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09/06/2003 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Saito Mistake Interrupts Streak; BA Does Nice Job With Tadano Porn Incident"
Arias Two Run Homer Translates into Lucky Seven for Hanshin
A two run seventh inning homer by Hanshin Tigers first baseman George Arias ultimately provided the margin of victory for Osaka's favorite sons, as they barely held off a late charge by the Hiroshima Carp Wednesday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium in a 5-4
triumph. Arias is now in a three way tie with Yokohama first baseman Tyrone Woods and Yakult leftfielder Alex Ramirez for the Central League title.
Masayuki Hasegawa started for the Carp and walked the entire population of Kure, well okay, seven, but the Tigers could do him for just four hits and a run. So it was Shigeo Tamaki who would accept blame for the defeat after he was tattoed for four runs in one inning of work.
Kei Igawa started for Hanshin and left in the first inning due to feeling a twinge in his knee while trying to field a ground ball. Takehito Kanazawa took over and was a bit shaky, who it would be Hiroshi Ishige who ended up with the W, as he went two innings of scoreless baseball on two walks and a hit.
Hiroshima jumped out in front in the first, as second baseman Takuya Kimura and centerfielder Koichi Ogata singled to center with one out , Kimura motoring to third, Kimura then crossing on the ground ball back toward the box that resulted in Igawa's ouster for a 1-0 lead.
In the third, Hanshin evened it when second baseman Shuta Tanaka, who was subbing for the injured Makoto Imaoka, got a fastball right down the pipe and drilled it into the leftfield seats. That was his first longball since May 7, 2000. Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi singled to center and stole second on a 2-2 pitch with leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto up at the plate to set a new Hanshin team record with his 52nd theft. Kanemoto eventually walked. They then pulled the double steal successfully. However, all that went for a big zero when third baseman Atsushi Kataoka struckout and first baseman George Arias flied out to right.
Kanazawa had a fit of wildness in the fourth and the Carp penalized him for it. With one out, leftfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to right and both first baseman Takahiro Arai and third baseman Kenjiro Nomura walked to pack the sacks. One out later, Hasegawa singled to left to redeem Maeda and make it 2-1 Hiroshima. Rightfielder Toyo Asayama stepped in and hit one right on the screws, but it was to Arias, who collected it for the third out to end the rally.
Hasegawa walked two with tow outs in the fifth, but this time it was Arias who would unload the "at 'em ball" and that was that.
Ishige would load the bases in the fifth on a single to left from Nomura and walks to catcher Yoshiyuki Ishihara and Itsuki Asai, pinch hitting for Hasegawa, with two gone, but pinch hitter Shigeru Morikasa flew out to left to snuff the threat.
The Tigers then bullied Tamaki in the seventh, as Katsumi Hirosawa, pinch hitting for Ishige, singled to left and went to second on a sacrifice. One out later, Kanemoto was intentionally walked. They moved up on a wild pitch. Kataoka worked the count full and then laced a double up the rightcenterfield gap, Kanemoto speeding home with the lead run. Arias parked one in the leftfield bleachers and it was 5-2 Hanshin.
Jerrod Riggan came on for the home segment and Kimura singled to center with one out and went to second on a groundout. Shortstop Andy Sheets singled to left, Kimura stopping at third. Maeda singled to right for the RBI to cut it to 5-3. Riggan then struckout the next two men to prevent any further damage.
Jeff Williams mosied in from the pen to close it and held on to the lead thanks to a pitcher's best friend. Ogata opened the frame with a walk. Sheets singled to center. Maeda singled to left to plate Ogata and put the winning run on. But Arai slapped one right back to Williams, who fired to Teruyoshi Kuji, who relayed it to first for a huge double play. Nomura flew out to center for Hanshin's seventh consecutive triumph, matching a season high.
Igawa's injury is nothing major and he should make his next start.
For Hiroshima, Sheets was 2-5 with an RBI and is at .321.
