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08/26/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Watanabe Backs Off Toritani Statement; Slammin's Alex Ochoa"
Seibu Pennant Hopes Being Dimmed by Fighters 13-5
The Nippon Ham Fighters stalled the Seibu Lions hopes of chasing down the Daiei Hawks yet again when they punished Lions starter Mitsutaka Goto for four runs in 4.2 innings and then hammered two more relievers for nine more on the way to a 13-5 pummeling of the Tokorozawa club Sunday at Sapporo Dome. With the Hawks victory, the Lions fall another game back in the standings.
The Lions drew first blood in this one in the third when catcher Toru Hosokawa doubled off the leftfield wall and second baseman Hiroaki Ueda singled to right to get the attack rolling. Shortstop Kazuo Matsui walked to load the bases. Rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki flied out to right and Hosokawa tagged up and crossed with the game's initial tally while Ueda also tagged up and hustled into third. Leftfielder Kazuhiro Wada flied out to right and Ueda tagged up again, this time to score, and it was 2-0 Seibu.
They added to that in the fourth, as centerfielder Tomoaki Sato doubled to rightcenter and busted for the plate on third baseman Scott McClain's single to left to make it 3-0 Lions.
Goto had allowed plenty of runners in his first three innings, but left them out on the basepaths. However, in the fourth, Nippon Ham catcher Shinji Takahashi belted one into the leftfield bleachers and it was 3-1 Lions.
They then turned on the firehose in the fifth, as third baseman Michihiro Ogawasara walked with two outs and leftfielder Angel Echevarria unloaded a rocket to left for a two run homer and the tie at 3-3. First baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto piggybacked on that with an excursion out to the rightcenterfield bleachers for a 4-3 Fighters lead and to get Goto removed from the game in favor of Yoshihiro Doi.
But in the sixth, Hosokawa singled to center with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice. He then jogged home on Matsui's jack into the rightfield seats to once again put the Lions on top 5-4.
Nippon Ham overturned that in the home portion when centerfielder Tsutomu Ishimoto doubled to rightcenter and shortstop Makoto Kaneko walked. The runners were advanced on a sac bunt. Rightfielder Yoshinori Ueda got a fastball and rammed it back up through the middle for two RBIs and a 6-5 Fighters advantage. Ogasawara walked. Reliever Shuichiro Osada was replaced by Koji Onuma. Echevarria singled to right to plate Ueda. One out later, DH D.T. Cromer went midieval on a forkball and parked it in the centerfield seats and Nippon Ham were in control at 10-5. That was the former Red's first four ply swat since June 24th.
Onuma returned for the seventh and so did the Nippon Ham bats. Ishimoto singled to center and Kaneko doubled to leftcenter. Second baseman Hiroshi Narahara flied out to right and Ishimoto tagged up and sped across. One out later, Ogasawara connected for his first ever dinger at Sapporo Dome with an "arch" into the rightfield bleachers to widen it to 13-5.
Fighters reliever Tatsuhito Kato retired six of the eight men he faced the final two innings and it was in the books.
This was the 17th time Nippon Ham scored in double figures this season, which leads the league.
7,000 elementary students were invited to the game. The 28,000 total was the most the Fighters have attracted there.
For Seibu, Cabrera was 0-4 with a walk and is at .325. McClain was 1-4 with an RBI and is at .239.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-5 with three RBIs and is at .260. Cromer was 2-5 with three RBIs and is at .201.
Pitching Lines:
Seibu:
M. Goto IP 4.2 BF 23 PC 93 H 7 HR 3 K 3 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.97
Y. Doi IP 0.1 BF 2 PC 10 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.68
Osada (L, 5-6) IP 0.1 BF 5 PC 22 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.18
Onuma IP 2.2 BF 13 PC 52 H 5 HR 2 K 5 BB 0 R 5 ER 5 ERA 6.00
Nippon Ham:
Yoshizaki IP 3.0 BF 17 PC 54 H 6 HR 0 K 0 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.35
Tateishi IP 2.2 BF 10 PC 38 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.89
N. Takahashi (W, 3-3) IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 16 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.06
Tatsu. Kato IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 24 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
SB: Ozeki, M. Ogasawara
2B: Hosokawa, T. Sato, S. Takahashi, Ishimoto, Kaneko
HR: S. Takahashi (11), Echevarria (26), Kimoto (8), K. Matsui (26), Cromer (7), M.
