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03/21/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Watanabe Claims Victimhood for Yomiuri"
Holt Rebounds as Yokohama Trounces Kintetsu 11-1
Chris Holt was working the corners with all of his pitches like an artist to perhaps save his spot on the first team roster and third baseman Katsuaki Furuki slugged another homer in an 11-1 drubbing by the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Kintetsu Buffaloes at Yokohama Stadium Wednesday. The former Rockie stalled the Buffs offense on one run and two hits over 6.2 innings while striking out eight and walking none.
Kazuhiko Maekawa, who was clocked at 88mph, started for Kintetsu and one has to ask how long he can keep his job without getting anyone out. He went five innings and was stomped for nine runs, all earned, on ten hits in five innings, including three longballs. That inflated his ERA to 7.31.
One of Maekawa's problems in this one was that he would get ahead of the hitters and then attempt to get cute and he was well punished for that lack of aggression. For example, in the bottom of the first and with two away, Maekawa had first baseman Takahiro Saeki set up to go at 0-2, but Saeki worked him to a 3-2 count and then crushed one beyond the leftfield wall to make it 1-0 Stars. Rightfielder Tyrone Woods walked. DH Steve Cox singled to left. Furuki singled to right to turn in Woods for a 2-0 lead. Second baseman Hirofumi Ogawa laced a shot into the rightfield corner and Cox reported on the double for a nice 3-0 advantage.
Holt struckout the side in the top of the second and then induced three grounders to cruise through the third. The Stars offense then rewarded that superb bit of pitching by going on the warpath again in the home half. Saeki catalyzed it with a walk. One out later, Cox went with the pitch and lashed it down the leftfield line. Furuki whiffed, but Ogawa pounded another two bagger to right to usher the runners in and it was 5-0. Catcher Satoshi Nakajima singled to left to exploit Ogawa. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo then went mideaval on a Maekawa delivery and mashed it into the leftfield stands to widen it to 8-0.
Holt struckout the side again in the fifth (though he also surrendered a single) and Furuki applauded that in the Stars' portion by destroying whatever it was Maekawa sent up to the dish, leaving it in the rear section of seats in straightaway centerfield and it was 9-0 Yokohama.
Holt got three more groundballs in a perfect sixth and his teammates went after Buffs reliever Tomokazu Teramura. Shortstop Makoto Fukumoto singled to center. One out later, Saeki singled to right, Fukumoto motoring to third. Woods bounced to short, the only play being to first and he had his obligatory RBI for the day to make it 10-0 Stars.
Holt's pitch count was nearing 100 pitches and manager Daisuke Yamashita got Ryuichi Kawahara up in the pen just in case in the seventh. Shortstop Osamu Hoshino leadoff with a single to left. He went to second on a little groundball near the mound that Holt picked up and went to first on for an out. Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura struckout for the third time. Yamashita went to the mound and signaled for Kawahara. Pinch hitter Fumitoshi Takano singled to left and Hoshino busted for the plate and breakup the shutout at 10-1. DH Yuji Yoshioka doubled down the leftfieldline, Takano stopping at third. First baseman Kenshi Kawaguchi struckout and the Kintetsu bats then went to sleep until the end of the game.
Yokohama notched its final tally in the eighth, as leftfielder Takanori Suzuki cracked a one out single to leftcenter and then went all the way around when the ball got through centerfielder Akihito Moritani to make it 11-1 on the three base error.
For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes was 0-3 and is at .308.
For Yokohama, Woods was 0-3 with an RBI and a walk and is at .292. Cox went 2-2 and is at .264.
