasons Bruce, old son: one, baseball may be a hit in Japan, but it's the domestic brand and MLB has a ways to go before it will top the Yomiuri Giants et al. It's called promotion. Look it up in the dictionary. Secondly, nobody goes to Oakland A's games, so the players, when they are in front of 55,000 fans at Tokyo Dome, won't feel quite so lonely as they do even on a weekend in that abortion of a ballpark that is now more of a tribute to Al Davis's impending senility than baseball....Brooks Kieschnick, according to the Arizona Republic, said he thinks that Cleveland wanted to sell him to Japan and he would have gone, but no offers came forth....Sherman Obando was released by Florida....Hideo Nomo threw four innings of two run ball (none earned) on one hit and a walk Saturday against Florida, as he was victimized by three third innings errors....Tsuyoshi Shinjo started for the Mets Saturday against St. Louis and went 2-2 with an assist. So Taguchi struckout in a pinch hit appearance for the Cardinals....Ichiro Suzuki went 1-3 against the Royals Saturday and just missed throwing out a man at the plate. He has an eight game hitting streak....Kazuhiro Sasaki gave up a homer to left to the Lotte Giants during his appearance Saturday on a fastball he left out over the middle of the plate. He did say, though, that his cutter was working well....Former Cleveland Indians skipper Chuck Manuel says that he still plans to look into managing in Japan next season. He told the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "I speak the language in a southern drawl," said Manuel. "They still speak the language, too - yen." ...Kevin Millar is apparently defensive over accusations from some quarter somewhere that he left the Marlins for the money. Huh? Why should he be ashamed about that? If somebody was throwing a couple million at me to play baseball, I would take it in a heartbeat. Sheesh.... Julian Tavarez says he ankled a more lucrative offer from a Japanese team to sign with Pittsburgh, where he isn't even guarenteed a spot on the roster. Now I'm not trying to call Tavarez a liar, but his name has never been mentioned as a possible candidate for coming to the Japanese league by any of the sports press there.
Quote of the Day
The quote of the day comes from Mike Berardino at the St. Petersburg Sun-Sentinel, who made this observation: "While twin brother Jose deals with legal issues, sources say former ballplayer Ozzie Canseco has enrolled in the nursing program at Davie's McFatter Institute. Imagine having your vital signs taken by one of the Canseco brothers, huh?" Yikes! Hope Ozzie can hit a vein with an IV needle better than he hit minor league pitching.
Today's Photos
Masahiro Nagata Turning the Double Play
Hirai From the Batter's Perspective
Kazuo Matsui Watches Ball Leave as He Finishies His Swing
Gladden and Matsui Renew Old Friendship
See story at: St. Paul Pioneer Press Article
When Matsui Hit the Roof
See story at: Hartford Courant Article
Hideki Baseball?
See story at: NY Post Article
Nigel Wilson on Playing in Japan
There was too much for me to legally excerpt here, but if you scroll down the article, you'll see what Nigel had to say about playing in Japan. You'll also see why Nigel's teammates with Nippon Ham loved the guy: Boston Globe Article
Seo Leaving Mets a Tough Choice
See story at: Korea Times Article