Ogasawara (25)
RBI: K. Matsui 2, Ozeki, K. Wada, McClain, Narahara, Ueda 2, M. Ogasawara 2,
Echevarria 3, Kimoto, Cromer 3, S. Takahashi
SF: Ozeki, K. Wada, Narahara
WP: Yoshizaki, Osada
HBP: H.Y. Nakajima (Kato)
PB: S. Takahashi
GIDP: Cabrera (5-3)
LOB: Seibu 8, Nippon Ham 6
Season Series: Seibu 12, Nippon Ham 12
Game Time: 3:39
Attendance: 28,000
Umpires: Tsugawa (HP), Tachibana (1B), Kawaguchi (2B), Sakaemura (3B)
Woods Three Run Homer Cages Tigers 5-2
Yokohama Bay Stars first baseman Tyrone Woods cranked a three run homer in the first inning to reassert his league lead in that category and it was the big blow in a 5-2 triumph over the Hanshin Tigers Sunday at Yokohama Stadium. Takashi Saito scooped up his sixth victory with six innings of two run ball on five hits while Hanshin starter Tomoyuki Kubota was blamed for the loss upon surrendering three runs over six innings.
Yokohama had the upper hand from the get go, as centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo leadoff the bottom of the first with an infield single and shortstop Takuro Ishii singled to left. Woods then got a second pitch fastball and cannonaded a gigantic shot more than 490 feet to straightaway center, the ball completely leaving the yard through a gap in the bleachers, to make it 3-0 Stars.
Hanshin put two runners on in the top of the second on a walk and a single, but a comebacker and a double play ball 86'd a promising rally.
But in the fourth, Hanshin leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto boosted one beyond the centerfield wall and it was 3-1 Yokohama.
The Tigers plastered another digit on the big baordin the sixth when second baseman Makoto Imaoka, suffering from, according to press reports, a case of diarrhea, leadoff by singling to left and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi steered one into the rightcenterfield gap and to the wall for an RBI triple. Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn't get him home to level the score despite having three shots at it and had to be satisfied with making it a one run ballgame at 3-2.
And thus the score stayed until the eighth, when leftfielder Kazunori Tanaka singled to right with one out and second baseman Hitoshi Taneda walked. Third baseman Katsuaki Furuki singled to right to fill the bases. Catcher Takeshi Nakamura singled to center for a pair of RBIs and it was 5-2 Yokohama.
Eddie Gaillard came on to close it in the ninth and locked it up on two flyouts and a strikeout in the top of the ninth.
This was the last game of the Tigers so-called yearly "shi no roodo (road trip of death)" and they finished it with a 4-11 record and are 6-12 in August overall. This little disaster chopped about six games off the Hanshin lead in the CL standings.
For Hanshin, third baseman George Arias was 1-3 with a walk and is at .252.