Pitching Lines:
Kintetsu:
Maekawa (L, 0-2) IP 5.0 BF 27 PC 86 H 10 HR 3 K 2 BB 2 R 9 ER 9 ERA 7.31
Teramura IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.86
Akahori IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
T. Matsumoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 20 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 3.38
Yokohama:
Holt (W, 1-1) IP 6.2 BF 22 PC 100 H 2 HR 0 K 8 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.62
R. Kawahara IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 12 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Fukumori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.00
Kizuka IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Moritani, Takasu
SB: Yoshioka, K.N. Tanaka
2B: Ogawa 2, Cox, Yoshioka, K. Furuki
HR: Saeki (2), Kinjo (1), K. Furuki (5)
RBI: Takano, Saeki, Woods, K. Furuki 2, Ogawa 3, S. Nakajima, Kinjo 2
GIDP: S. Nakajima
LOB: Kintetsu 3, Yokohama 5
Season Series: Kintetsu 0, Yokohama 1
Game Time: 2:27
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Uemoto (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Shikita (2B), Kawaguchi (3B)
Lions Get a Flashback, as Cabrera and Matsui Homer in Victory
Seibu Lions pitching was passable Wednesday, but now that Alex Cabrera is back in town the Lions offense is going nuts, with even leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada ending a long slump with a double and a single in four at bats in a 13-6 poleaxing of Koo Dae-sung and the Orix Blue Wave Wednesday at Seibu Dome.
Koo, whose pitches were up in the zone, is still having a rough time recovering what he displayed in 2002 before a leg injury ended his campaign, as he was thumped for eight runs on 12 hits in five innings to lose it.
Mitsutaka Goto started for Seibu and went six okay innings of three run ball on seven hits, striking out two and walking one and hitting a batter to earn his first win of the exhibition schedule.
Orix had a lead for a minute, as centerfielder Kota Soejima cranked a double to left and went to third on a sac bunt. Goto plunked leftfielder Roosevelt Brown. DH Scott Sheldon lifted a ball to right, allowing Soejima the chance to tag up and hustle across with a 1-0 advantage.
However, rookie first baseman Taketoshi Goto singled to left with two outs in Seibu's turn and Cabrera leaned into a heater and lasered it into the leftfield bleachers to shove the Lions to the head of the line 2-1.
In the third, shortstop Kazuo Matsui leadoff with a double to leftcenter and went to second on a groundout. Goto carromed a shot off the rightfield wall to drive in Matsui on the standup double. Alex Cabrera singled to left to push Goto across and then, when Koo forgot he was at first, took off and stole second. One out later, centerfielder Shogo Akada walked. Third baseman Tsuyoshi Furuya thwacked a pitch off the leftfield wall and both Cabrera and Akada beat it for the plate to stretch the gap with Orix to 6-1.
The visitors got a one out homer to left by rightfielder Kazuhiko Shiotani to make it 6-2 in the top of the fourth, but the Lions rang up another pair when they came up. Second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi legged out a roller toward short. Matsui went with the pitch and zipped it up the rightcenterfield alley, Takagi turning on the afterburners for home. Rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki beat out a dribbler toward third, Matsui advancing on the play. Taketoshi Goto flew out to center and Matsui tagged up and ran on in and the big cats were sitting pretty at 6-2.
Orix made it a five run ballgame once again in the sixth when pinch hitter Makoto Shiotani squirted one down the leftfield line for a two out double and pinch hitter Yuji Goshima walked. Shortstop Tatsuya Shindo singled to left and Shiotani crossed, the scoreboard now reading 8-3.
Seibu avenged the above uprising when Matsui jackhammered a Takuji Yamamoto delivery into the rightfield stands. One out later, Taketoshi Goto singled to left. In the backwash of the second out, Wada singled to left. Akada walked to juice the bags. Furuya tidied things up when he brought some major pain to a Yamamoto pitch and propelled it into the leftcenterfield seats for a grand slam and it was 13-3.
Orix seized another run in the seventh on a Koichi Oshima infield hit, a ground ball from second baseman Keiichi Hirano to second for a force play, a double into the rightfield corner from Brown and an RBI groundout to short form Sheldon to make it 13-4.