For Hanshin, Arias was 1-3 with a walk and two RBIs and is at .271.
Pitching Lines:
Hanshin:
Igawa IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 16 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.95
Kanazawa IP 3.1 BF 15 PC 65 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.45
Ishige (W, 1-0) IP 2.0 BF 9 PC 40 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.87
Riggan IP 1.0 BF 6 PC 24 H 3 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.88
Ando IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.41
Williams (S, 24) IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 17 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.57
Hiroshima:
Hasegawa IP 6.0 BF 26 PC 106 H 4 HR 1 K 2 BB 7 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.70
S. Tamaki (L, 3-5) IP 1.0 BF 7 PC 26 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.26
Sawazaki IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.79
Tsuruta IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.24
E: Kuji
SB: Akahoshi 2, Kanemoto 2
2B: Kataoka, Akahoshi
HR: S. Tanaka (1), Arias (31)
RBI: S. Tanaka, Kataoka 2, Arias 2, Sheets, T. Maeda 2, Hasegawa
IBB: Kanemoto (Tamaki)
WP: Kanazawa, Tamaki
PB: A. Yano
GIDP: Hayakawa (6-4-3), T. Arai (1-6-3)
LOB: Hanshin 8, Hiroshima 12
Season Seriies: Hanshin 14, Hiroshima 7
Game Time: 3:47
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Tani (1B), T. Kakigizono (2B), Mori (3B)
Latham Walk Off Homer Edges Dragons 5-4
Even if he is released after the schedule ends, and that is up in the air, Yankees castoff Chris Latham, now patrolling centerfield for the Yomiuri Giants, will have a moment he can brag about for the rest of his life, as he dug in against premier closer Akinori Otsuka of the Chunichi Dragons with a man on and Chunichi in front 4-3 and brought some major pain to an Otsuka delivery, depositing it in the rightcenterfield seats for a walk off two run homer and a 5-4 Giants victory. This was Latham's first ever sayonara homer in either MLB or NPB.
19 year old Yomiuri lefty Masanori Hayashi was up against 38 year old veteran southpaw Masahiro Yamamoto and neither was especially dominant even if they were okay, Yamamoto limiting the Giants to three runs on eight hits in seven innings while Hayashi held the Dragons to two runs on seven hits in five innings. The most incredible stat, though, was Hayashi's zero strikeouts after averaging more than 12 K/9 before the start of this game.
Yomiuri had an initial lead in the second, as leftfielder Roberto Petagine blitzed one into the centerfield seats to make it 1-0.
The Dragons then sweated Hayashi in the top of the third, as shortstop Hirokazu Ibata singled to center and went to second on a sac bunt. One out later, third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami walked. Centerfielder Alex Ochoa got a rare hit with runners in scoring positions, as he legged out a ground ball toward short to juice the bags. But catcher Motonobu Tanishige flied out to center to throw cold water on that fire.
The Giants enlarged their advantage in the bottom portion, as catcher Yoshinori Murata doubled to center, went to third on a sacrifice and tagged up and crossed on shortstop Tomohiro Nioka's sacrifice fly to left. Masahiro Kawai singled to center. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi walked. Petagine doubled into the leftcenter alley and Kawai made the pilgrammage to the promised land to put it at 3-0 Yomiuri.
Cuban olympic team veteran Omar Linares then ignited a little revolt in the fourth for the Dragons, as he doubled to leftcenter and, one out later, Yamamoto singled to center for the RBI. Ibata legged out a bleeder. The runners were sacrificed along. Incredibly, with a base open, the Giants opted to pitch to rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome and the strategy worked, as he flew out to right to keep it at 3-1 Yomiuri.
The party from Nagoya drew closer in the fifth, as Ochoa monstered one into the leftcenterfield bleachers and it was 3-2 Yomiuri.