For Yokohama, Woods was 1-4 with three RBIs and is at .253.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Kubota (L, 4-5) IP 6.0 BF 25 PC 99 H 8 HR 1 K 5 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.39
Riggan IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.83
Ando IP 0.2 BF 5 PC 24 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 1.52
Yoshino IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.51
Yokohama:
Takashi Saito (W, 6-5) IP 6.0 BF 24 PC 84 H 5 HR 1 K 4 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.61
T.H. Kato IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.06
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.41
Gaillard (S, 16) IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50
SB: K.N Tanaka, T. Nakamura
2B: Saeki
3B: Akahoshi
HR: Woods (29), Kanemoto (17)
RBI: Akahoshi, Kanemoto, Woods 3, T. Nakamura 2
HBP: Kinjo (Riggan)
PB: T. Noguchi
GIDP: S. Tanaka (4-6-3), Woods (6-4-3)
LOB: Hanshin 5, Yokohama 7
Season Series: Hanshin 20, Yokohama 5
Game Time: 3:08
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Suginaga (1B), Tomoyose (2B), Watamari (3B)
Sugiuchi Keeps Daiei Flying High 4-1
Toshiya Sugiuchi continues to step up his performance in the stretch drive, as he racked up his fourth August victory, all consecutive, with a seven inning one run on six hit outing Sunday against the Chiba Lotte Marines at Fukuoka Dome, striking out ten and walking one. Lotte starter Naoyuki Shimizu displayed some early vulnerability before putting the boot in and it cost him a 4-1 defeat.
The Hawks took an early lead when first baseman Julio Zuleta lambasted one into the rightcenterfield bleachers to make it 1-0.
Sugiuchi then had his only real problem in the third, as catcher Masaumi Shimizu singled to center and, two outs later, lumbered to the plate on a liner up the rightcenter alley by second baseman Masato Watanabe to deadlock it at 1-1.
But Daiei counterattacked in the bottom of the frame. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara doubled off the centerfield fence with one away and moved to third on a groundout. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi splatted one off the rightfield wall for an RBI double. DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka walked. Catcher Kenji Johjima lined a double up the leftcenter gap to retrieve Iguchi. Leftfielder Pedro Valdes singled to right to redeem Matsunaka for a 4-1 advantage.
Lotte got singles to center from reserve catcher Tasuku Hashimoto and shortstop Makoto Kosaka with one out in the fifth, but Saburo Omura flew out to right and Watanabe grounded out to third and that was the last time in which the visitors offered any resistance, Katsunori Okamoto putting down six of seven in the final two innings to turn out the lights.
In five August starts, Sugiuchi's ERA is 1.55.
For Lotte, third baseman Jose Fernandez was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is at .264. Leftfielder Rick Short was 1-4 and is at .276.
For Daiei, Valdes was1-3 with an RBI and is at .303. Zuleta was 2-3 with an RBI and is at .281.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
N. Shimizu (L, 9-9) IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 151 H 7 HR 1 K 9 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 3.21
Sikorsky IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.47
Daiei:
Sugiuchi (W, 7-7) IP 7.0 BF 27 PC 106 H 6 HR 0 K 10 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.08
K. Okamoto (S, 2) IP 2.0 BF 7 PC 32 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.05
SB: Iguchi
2B: Short, M. Watanabe, Shibahara, Iguchi, Johjima
HR: Zuleta (10)
RBI: M. Watanabe, Iguchi, Johjima, P. Valdes, Zuleta
LOB: Lotte 6, Daiei 4
Season Series: Lotte 6, Daiei 16
Game Time: 2:58
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Sato (HP), Hayashi (1B), Yamamura (2B), Tamba (3B)
Rhodes, Isobe Homers Break Scoreless Duel in 3-0 Kintetsu Win
Hidetaka Kawagoe has been knocked around pretty good this season, but Sunday at Osaka Dome against the Kintetsu Buffaloes, he had easily his finest hour of 2003, as he blanked the Buffs on six hits over seven innings. However, Kevin Beirne was a real puzzle to the Orix Blue Wave lineup, as he limited them to three hits in six innings. So it was left to the respective bullpens and Kintetsu's was more up to the task, as they continued the shutout while Daisuke Kato was lit up for two eighth inning homers, giving the Buffs a 3-0 victory.
Kintetsu had an opportunity to burst out front in the second, when first baseman Yuji Yoshioka doubled to left and rightfielder Koichi Isobe reached on an infield hit. But two groundouts to third and a popup ditched that chance. They also failed to do anything with a minor two on, two out situation in the sixth and so the battle remained scoreless.