Closer Kiyoshi Toyoda came on in the ninth for his season debut after rehabbing a hamstring injury and gave rise to quite a bit of trouble for himself. Backup centerfielder Ryutaro Tsuji beat out a ball on the infield for a single. Hirano singled to right. Toyoda forgot to make a full stop in the set position and was called for a balk to move the runners up.Brown bounced a back to Toyoda, who threw wide of the bag at first and Tsuji registered the fifth Orix run. Sheldon, though, tapped back to the mound and Toyoda spun and executed the 1-4-3 double play, Hirano scoring to make it 13-6. Jose Ortiz grounded to short and this one was in the books.
Cabrera said that he had been looking forward to facing countryman Freddie Garcia on the M's Japan tour, but obviously, that isn't going to happen now. A Kintetsu scout assessed that the big Venezuelan looks the same as he did last year, bad news for PL rotations.
Koo told reporters that he felt fine in the bullpen before the game, but when he went to the mound to face the Lions, his mechanics went kablooie.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 2-2 with three RBIs and is at .600. Matsui finished with a 3-4 day with two RBIs and is at .421.
For Orix, Brown was 1-4 with a walk and is at .242. Sheldon was 0-4 with two RBIs and is at .214. Ortiz was 0-5 and is at .067.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Koo (L, 0-2) IP 5.0 BF 27 PC 112 H 12 HR 1 K 1 BB 1 R 8 ER 8 ERA 7.62
T. Yamamoto IP 1.0 BF 8 PC 35 H 4 HR 2 K 0 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 15.00
Tokano IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 22 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.13
J. Hagiwara IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.80
Seibu:
M. Goto (W, 1-1) IP 6.0 BF 27 PC 83 H 7 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 12.27
Y. Doi IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 20 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
T. Hoshino IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
Toyoda IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 12 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 0 ERA 0.00
E: Toyoda
SB: Hirano, Cabrera
2B: Soejima, K. Wada, K. Matsui 2, T. Goto, Furuya, Shiotani, Brown
HR: Cabrera (1), Shiotani (1), K. Matsui (3), Furuya (1)
RBI: Sheldon 2, Shiotani, Shindo, K. Matsui 2, T. Goto 2, Cabrera 3, Furuya 6
SF: Sheldon, T. Goto
HBP: Brown (M. Goto)
Balk: Toyoda
GIDP: Sheldon
LOB: Orix 8, Seibu 6
Season Series: Orix 0, Seibu 1 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:58
Attendance: 4500
Umpires: Nakamura (HP), T. Yamamoto (1B), Yanagida (2B), Akimura (3B)
Four Fighters Homers Pound Daiei 11-2
Catcher Shinji Takahashi clouted two homers and third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara added a three run roundtripper and DH D.T. Cromer chipped in a two run four ply, as the Nippon Ham Fighters made short work of Daiei starter Hayato Terahara and Akio Mizuta to win it going away 11-2 Wednesday at Tokyo Dome Chris Seelbach went six strong innings of one run ball on four hits on an economical 70 pitches to grab his second victory of the spring.
The Hawks got that sole run off of Seelbach in the first when shortstop Munenori Kawasaki doubled down the leftfield line and, one out later, first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to right to redeem Kawasaki to make it 1-0.
After retiring six of the first seven men he faced, Terahara was spanked in the third. Takahashi wailed on a fastball on the iner half of the plate and mortared it into the leftfield stands to start the inning to level it at 1-1. One out later, centerfielder Hichori Morimoto walked. Second baseman Kokichi Akune doubled into the leftfield corner. Ogasawara exploded on a hanging changeup and deposited it 440 feet away into the centerfield bleachers and the Fighters paraded off with a 4-1 edge.
In the fourth, Takahashi stepped into the box again to face Mizuta and got a slider on the sweet spot, the ball sailing off into the leftcenterfield stands to make it 5-1 Nippon Ham.
