Archived Weblog Entry - 02/04/2004: "Japanese Baseball News: Talkin' Toritani; Igarashi, Ishii Not Suited to Close?"

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02/04/2004 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Talkin' Toritani; Igarashi, Ishii Not Suited to Close?"

Team Reports

Hanshin 70 year old former Hanshin shortstop Yoshio Yoshida tutored rookie Takashi Toritani Tuesday. The youngster was somewhat overwhelmed by the breadth of knowledge that Yoshida imparted, but was thankful for the experience. For his part, Yoshida wanted to get the top draft pick to get a better handle on receiving the ball so that he would be in a better psotion to get rid of it. Yoshida then moved on to Atsushi Fujimoto and gave him some hints on footwork....Toritani may also be considered for a spot on the Japanese olympic team. Toritani, though, wasn't very impressive in a short 15 swing batting practice session against Kyuji Fujikawa....Team president Katsuyoshi Nozaki said that he hadn't heard anything about press reports that 80 year old Koshien Stadium was going to be renovated starting in 2008. Stadium officials apparently believe that the hallowed ballpark is really showing its age. In addition, there are also too few handicapped seats to satisfy the demand. Expanding total capacity is reportedly under discussion, too. Right now, it mzxes out at 53,000....Pitching coach Yoshinori Sato is working with Hideki Irabu on keeping his left elbow up as he delivers the ball, as he posits that it will help him hide the ball better coming out of his right hand. Sato pitched until he was 44, so he should know what he's talking about....Mike Kinkade is reportedly going to see a lot of time at third this spring. The Tigers are short of viable infield help, so Kinkade may see double duty in both the outfield and at third. The ex-Dodger propelled ten balls out of the field of play in 82 swings during Wednesday's batting practice....Manager Akinobu Okada was quoted by Hochi Sports as wanting to forego moving second baseman Makoto Imaoka to third so that Atsushi Fujimoto can be moved to second to make room for Toritani. That means that if Toritani can't beat Fujimoto out for the shortstop job in the spring, he will be consigned to the bench.

Chunichi Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome hit and hit some more Wednesday, taking nearly a thousand swings in various forms of batting practice. He said that he was attempting to solidify his footwork and hip rotation as he begins his stroke....Manager Hiromitsu Ochiai provided some instruction to catcher Motonobu Tanishige for about 15 minutes Wednesday, focusing on how to attack pitches on the inner half of the plate....New Taiwanese import Chen Wei-lin (I hope that is a correct transliteration) uses his pc to dissect opposing hitters. He's devised a program that has hitters' tendencies inscribed on it and he puts in a lot of time using it. On the Dragons home ballpark, Nagoya Dome, Chen enthused that it was huge and was something that you wouldn't see back in his homeland. He will officially join the team on the fifth....Former Dragons great Kenichi Yazawa thinks that Hanshin shortstop prospect Takashi Toritani can be pounded inside and up. Yazawa offered that Toritani does a much better job of handling that pitch since beginning college, but he still has a long way to go to get on top of it and punishing it.

Yomiuri First baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara has been looking pretty good in running drills, but it seems as if manager Tsuneo Horiuchi is still hesitant to bring him up to the top team right now and put him through the full practice menu. However, one of the Giants training coaches thinks that it won't be long before the former Lion is elevated back to the bigtime, especially with the way he was wacking pitches over the fence in his 200 swing batting session....Kiyohara may also get a road named after him in Miyazaki, a path that leads up to the team's minor league training site. That issue, though, won't be decided until around June....Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo expressed is desire to play in the olympics at the Giants' Guam camp. The erstwhile Hawk played in the Barcelona games while he was in college. Kokubo is still rehabbing his knee, but was solid in a 56 swing hitting workout....Pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki threw 101 pitches in the bullpen in Guam. Coaches want him to economize on his pitch counts this season and are working on his slider with him....Lefthander Kimiyasu Kudoh threw 60 pitches in the bullpen and muttered that his balance was off. Other than that, though, the 41 year old veteran is feeling fine....Ace Koji Uehara's 83 pitch bullpen workout also went without incident....Fifth year pitcher Hiroshi Sato is penciled in to start a practice game against Daiei on the 22nd. Sato is apparently going to get a long look this spring....Akira Etoh's two year long slump continues, one could perhaps say. In 40 swings, he failed to clear the fences once Tuesday and then followed that up Wednesday by failing to drive any over the fence, too. One wonders if Etoh is losing batspeed.....Righthander Masumi Kuwata has yet to throw since coming to Guam with the team and reporters are wondering what is going on. He told them that he is experiencing slight elbow pain and then admitted that what he said was a joke. Horiuchi isn't concerned and is allowing the veteran to do his own thing....Southpaw Masanori Hayashi threw 80 pitches and then disclosed that he believes that if he can win 15 games, the Giants will be back in the Japan Series....Closer Junichi Kawahara will forsake his shuuto this season and mainly stick to his forkball and fastball. His delivery is a little different when he throws the shuuto, which is not only a tip off to the hitters as to what's coming, but it leads to bad habits with his other pitches, he says.