An inning later, former Royal Cory Bailey would let the Dragons knot it up, as Takayuki Onishi beat out a bunt that Bailey threw late to first on and then Bailey threw the ball away on Yamamoto's ground ball, the runners moving over third and second respectively. One out later, second baseman Masahiro Araki flew out to center and Onishi tagged up and hustled across for a 3-3 tie.
Yamamoto settled down and blanked the Giants on two hits in his last three innings on the hill. Bailey put together a perfect seventh and then Masumi Kuwata came on for Yomiuri to begin the eighth. With one down, Onishi singled to center and Koichi Sekikawa singled to left, Onishi turning off the afterburners for third. Ibata grounded to second to recall Onishi and the Giants had a 4-3 edge.
But in the ninth, Koji Goto walked off of Otsuka and Latham rocketed one into the fifth level in rightcenter, a tape measure game ender for the 5-4 Giants victory.
That was the fourth homer that Otsuka had permitted this season. On the good side, though, he has a 13-1 K/BB ratio. So a guy who throws strikes like he does will serve up the occasional dinger.
For Chunichi, Ochoa was 2-4 with an RBI and is at .279. Linares was 1-4 and is at .236.
For Yomiuri, Latham was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .260. He is batting .328 with five homers since being called up August ninth. Petagine was 2-4 with two RBIs and is at .317.
Pitching Lines:
Chunichi:
M. Yamamoto IP 7.0 BF 29 PC 120 H 8 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 3.01
Iwase IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.04
A.N. Otsuka (L, 1-3) IP 0.0 BF 2 PC 12 H 1 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.23
Yomiuri:
M. Hayashi IP 5.0 BF 25 PC 80 H 7 HR 1 K 0 BB 3 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.25
Bailey IP 2.0 BF 8 PC 31 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 4.68
Kuwata IP 1.0 BF 5 PC 24 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.17
Y. Maeda (W, 5-2) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.50
E: Ochoa, Bailey
2B: Ochoa, Y. Murata, Petagine, Linares
HR: Petagine (27), Ochoa (15), Latham (6)
RBI: Ibata, M. Araki, Ochoa, M. Yamamoto, Nioka, Petagine 2, Latham 2
IBB: Onishi
SF: Nioka, M. Araki
GIDP: M. Hayashi (5-6-4)
LOB: Chunichi 11, Yomiuri 5
Season Series: Chunichi 12, Yomiuri 13
Game Time: 3:49
Attendance: 48,000
Umpires: Tomoyose (HP), Nishimoto (1B), Manabe (2B), Watada (3B)
Shimada Homer in Ninth Earns Fighters 3-3 Tie With Hawks
This game should have been the story of the night, as lanky righthander Kazumi Saito was going after his 17th straight win, but with one out in the ninth, Saito tried to jam pinch hitter Kazuteru Shimada with an 87mph 1-0 fastball but left it out over the plate and Shimada poleaxed it into the leftfield seats to tie it at three all. And that was how it ended after 12, as Nippon Ham failed to keep a 10th inning rally uprising going while the Hawks bats fell completely silent.
Fighters starter Satoru Kanemura gave the Hawks plenty of chances to run up the score in regulation, as he permitted nine hits and walked two in seven innings, but gutted out a no decision.
Saito went nine innings and was tagged for nine hits and walked three, but three of the knocks left the field of play and that is why he didn't win his 19th.
Daiei drew first blood in the second, as catcher Kenji Johjima and leftfielder Pedro Valdes both singled to right and DH Noriyoshi Omichi walked to load the bases. Centerfielder Kazuyuki Takahashi singled to center to bring Johjima in. Shortstop Yusuke Torigoe flew out to right and Valdes tagged up and romped in to make it 2-0.
Nippon Ham chipped away at that in the third, as third baseman Michihiro Ogasawara socked a low fastball into the leftfield seats and it was 2-1 Hawks.
Daiei returned to a two run advantage in the fifth, though, when third baseman Munenori Kawasaki doubled to rightcenter and second baseman Tadahito Iguchi singled to right to drive Kawasaki in for a 3-1 Hawks lead.
