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06/04/2003 Archived Entry: "Japan Baseball News: HOFer Kozuru Dies; Irabu & Woods MVPs for May"
Japan Baseball News: HOFer Kozuru Dies; Irabu & Woods MVPs for May
by Robert Kiyoshi Shadlow
Sources: Japan Times (June 5, 2003); Daily Yomiuri (June 4, 2003), Japan Times (June 4, 2003).
Daiei Hawks 5 - Orix BlueWave 4:
Three hits each by Tadahito Iguchi and Munenori Kawasaki slipped the Hawks past the BlueWave at Fukuoka Dome.
Kazumi Saito (7-2) got the win yielding four runs and six hits in six innings.
Matt Skrmetta picked up his 11th save of 2003.
Mac Suzuki (0-2) gave up five runs in 1-2/3 innings for the loss.
Osaka Kintetesu Buffaloes 3 - Nippon Ham Fighters 1:
Ken Kadokura (3-0) struck out nine batters allowing only one run and three hits in eight innings to beat the Fighters at Tokyo Dome.
Toyohiko Yoshida pitched his third save of the year.
Chiba Lotte Marines 5 - Seibu Lions 4:
Kiyoshi Hatsushiba drove in two runs with a double in the seventh inning to eake out the Marines over the Lions at Seibu Dome.
Alex Cabrera and Kazuhiro Wada hit back to back home runs for Seibu in the sixth inning.
Reliver Takashi Kawai (2-0) pitched 1-1/3 innings for the win.
Masahide Kobayashi notched his 13th save of 2003.
Hanshin Tigers 5 - Chunichi Dragons 2:
Atsushi Kataoka hit a RBI single and lofted a solo homer run to help defeat the Dragons at Koshien Stadium.
Keiichi Yabu (5-2) claimed the victory allowing only two runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Aussie Jeff Williams got his 17th save of the year.
Hiroshima Carp 6 - Yomiuri Giants 2:
The Carp drove in four runs in the eighth inning to crush the Giants at Hiroshima Stadium.
Andy Sheets contributed with an RBI double in that same inning that saw 10 Hiroshima batters up to the plate.
Chris Brock (3-5) struck out five batters yielding five hits and two unearned runs in eight innings for the victory.
Gary Rath (2-1) gave up six earned runs in 7-1/3 inning with three balks to lose the game.
Yakult Swallows at Yokohama BayStars - postponed.
News:
The Daily Yomiuri reports that Hall of Famer Makoto Kozuru died on June 2nd due to heart failure in Tokyo at the age of 80.
Kozuru holds the NPB single season records of 161 RBIs and 143 runs. Both records were set in 1950 while he was playing for the Nippon Series Champion Shochiku Robins in the first year of the two league system.
He was also the league MVP and swatted 51 home runs that year.
Hideki Irabu of the Hanshin Tigers became the Central League's pitcher of the month after going 3-1 with an ERA of 1.46 in May. Irabu is 6-1 with a 2.34 ERA for 2003.
Tyrone Woods of the Yokohama BayStars was named CL position player of the month due to his 10 homeruns and 23 RBIs for May.
Woods leads the Central League with 18 home runs.
Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Seibu Lions was the Pacific League pitcher of the month with a 3-0 record in May.
Michihiro Ogasawara of the Nippon ham Fighters became the PL position player of the month with a .413 batting average and 22 RBIs in May.
The Hiroshima Carp are close to getting pitcher Tom Davey of Boston's AAA affiliate Pawtucket.
Davey's major league record is 1-2 and a 4.41 ERA.
Nippon Professional Baseball
June 5, 2003
Central League
W L T Pct GB
37 17 1 .685 Hanshin Tigers
28 24 1 .538 8.0 Yomiuri Giants
27 27 0 .500 10.0 Chunichi Dragons
26 26 0 .500 10.0 Yakult Swallows
21 26 0 .447 12.5 Hiroshima Carp
16 35 0 .314 19.5 Yokohama BayStars
Pacific League
W L T Pct GB
32 21 1 .604 Fukuoka Daiei Hawks
32 22 0 .593 0.5 Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes
28 25 1 .528 4.0 Seibu Lions
24 28 2 .462 7.5 Nippon Ham Fighters
23 28 0 .451 8.0 Chiba Lotte Marines
17 32 2 .347 13.0 Orix BlueWave
Extra Innings:
In the June 4, 2003 Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getsp.pl5?sp20030604mk.htm
Marty Kuehnert specutales on the reasons that NPB hasn't produce multi-generational baseball stars like MLB.
Marty cites the three generation Boones (Ray, Bob, Bret & Aaron), Bells (Gus, Buddy, David and Mike),
and Hairstons (Sam, Jerry, Johnny, and Jerry Jr.) as well as over 100 two generation palyers.
Kuehnert wants your opinion on this subject at mpk@gol.com
BTW: My Japanese mother chants "Boone-Chan" every time Bret comes up to bat for Seattle.