Tsutomu Iwamoto succeeded Seelbach and walked two in the seventh, but he also struckout the side. Nippon Ham then made the best of the gifts given by Mizuta. Morimoto and Akune walked. One out later, leftfielder Angel Echevarria lined a triple to center to convert both runners. Cromer then did the long distance runaround to left to tack on another two. First baseman Takaya Hayashi singled to center. Rightfielder Yoshinori Ueda doubled into the leftfield corner. Takahashi singled to left to see in Hayashi. Yuji Iiyama flew out to center and Ueda tagged and strutted in to make it 11-1.
Hiroshi Shibakusa entered from the bullpen with one out in the eighth for Nippon Ham and he nailed pinch hitter Yudai Deguchi. One out later, Kawasaki tripled up the rightcenter gap and it was 11-2. Daiei stopped right in its tracks at that point and Masashi Date finished it off in the ninth for the Fighters.
Manager Trey Hillman said that he was very pleased by Takahashi's development. Takahashi also threw DH Masashi Matsuda out in the fifth trying to steal. Takahashi got the ball to second in 1.97 seconds.
For Terahara, this was his last scheduled start of the spring. Now it will be a matter of whether he will welcome the regular season in the minors, as he exposed the fact that he is still rather green.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria went 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .194. Cromer was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .410.
For Daiei, Pedro Valdez was 0-3 with a walk and is at .152.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
Terahara (L, 1-1) IP 3.0 BF 15 PC 55 H 4 HR 2 K 2 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.50
Mizuta IP 3.1 BF 19 PC 84 H 8 HR 2 K 4 BB 2 R 7 ER 7 ERA 7.30
Yoshitake IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 8.59
S. Yoshida IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nippon Ham:
Seelbach (W, 2-0) IP 6.0 BF 20 PC 79 H 4 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.25
Iwamoto IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 24 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 11.57
N. Takahashi IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Shibakusa IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.82
Date IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.69
SB: Deguchi
2B: M. Kawasaki, Akune, Y. Ueda
3B: Echevarria, M. Kawasaki
HR: S. Takahashi 2 (3), M. Ogasawara (1), Cromer (1)
RBI: M. Kawasaki, Matsunaka, M. Ogasawara 3, Echevarria 2, Cromer 2, S.
Takahashi 3, Iiyama
SF: Iiyama
HBP: Deguchi (Shibakusa)
GIDP: M. Matsuda, Muramatsu, Yoshimoto
LOB: Daiei 4, Nippon Ham 7
Season Series: Daiei 0, Nippon Ham 1
Game Time: 2:54
Attendance: 7000
Umpires: Tachibana (HP), Shinya (1B), Yamazaki (2B), Tsugawa (3B).
Sakamoto Frustrated Again When Swallows Can't Hit Kisanuki
There are pitchers who always seem to be afflicted with poor run support. Kimiyasu Kudoh got several no decisions in 2002 when the Giants waited until the late innings to finally break out. In the case of youngster Yataro Sakamoto, he could easily have won ten games last season, but his Swallows teammates didn't score in back of him.
After cadging a couple of early victories this spring, Sakamoto, who was boring his cutter in on the hands of the hitters, tossed another dandy at the Yomiuri Giants Wednesday at Utsunomiya, permitting just two runs on six hits in six innings, but that was enough for Giants rookie starter Hiroshi Kisanuki, who was spotting his fastball like a champ, and the Yakult fell 2-0.
Kisanuki wasn't happy with his command of his breaking pitches. Despite that, he scattered four hits and struckout four in his five innings, even sawing off leftfielder Alex Ramirez in the fourth.
Catcher Shinnouske Abe lent Kisanuki the only run he needed in the first, when he pounced on a fastball on the outer half of the plate and jacked it into the centerfield seats to make it 1-0.
Even when they did have men on, each pitcher would get the hitter to cough up a ground ball or a popup to keep them from really going anywhere.