Kato came on for the eighth and with one away, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes leaned into a high fastball and put it in the centerfield seats. One out later, Yoshioka walked. Isobe jackhammered a Kato delivery into the rightfield bleachers to make it 3-0. Toyohiko Yoshida disposed of three of the four men he faced in the ninth and it was "game setto."
Reliever Katsuhiko Maekawa pulled off the remarkable feat of winning three games in a week after being credited with the victory here. How about that.
For Orix, leftfielder Roosevelt Brown was 0-3 with a walk and is at .322. Second baseman Jose Ortiz was 1-3 and is at .257.
For Kintetsu, Rhodes was 2-3 with a walk and an RBI and is at .279.
Pitching Lines:
Orix:
Kawagoe IP 7.0 BF 28 PC 112 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.60
D. Kato (L, 4-3) IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 29 H 2 HR 2 K 0 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.96
Kintetsu:
Beirne IP 6.0 BF 21 PC 81 H 3 HR 0 K 5 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.03
Maekawa (W, 4-2) IP 2.0 BF 6 PC 28 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.01
T. Yoshida (S, 5)IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.93
SB: O. Hoshino
2B: Hirano, Ortiz, Yoshioka 2, Tani
HR: Rhodes (42), Isobe (11)
RBI: Rhodes, Isobe 2
GIDP: N. Omura (1-4-3)
LOB: Orix 4, Kintetsu 8
Season Series: Orix 8, Kintetsu 15
Game Time: 2:52
Attendance: 22,000
Umpires: Nagami (HP), Higashi (1B), Yoshikawa (2B), Yanagita (3B)
Kubo Dazzles Against Yakult 6-1
Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi and leftfielder Roberto Petagine each slugged two run homers to back another excellent start by Yuya Kubo, as the Yomiuri Giants defeated the Yakult Swallows 6-1. Kevin Hodges started for Yakult and was knocked out early for his third straight time and after winning five against Yomiuri last season can't do anything right against them this year.
Yomiuri used the running game to obtain their first run, as centerfielder Chris Latham walked with one out in the first and stole second. One out later, catcher Yoshinori Murata singled to center and Latham set the controls for the heart of the plate to make it 1-0.
In the fourth, Giants first baseman Takayuki Saito singled to left with one out and, one out later, third baseman Koji Goto walked. Murata singled to center and Saito was in for a 2-0 lead.
Hodges had two outs in the fifth and wouldn't survive it, as second baseman Mototsugu Kawanaka doubled off the rightfield fence and Takahashi truncheoned a hanging splitter into the the centerfield bleachers to expand the Giants hegemony to 4-0.
In the seventh, Swallows reliever Tatsuki Yamamoto was mugged for a single to right by Takahashi and Petagine sliced a changeup into the leftfield stands to make it 6-0 Yomiuri.
Yakult dissolved Kubo's shutout bid in the bottom of the frame, when catcher Atsuya Furuta singled to left and centerfielder Atsunori Inaba singled to right, Furuta putting more stress on his achy knees by turning for third. Second baseman Katsuyuki Dobashi grounded out to first to drive Furuta and it was 6-1. Yukinaga Maeda and Julio Santana took it from there and shut the Swallows down on one hit in the last two innings to firm up Yomiuri's grip on second place.
The Giants are 7-2 with Murata behind the plate after regular Shinnosuke Abe went down with an injury. In 23 games in which Murata has started the team is 15-8.
Hodges is 0-3 with a 7.25 era in five starts against Yomiuri this year. What an amazing turnaround.
TakahAshi's shoulder is still bothering him, but he's nonetheless homered three games in a row.
For Yakult, leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-4 and is at .328. Todd Betts was 0-1 in a pinch hit appearance and is at .288.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 0-4 with a walk, a steal, and three strikeouts and is at .256. Petagine was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .305.