Yakult Rookie pitcher Satoshi Sato suffered a mild, if you can call it that, anaphylactic shock episode the other day due to a food allergy. He's fine and doctors have already cleared him to practice normally. However, they will put him on a lighter training menu until the trainer and team doctors can more fully explore this in order to prevent a relapse....Outfielder Billy Martin's fiance is a six foot former olympic volleyball team member who is also the mother of the couple's three year old twins. She makes her living as a P.E. teacher these days and Martin lamented that as a ballplayer he is away so often. But with him now making almost ten times what he did in the U.S. minors, their financial situation has solidified a bit more. Incidently, somebody finally asked him about his namesake, the late Yankees infielder and MLB skipper: "the names are just coincidental"....Giants shot caller Tsuneo Horiuchi gave the Swallows some bulletin board material when asked about plans to use righthander Ryota Igarashi and lefthander Hirotoshi Ishii as tandem closers: "that's impossible. Igarashi is too wild and Ishii isn't tough enough." Horiuchi also said that he could "tolerate" his own game finisher, Junichi Kawahara, losing as many as five games....Third baseman Akinori Iwamura ripped 16 shots out of the ballpark in 77 swings Wednesday. He was experimenting with using his lower body like leftfielder Alex Ramirez does and got what he termed surprisingly good results right out of the box. It apparently allows Iwamura to wait on the ball a little more and then still put enough backleg into the ball to drive it....Pitcher Yuya Kamada threw 150 pitches in his bullpen workout. He said that he still needs to iron out his mechanics, though....Manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu says that there won't be any intrasquad games this spring for the Tokyo nine. Rather, they will play four practice games against other teams. The reason, Wakamatsu asserts, is that when pitchers face their teammates, they tend to stay awa from coming inside and one can't correctly judge a hurler under those conditions. Thus the preference for practice games.

Hiroshima Greg LaRocca did a lot of hitting Wednesday, taking more than 160 swings off of a tee and then hitting against a coach for 42 pitches. "I have to work twice as hard as other players since I don't have their talent," LaRocca modestly told a reporter for Sankei Sports. Carp overseers liked what they saw, the article says.

Yokohama How prodigal closer Kazuhiro Sasaki's deal breaks down is that he will be paid 500 million yen (about $4.75 million) plus another $950,000 in incentives available. He will then get a 100 million yen ($950,000) raise for the second year along with the same amount of incentives. What is ironic about his return is that a couple of years ago, Sasaki had said that if he had stayed in Yokohama, he would have retired earlier since he was so fed up with the politics of Japanese baseball. Still no word on what is going on at this stage in the former Mariner's personal life, though. Team president Susumu Minegishi said that he would welcome the chance to send Sasaki to the Athens olympics....Sports Nippon claims that the team is considering retiring Sasaki's number and that he is still up for a future manager's post. We'll see. Nevertheless, no other player with the club has had his number retired....Yomiuri boss Horiuchi, when asked about Sasaki, bravely offered that the big guy has lost something off of his fastball due to the rigors of MLB life....One of Horiuchi's big sluggers, Kiyohara, needs 18 more hits for 2000 and 20 more dingers for 500 and hopes to get either one or both off of Sasaki, who he is close friends with. That should be no surprise, since Kiyohara is known as the King of Roppongi and Sasaki is a well known party animal himself. Lifetime, Kiyohara is 2-9 with a homer , two walks and four strikeouts against Sasaki, according to Sankei Sports (that includes an all star game)....Since Yuji Yoshimi has surrendered 22 back to Sasaki, he will take 21, which was worn by pitcher Kenichi Wakatabe last season. Wakatabe will now don number 14....Yakult skipper Tsutomu Wakamatsu posited that Sasaki's forkball is no longer as deadly as it used to be and expects to see more curve balls from Daimajin....Hanshin helmsman Akinobu Okada was a little less confident, stating that if Sasaki returns to form, Central League hitters will be in for a bad time. But he wondered what kind of toll time has taken on him....New addition Ken Kadokura's bullpen sessions have been going well. He may be given a shot to win a rotation slot.

Daiei Owner Tadashi Nakauchi took a cheap shot at first baseman Nobuhiko Matsunaka, saying that Matsunaka shouldn't come to spring training until he has settled negotiations in Fukuoka. Of course, this angered Matsunaka, who averred that all he wants to think about right now is baseball, which is why he hired an agent....Hayato Terahara and Takahiro Mahara will get in some mound time in a practice game with Yomiuri on the 22nd. A full house is expected....Even with the addition of Jose Fernandez, Daiei's chief advance scout believes that the Lions haven't improved themselves much this offseason and aren't even going to bother to send anybody to observe their spring camp. Instead, they will evaluate Seibu during their exhibition games.