The Fighters would load the bases in the bottom of the sixth, as shortstop Makoto Kaneko doubled with one out to rightcenter, rightfielder Tomochika Tsuboi walked and, after the runners advanced on a groundout, Ogasawara was intentionally walked. But leftfielder Angel Echevarria flew out to center to fumble that opportunity away.
Then Daiei would do something similar, as Matsunaka walked and, one out later, Valdes was hit by a pitch. Omichi struckout. Takahashi singled to center to jam the basepaths. Torigoe, however, flew out to right and what could have ensured Saito's victory went for zip.
Echevarria atoned for his lack of earlier lack of clutch hitting when he put the bomp into a Saito offering and made it fly away to leftcenter and it was 3-2 Hawks.
That enabled Shimada to do Saito in during the ninth and so on to the tenth, Nippon Ham made a bid for the W. With one out. Echevarria walked and pinch hitter Yukio Tanaka singled to left against reliever Takayuki Shinohara. But centerfielder Tatsuya Ide and catcher Shinji Takahashi struckout and everybody took a nap from that point on to finish at three all.
For Daiei, Valdes was 1-4 with an HBP and is at .309.
For Nippon Ham, Echevarria was 2-5 with a walk and RBI and is at .270.
Pitching Lines:
Daiei:
K. Saito IP 9.0 BF 38 PC 136 H 9 HR 3 K 8 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.74
Shinohara IP 2.2 BF 10 PC 40 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.65
K. Okamoto IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 2 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.30
Nippon Ham:
Kanemura IP 7.0 BF 30 PC 112 H 9 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.10
A. Shimizu IP 0.1 BF 3 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.45
Shibakusa IP 0.2 BF 3 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.05
Tateishi IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.61
Tateyama IP 3.0 BF 10 PC 45 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.01
2B: M. Kawasaki, Kaneko
HR: M. Ogasawara (27), Echevarria (27), K. Shimada (10)
RBI: M. Ogasawara, Echevarria, K. Shimada, Iguchi, K.Y. Takahashi, Torigoe
SF: Torigoe
IBB: M. Ogasawara (K. Saito)
WP: K. Saito
HBP: P. Valdes (A. Shimizu)
LOB: Daiei 10, Nippon Ham 10
Season Series: Daiei 13, Nippon Ham 8 2 Ties
Game Time: 4:27
Attendance: 24,000
Umpires: Akimura (HP), Tsugawa (1B), Yanagita (2B), Yamamoto (3B)
Sixth Inning Run Gets Yokohama Over Yakult 5-4
There is no game log for this one. Sorry. But this was Domingo Guzman's first win in three months. Akinori Iwamura was taken out of the game due to discomfort in his back.
Pitching Lines:
Yokohama:
Guzman (W,) IP 5.0 BF 26 PC 94 H 9 HR 0 K 5 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.03
Fukumori IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.92
Kawahara IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 3 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 7.04
Tomori IP 1.0 BF 3 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.13
Gaillard (S,) IP 1.0 BF 4 PC 13 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.03
Yakult:
Y. Sakamoto IP 4.0 BF 22 PC 96 H 7 HR 2 K 5 BB 3 R 4 ER 2 ERA 6.00
Tatsuki Yamamoto IP 1.1 BF 4 PC 17 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.18
Narimoto IP 0.2 BF 4 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.28
H. Sato IP 1.1 BF 5 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.25
Yamabe IP 1.2 BF 5 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 1.23
E: Iida
SB: T.N. Suzuki, S. Miyamoto
2B: T. Ishii 2, Manaka 2
HR: S. Murata (16), Uchikawa (2)
RBI: Uchikawa 2, Woods, S. Murata, Iwamura, K. Suzuki
WP: Guzman, Y. Sakamoto
HBP: Taneda (Narimoto)
GIDP: Shiroishi (6-4-3), S. Murata (6-4-3)
LOB: Yokohama 8, Yakult 8
Season Series:
Game Time: 14,000
Attendance: 3:15
Umpires: Suginaga (HP), Sasaki (1B), Kittaka (2B), Ino (3B)
Goto's Seven RBIs Not Enough for Pitching Challenged Orix
Orix Blue Wave shortstop Mitsutaka Goto had his greatest day as a pro, connecting for a two run homer in the first and a grand slam in second as part of a seven RBI night Wednesday at Kobe Green Stadium. But Chiba Lotte Marines third baseman Jose Fernandez' two run jack in the eighth as part of a four run bonanza would loom larger than all of Goto's heroics, since it imbued Lotte with enough room to stave off a bottom of the ninth comeback by Orix in the visitors' 13-9 victory.