Pitching Lines:
Yomiuri:
Kubo (W, 6-4) IP 7.0 BF 28 PC 101 H 5 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 1 ER 0 ERA 3.73
Y. Maeda IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.63
Santana IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.43
Yakult:
Hodges (L, 4-8) IP 5.0 BF 23 PC 79 H 6 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.02
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 2.0 BF 11 PC 43 H 5 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.97
T. Honma IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 25 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
E: Etoh
SB: T.H. Suzuki, Takayuki Saito, Latham
2B: Dobashi, Kawanaka, S. Hara,
HR: Y. Takahashi (22), Petagine (25)
RBI: Y. Takahashi 2, Petagine 2, Y. Murata 2, Dobashi
WP: Tatsuki Yamamoto
HBP: Y. Murata (Honma)
PB: Y. Murata
GIDP: S. Hara (4-6-3), Ramirez (6-4-3)
LOB: Yomiuri 9, Yakult 6
Season Series: Yomiuri 13, Yakult 10 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:54
Attendance: 40,000
Umpires: K. Kobayashi (HP), Watada (1B), Yoshimoto (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)
Ochoa Slam Seals Carp's Fate 6-1
Hiroshima Carp starter Shinji Sasaoka went over 2000 lifetime innings in this game, but there was ultimately no cause to celebrate since Chunichi Dragons centerfielder Alex Ochoa declared it was grand salami time in helping his side to a 6-1 triumph Sunday at Nagoya Dome.
The Dragons went on a scoring binge in thebottom of the first and for all intents and purposes the game was over from that point on. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to center and went to second on a sacrifice. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami singled to right. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome walked to load the bases. Ochoa got a first pitch 86mph fastball on the iner half of the plate and wailed on it, sending it more than 490 feet up into the fifth level for a 4-0 Chunichi lead. One out later, catcher Motonobu Tanishige homered to left and at the end of one, it was home team 5, visitors nada.
Carp shortstop Andy Sheets took a loping tour of the bases after making the ball disappear behind the leftfield wall opening the second to make it 5-1. That was as close as this one would be.
In the fifth, Fukudome singled to left and Ochoa walked. One out later, Tanishhige singled to left for the RBI and it was 6-1.
Hiroshima was never in this one at all, as they managed just two infield hits the last six innings of the contest and this one just ground to an end of its own accord.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 1-3 with a walk and four RBIs and is at .279. However, is average with runners in scoring position is a pathetic .186 and they want to see him pump that up before they commit tohaving him back for 2004. First baseman Ivan Cruz was 0-2 with a walk and is at .227.
Pitching Lines:
Hiroshima:
Sasaoka (L, 6-8) IP 1.0 BF 9 PC 33 H 5 HR 2 K 2 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 5.31
Tsuruta IP 3.0 BF 12 PC 57 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.41
Sawazaki IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 30 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 4.11
Nishikawa IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.45
Oyamada IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.43
Chunichi:
Hiramatsu (W, 3-2) IP 5.2 BF 20 PC 78 H 4 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.98
Ochiai IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 14 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.05
Iwase IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.09
Hisamoto IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 18 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.18
SB: Asayama, Fukudome
HR: Ochoa (14), Tanishige (11), Sheets (21)
RBI: Sheets, Ochoa 4, Tanishige 2
HBP: K. Nomura (Hiramatsu), Ibata (Sawazaki)
GIDP: K. Kimura (5-4-3)
LOB: Hiroshima 3, Chunichi 7
Season Series: Hiroshima 14, Chunichi 9 1 Tie
Game Time: 2:49
Attendance: 31,000
Umpires: Sasaki (HP), Kiuchi (1B), Nemoto (2B), Uemoto (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri In a press conference, a Giants public relations official issued a new interpretation (in plain english, that means that they are giving us a line of b.s. to try to make it look like a previous statement wasn't a display of arrogance or just plain stupidity) of owner Tsuneo Watanabe's statement Friday that he would be willing to give the Yankees Waseda University shortstop Takashi Toritani three or four years down the line if the youngster asks to be allowed to go to MLB), which would require that he obviate the current agreement on player movement between NPB and MLB. The p.r. weasel said that the statement was a theoretical, "what would happen if the posting system [was replaced by a new agreement allowing trades or transactions between MLB and NPB clubs]." Furthermore, "not clearly indicating that premise has lead to a big misunderstanding," said the rep. He also claims that allowing Toritani to move to MLB won't be part of the negotiations with him. Time to go do something else, Nabetsune. God knows, your brain ain't up to running a baseball team.