The Giants then got a break in the sixth when third baseman Takayuki Saito, in his first game back since breaking his one of his pinky fingers, singled to left. First baseman Koji Goto rammed a shot off the glove of Todd Betts and Saito just kept on running and successfully slid into third. Sakamoto unleashed a wild pitch, his second of the game, and Saito blazed across the plate for a 2-0 advantage.
Ryuji Kimura jogged in from the bullpen to open the eighth and Yakult had its only substantial opportunity of the afternoon. With two gone, Betts singled to left. Ramirez singed a double down the leftfield line. Now with the tying run in scoring position, second baseman Yoshiyuki Noguchi popped out to Abe and Yomiuri reliever Rodney Pedraza got three grounders in the ninth to cap it off.
Even with his perfect frame, Pedraza said his fastball doesn't quite have the life yet that he normally gets.
Swallows third baseman Akinori Iwamura experienced shoulder pain in the second inning and was removed as a precautionary measure. Yakult's trainer said that it was just a case of spring aches and pains and that Iwamura is day to day.
For Yakult, Betts was 2-4 and is at .356. Ramirez was 1-4 and is at .200.
Pitching Lines:
Yakult:
Sakamoto (L, 2-1) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 87 H 6 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
Narimoto IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.80
H. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Yomiuri:
Kisanuki (W, 1-0) IP 5.0 BF 20 PC 78 H 4 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.69
Bailey IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 30 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
R. Kimura IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 13 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Pedraza (S, 1) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
2B: Betts, Ramirez
HR: S. Abe (2)
RBI: S. Abe
WP: Sakamoto 2
LOB: Yakult 8, Yomiuri 5
Season Series: Yakult 0, Yomiuri 1
Game Time: 2:24
Attendance: 25,000
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), Sasaki (1B), Mori (2B), K. Kobayashi (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Well, discussions that would have had first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara on the bench for the Giants opening series of the season have ceased and it has been decided that the big slugger will kick off his 2003 in the minors while he rehabs his hammy....Gary Rath has come down with a shoulder inflammation and he will begin the season in the minors....Hiroki Sanada made an instructional league start Wednesday and went six shutout innings on three hits.
Hanshin Even with his dubious performance Tuesday, Hideki Irabu will begin the season in the starting rotation. The pitching order is, Kei Igawa, Keiichi Yabu, Trey Moore, Irabu, and Taiyo Fujita. The questions there are, can Irabu step it up back in Japan and will Yabu's 2002 not prove to be freakish. Otherwise, next to what the Giants can throw out there when everybody's healthy, that's a nice little staff.... Irabu skipped practice Wednesday and instead did some weightlifting....Osamu Hamanaka will stay at Naruohama when Hanshin plays Hiroshima Thursday in order to get in some concentrated hitting practice. The concern is that Hamanaka is only 2-8 with runners in scoring position. Geez, eight at bats and they're panicking? Consequently, Tomoaki Kanemoto will bat in the cleanup spot. Kanemoto is 100% physically now. Now let's see if he can prevent himself from getting off to his usual deathly slow start when the bell rings....Yuya Ando will start Thursday against Hiroshima....Atsushi Kataoka was able to take batting practice both off of live pitching and a machine Wednesday. "If the weather warms up, I'll be able to play at near 100% strength," said the veteran third baseman.
Hiroshima Starter Masayuki Hasegawa will miss opening day due to tonsilitis.. He has missed the last week of practice, begionning to throw again Wednesday.
Yokohama The Stars were last in the CL last season in homers with 97, but now they lead everybody in dingers with 19 this spring. What a difference a year makes....Chris Holt's wife and two children are scheduled to arrive in Japan Sunday, but the war may put that off.
Seibu Daisuke Matsuzaka, who wanted to start against Seattle, brushed off the cancellation of the M's Japan tour. "Under these circumstances, there's really not much you can do, " the righthander said. "I've already put it behind me."