Goto gave Orix a quick 2-0 advantage when he piggybacked on a leadoff walk to third baseman Koichi Oshima with a long distance runaround to right.
However, Orix starter Tomonori Kitagawa was dressed down in the top of the second, as Fernandez walked, leftfielder Rick Short walked and rightfielder Saburo Oshima doubled off the leftfield wall to drive Fernandez in. Catcher Tasuku Hashimoto walked to fill the bags. Second baseman Masato Watanabe doubled to rightcenter for two RBIs. One out later, centerfielder Jun Inoue lined a shot into the rightfield corner and Fernandez and Hashimoto crossed to make it 5-2 Lotte.
Goto flashed some brawn again in the second to surmount that, as rightfielder Ryutaro Tsuji walked with one out and, one otu later, shortstop Keiichi Hirano got aboard on an infield hit. Oshima walked. Goto belted a shot into the rightcenterfield stands and just like that, Orix was ahead 6-5.
But Orix, again, exhibited the fact that it was pitching short (pun intended). Lotte DH Koichi Hori singled to right off of reliever Masahiro Doi and Fernandez singled to left. Short mauled a Doi delivery and tucked it in the leftfield seats to put Lotte up 8-6.
Things slowed down significantly until the seventh, when Fernandez walked with one out and Short singled to left. One out later, pinch hitter Kiyoshi Hatsushiba doubled off the leftfield fence to usher Fernandez in and make it 9-6 Lotte.
Next time up, Lotte pulled away when Hori walked with two away and Fernandez homered to leftcenter to make it 11-6. Short singled to center and Omura walked. Reserve catcher Masaumi Shimizu crashed a double off the leftfield wall for two RBIs and a 13-6 lead.
Lotte reliever Hiroshi Tobe had tossed a perfect inning in the eighth, but got hurt in the ninth. With two outs, second baseman Jose Ortiz singled to center and Oshima beat out a ground ball toward short for his 1000th career hit. Goto doubled to right to send Ortiz in. Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani singled to center for two runs to make it 13-9. Leftfielder Kota Soejima, though, struckout and Orix suffered another defeat.
Orix first baseman Kazuhiko Shiotani was hitless and so his team record 24 game streak came to a halt.
For Lotte, Fernandez was 3-3 with two RBIs and two walks and is at .285. Short was 4-5 with three RBIs and is at .295.
For Orix, starting leftfielder Roosevelt Brown was 0-4 and is at .310. Ortiz was 1-3 and is at .250.
Pitching Lines:
Lotte:
S. Watanabe (W, 6-3) IP 5.1 BF 25 PC 111 H 5 HR 2 K 3 BB 3 R 6 ER 6 ERA 4.24
S. Fujita IP 0.1 BF 1 PC 6 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.56
Tobe (S, 1) IP 3.1 BF 14 PC 49 H 5 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 3 ER 3 ERA 4.74
Orix:
T. Kitagawa IP 1.2 BF 10 PC 45 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 5 ER 5 ERA 9.95
M. Doi (L, 2-3) IP 0.1 BF 4 PC 20 H 3 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.99
J. Hagiwara IP 3.1 BF 14 PC 64 H 3 HR 1 K 2 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 7.38
Iwashita IP 1.1 BF 7 PC 28 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
Makino IP 2.1 BF 13 PC 55 H 4 HR 1 K 1 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 4.97
E: Fernandez
SB: Tani, K. Oshima
2B: S. Omura, M. Watanabe, J. Inoue, R. Tsuji, Hatsushiba, M. Shimizu, M.T. Goto
HR: M.T. Goto 2 (7), Short (10), Fernandez (24)
RBI: J. Inoue 2, Fernandez 2, Short 3, S. Omura, Hatsushiba, M. Shimizu 2, M.