Daiei Outfielder Arihito Muramatsu will have surgery on his shoulder on the 25th. He will be hospitalized for 7-10 days.
Miscellaneous Interesting game in the Western League (one of the two Japanese minor leagues) between Hiroshima's subsidiary and Kintetsu's affiliate. Kintetsu took it 20-1 and there were six records tied or set. In the second inning, Kintetsu doubled five times, something that has never been done before in that circuit in a single frame. Kintetsu's Yamasaki cracked six hits, a new single game mark. Sakaguchi tied a record with seven at bats (he smacked a pair of hits). Hiroshima starter Kawano was charged with, wait for it....18 runs....in four innings. He tied a record for most runs and earned runs allowed in an inning when he was hammered for 11 in that second inning. Talk about not having anything out there. Whew!.... Congratulations to the Japanese little league team that whipped Boynton, Florida Sunday at the Little League World Series. Aside from carting the trophy home, the Japanese squad has one other advantage: they can't understand Brent Musburger's lame commentary during ABC's broadcast. How does this guy keep getting hired? Saddling American kids with tapes of one of the most fun times of their lives where Musburger calls the action should be actionable by Child Protective Services. Tom Candiotti is Vin Scully by comparison....And while I'm on the subject, I also took in the Pony League Cal Ripken World Series, or whatever it was called. Boy, that was a train wreck. The announcer seemed more interested in seeing how brown he could make his nose for Cal Ripken rather than focusing on the kids. I can understand Ripken wanting to get involved in youth baseball after retiring as a player. A number of Japanese players have actually been head coaches for Senior League and Little League teams in Japan. But this exercise, even with as much work as Billy Ripken and Cal have put into that project, sure appeared to be more of an exercise in ego gratification rather than being devoted to giving kids a healthy, fun outlet for their energy. That may be unintentional since the announcer focused on Ripken like a star struck teenybopper. That broadcast needs a major rethink. Now. And congratulations to the team from Mexico, who overwhelmed a contingent from Hawaii.
Quote of the Day
These come from Larry Stone at the Seattle Times in his weekly MLB power rankings:
"Snakes [Diamondbacks]) should rename their ballpark: Wriggly Field."
"[Toronto Blue Jays] Carlos and Vernon, and the rest are still learnin'"
"[Tampa Bay Devil Rays] Lou [Piniella]thinks Rays are two players away ? Mays and Koufax."
See rest of story at: Seattle Times Article
Today's Pictures
Yuya Kubo Concentrating on Target
Yoshinobu Takahashi Getting Extension
Roberto Petagine Making Mincemeat of the Pelota
Kenji Johjima Victimized by Nice Tag by Masaumi Shimizu
Toshiya Sugiuchi About to Wing a Fastball Home
Condolences
This is off topic, but I want to pass along my condolences to the family of Bobby Bonds, who died at age 57 (the same age as my dad when he passed away, actually). While I grew up as a Dodgers fan, I always liked watching Bobby play with the Giants, as he was one of the best sheer athletes to play pro ball at the time. Sure, he struckout 150 or more times a year, but he would often hit something like .400 when he put the ball in play, had tremendous power, great speed and a strong throwing arm. He was the first player to ever slug a grand slam in his first major league at bat. I hope that producing a son who is the most locked in hitter I've ever seen in my life the last three or four seasons and who will be a first ballot hall of famer brought him a lot of joy before he left us. Thanks for the memories Bobby.