Daiei Well, it's official: Hiroki Kokubo will be out for the season since he needs surgery to fix torn ligaments in his knee. And his dream of playing in MLB has gone with it. The slugging third sacker is already 31 and will still need two more years to qualify for free agency, meaning that he will be 34 when he is liberated. No MLB club will throw substantial bucks at someone of that age....Rookie Tsuyoshi Wada expressed disappointment at the cancellation of the Mariners-A's Japan trip: "I was looking forward to facing them, but with [the war going on], what can you do?"
Kintetsu Akinori Otsuka is supposed to meet with the Buffaloes management Thursday, most likely about his being sold to the Chunichi Dragons. Otsuka had reportedly been asking for his release, but Kintetsu refused that request. In an interview with Chunichi Sports, Otsuka said that he was "happy to be able to play baseball again." But why he isn't doing that with Kintetsu is anyone's guess, especially since they accomodated him on his request to be posted. When asked about wanting to play in MLB, Otsuka indicated that at this point he just wants to focus on winning the pennant with the Dragons.
Nippon Ham Erstwhile Brewer Takehito Nomura will make about $130,000 this season, with an equal amount in incentives.
Lotte Koji Takagi has won a spot in the starting rotation and will open on the hill for the third game of the regular season. He has allowed two runs in 12 innings this spring, a 1.50 ERA. Takagi likes to mix up his delivery, coming sidearm one minute and the next running it up there over the top.
Orix Yoshitomo Tani has a backache and won't make the trip when the Blue Wave got to Seibu Dome Thursday to face the Lions....To help him sort out his mechanics, Koo Dae-sung will throw in intrasquad games on the 25th and 26th to get him more innings before opening day.
Miscellaneous Next year's all star games will be played in Nagano and Nagoya, according to Sports Nippon ....Discussions about reducing the penalty for acquiring a free agent from 1.5 times the player's new salary to 1.2 times have been put off due to differences in the amounts the respective leagues want to set the compensation at.
Watanabe: Yomiuri "First Victim of Iraq War"
Yomiuri Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe is the gift that keeps on giving if you're a journalist (which I'm not, but anyway....). Wednesday, angry over the cancellation of his team's exhibition games with the Oakland A's and Seattle Mariners, the mercurial bigwig talked with reporters after a board meeting of the Japan Newspapers Association and went off like a skyrocket: "the very first victim to incur damage from the Iraq War is my company," he began. We're going to have to refund a lot of money from admission fees and we'll have to fork out for hotel cancellation fees. We took on a big hit. Saddam Hussein, that (expletive deleted)!" When it's all added up, Yomiuri figures to lose about $4 million thanks to the cancellation.
Watanabe also averred that with the special security preparations undertaken for this series in a country that is already one of the safest in the world (with a crime rate about 10% of that of the U.S.), he wasn't worried aboiut any terrorist incidents happening.
According to Sports Nippon, Watanabe is supposed to meet in the next few weeks with Commissioner Bud Selig about the issue of MLB players and the olympics, but "I wonder if he'll show up. I guess I'll have to have [George] Steinbrenner talk to him, heh heh heh." Just so we're clear here, Watanabe is accusing Selig of being an evasive coward. For once, Watanabe has lurched uncontrollably into the truth.
Today's Photos
Taiyo Fujita During Wednesday's Workout. Kakko Ii Jan!
Taketoshi Goto Cracks One of His Four Hits
Yataro Sakamoto Finishes His Delivery
Ichiro, Sasaki react to Japan Trip Cancellation
See story at: Seattle Times Article
Ichiro and Ken Macha
See story at: Associated Press Article
Washington State, Japan and Baseball
See story at: Seattle Times Article
NFL Plans to Keep Japan Date
See story at: St. Petersburg Times Article
A's Fans Left High and Dry by Japan Trip Cancellation
See story at: San Francisco Article