Watanabe 2, M.T. Goto 7, Tani 2
WP: J. Hagiwara
GIDP: Short (6-4-3), M.T. Goto (4-6-3), Fukuura (6-3)
LOB: Lotte 8, Orix 4
Season Series: Lotte 17, Orix 5 1 Tie
Game Time: 4:01
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Yamamura (HP), Kakigizono (1B), Maeda (2B), Yoshikawa (3B)
Team Reports
Yomiuri Hiromoto "Dave" Okubo, a former Giants catcher, in a short piece for Sankei Sports, posited that with the club switching over to a younger pitching staff, that veteran Masumi Kuwata's future may be in the bullpen since, Okubo believes, he no
longer has the stuff to be a consistent starter. Kuwata's forkball, unlike most pitchers, is used to throw strikes with rather than as something to to get hitters to chase out of the zone and thus he doesn't have the sink on it that a lot of other hurlers do. The only problem with Okubo's theory is that Kuwata was horrible in relief in 2001, when it appeared he would be forced into retirement before new manager Tatsunori Hara put him back in the rotation with successful results....Akira Etoh is apparently eligible for free agency again, but yet the team is talking about trading him. Huh? Etoh himself had no comment.
Hanshin Osaka city officials are concerned about fans jumping into the Dotonbori River in celebration when the Tigers clinch the pennant and are making plans to keep that from happening. Hanshin, at City Hall's request, issued a statement in typically indirect Japanese style that asked fans not to do things that might result in any unfortunate injuries during such a happy occasion. Manager Senichi Hoshino was more upfront, saying that 1 in ten fans who took a dive into the river during the soccer World Cup ended up with a longterm illness from the polluted water. "They wouldn't be able to watch us win it again," the fiery skipper optimistically offered. A city environmental official rolled his eyes at the tought of people voluntarily exposing themselves to the bad water: "God only knows what diseases they'll get," he averred....Outfielder Shinjiro Hiyama made another minor league rehab start and cracked a third inning double in two at bats and drove in a run. Reports say that he may be called up Friday.
Kintetsu The Buffaloes' front office has apparently not been able to come to an agreement with the authority that runs a new ballpark in East Osaka, so they will instead renovate deteriorating Fujiidera Stadium, once the Buffs homeground, so that its minor league club will have a place to play. However, it appears that they will put the bare minimum into it for safety reasons. They had no comment about looking for another facility.
Orix Orix is going to let manager Leon Lee go and will pursue ESPN commentator Bobby Valentine, or, failing that, ex-Nankai Hawks, Yakult, and Hanshin helmsman Katsuya Nomura, to fill the post. Nomura is currently running the industrial league squad of Shidax, a food manufacturer, according to Sports Nippon. Kobe has a big international community and would certainly be an easy environment for Valentine to live in. However, by the same token, if Orix is going to undergo a lot of on the field personnel changes and enact a youth movement, as has been whispered, a teacher type of manager like the widely respected Lee might be a better fit than the quirky and outspoken Valentine.
In the News
Baseball America Breaks Tadano Porn Video Story
And I applaud the way they handled it. Baseball America Article
The Valentine-Lotte Saga
Wayne Graczyk lets us in on Bobby's time in Japan at: Japan Times Article
NPB Bigwigs Slam Proposed Foreign Sale of Hawks
See story at: Asahi Shimbun Article
Today's Pictures