Seibu Reliever Shinji Mori was hospitalized with an irregular pulse, according to Japan Today. He apparently had an earlier episode, so doctors decided to err on the side of caution and admit the setup man for testing....Pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka hit off of a tee Wednesday and powered 35 balls over the fences in 150 swings.

Kintetsu A team official visited commissiner Negoro's office Wednesday to explain the Buffaloes' plan to sell the club's corporate name in roder to shore up its red ink besotted bottom line. However, Negoro, who is in Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe's pocket, urged Kintetsu to withdraw the idea since it is unlikely to be approved by the other owners.

Lotte Manager Bobby Valentine put his team through a simulated game using a high tech batting practice machine Tuesday. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad, but they ended up going 12 innings before it was decided. The players, though, liked the machine and the practice format, since it felt as close to real time game pressure as you can get in a practice session....Wednesday, Valentine was in the bullpen with Tomohiro Kuroki for a 97 pitch workout. Since coming to camp Sunday, the former ace has thrown 235 pitches. Valentine, while stating that if he had been able to stay with the team after the 1995 season he might have been able to prevent the injuries that Kuroki suffered afterward, noted that he is more concerned with the quality of Kuroki's workouts rather than with seeing how many pitches he can throw....Closer Masahide Kobayashi had his fourth stright bullpen session Wednesday, throwing 50 pitches. "I'm right on schedule," Kobayashi informed the press....First baseman Seung-yeop Lee took part in a simulated game, going 8-16 with two homers....Pitcher Dan Serafini arrived in Japan Wednesday and will join the spring camp in Kagoshima on the fifth.

Nippon Ham The convenience store chain Lawson's will sponsor the Fighters first season in Hokkaido....500 fans turned out Tuesday just to watch Tsuyoshi Shinjo practice, according to Sports Nippon. Moreover, a Sankei Sports piece says that Hokkaido Bunka Broadcasting (UHB) will have a tv camera trained just on Shinjo when it broadcasts an exhibition game against Yakult at Sapporo Dome on March 7th....Shinjo's 62 year old father, Hidetoshi, was at the practice session and met briefly with manager Trey Hillman, who invited the elder Shinjo to his home at some point in the future....Wednesday, an official from the Japanese national baseball squad stopped by to see Shinjo, saying that he is a candidate for the team. Is he for real? Anyway, the speedy outfielder ripped 14 homers in 47 swings in batting practice, including two that completely left the yard....The Fighters merchandising people displayed their line of Shinjo-related merchandise that included a $29 t shirt and a $15 towel, among other things....Out arond town, as Sapporo prepares for its snow festival, a likeness of Shinjo has been carved out of ice and put on display....Pitcher Tsutomu Iwamoto threw 133 pitches in the bullpen, but was said to be overthrowing. Iwamoto hasn't won a regular season game since 2002.

Orix Manager Haruki Ihara is counting heavily on 23 year old reliever Daisuke Kato to get his team to closer Kazuo Yamaguchi in hopes of lifting the Kobe contingent out of its last place doldrums. Kato threw 70 pitches in a bullpen session Wednesday. "If you let him throw just one inning, he could be as good as Dausuke Matsuzaka," Ihara hyperboled (is that even a word?).

Miscellaneous As part of its snow festival, which features representations of buildings and statues built out of ice, a team of Japanese Self-Defense troops erected a giant bust of Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui....Rudy Giuliani and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will throw out the first pitch during the Yanks-Devil Rays opener in Tokyo....Mets shortstop Kazuo Matsui spent Tuesday morning mainly doing some running. He also revealed that he is in the market for an SUV to get around in. He has, though, already bought a split level house with a basement in a tony NYC suburb for in excess of $2 million. He is going to renovate the basement into a gym and also plans to install a Japanese-style bathtub in one of the bathrooms. He will leave for the Mets' spring training site on the 5th....Chicago White Sox reliever Shingo Takatsu threw 30 pitches off of the moound Wednesday at Meiji Jingu Stadium, suing his fastball, curve and sinker....The vice president of MLB's international business division visited the NPB office Wednesday and exchanged pleasantries with new commissioner Negoro. There will be further discussions concerning the baseball world cup and the olympics when Bud Selig comes to Japan in the next few weeks.

Sasaki Re-signs with Yokohama

See story at: Associated Press Article

See related story at: Yomiuri Shimbun Article

See another related story at: Asahi Shimbun Article

Kintetsu Hopes Naming Rights Bring Big Bucks

See story at: Mainichi Shimbun Article

Abe Hoping That Guam Warmth Will Heat Him Up for Season

See story at: Pacific Daily News Article

Giants Presence Brings Attention to Guam

See story at: Pacific Daily News Article

And in a demonstration that this paper needs better Japanese language help, See related story at:
Pacific Daily News Article

New NPB Commissioner in Watanabe's Pocket