Archived Weblog Entry - 02/27/2004: "Japanese Baseball News: Seibu Crushes Yomiuri 14-1; Oh Expecting Big Things"

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02/27/2004 Archived Entry: "Japanese Baseball News: Seibu Crushes Yomiuri 14-1; Oh Expecting Big Things"

Sato Belt Starts Lions Landslide

With the exhibition schedule getting underway Saturday, the Yomiuri Giants, who, like the New York Yankees, loaded up on some more top flight hitting talent during the offseason, were absolutely wrecked by the Seibu Lions Friday at Nango Stadium in Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture 14-1 in front of 11,000 fans. Lions rookie first baseman and former Phillies farmhand Takahiko Sato christened the ballpark with a 420 foot three run bomb to left in the third inning on a first pitch down and in slider from Giants lefty Masanori Hayashi and then rammed an RBI double in the sixth into the leftfield corner to spearhead the 18 hit rout.

In that sixth inning, leadoff man Hiroyuki Shibata spanked a single to right and went to third on a first pitch hit and run knock to center by outfielder Shogo Akada. But when Giants centerfielder Chris Latham's throw sailed by the cutoff man, the speedster Shibata turned on the jets and turned for home and was nailed on a bang bang play only thanks to an amazing snag and throw by Mototsugu Kawanaka, serving notice that the big cats intend to put pressure on the opposing defense with its speed at the top of the order.

In the eighth, first year reliever Kazuaki Minami was shelled for six runs on four hits, including a three run circuit clout by Mizuta.

However, the play, along with a couple other mental miscues, angered Giants skipper Tsuneo Horiuchi, who refused to talk to the press after the game as a result.

While Hayashi, who is being counted on to help revive a pitching staff that had its highest team ERA in history last season, was tattooed for two homers and five runs in five innings and threw away a potential double play ball, Kenichi Toriyabe started for Seibu and tossed three innings of one hit ball to further his rotation bid.

But it should be noted that rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi, Kazuhiro Kiyohara and many other Giants regulars sat this one out, one reason why Yomiuri's offense only generated three hits.

Among other Seibu highlights in this one was Kazuo Matsui's replacement at shortstop, Hiroyuki Nakajima, who batted cleanup in place of first baseman Alex Cabrera, who was left out of the game to prepare for the exhibition schedule. Nakajima went 2-2 with three walks while also displaying a sure glove and aggressive baserunning. He doubled off the rightcenterfield wall in the fifth and had a broken bat single to right with a man on third. Nakajima will now bat cleanup again Saturday against Hiroshima.

Team Reports

Hanshin With the first round of player cuts coming up on March 15th, manager Akinobu Okada urged the team's youngsters to work their tails off to make an impression and grab a roster spot....Rookie shortstop Takashi Toritani will be tried out in several different spots in the order for the next couple of weeks to see where he best fits. Saturday, he will leadoff before a sellout crowd. Toritani has batted around .300 during the club's intrasquad games and displayed good defensive instincts.

Chunichi Kenta Asakura will star Saturday against Nippon Ham and threw 35 pitches in the bullpen Friday as a tuneup. Tsuyoshi Shinjo is 0-2 lifetime against him. Asakura is likely to go three or four innings, depending on his pitch count....For whatever reason, the Dragons have named a man with no pro experience to head its scouting department. Nobuhisa Arai, 49, has managed in the industrial leagues and at Meiji University, but that's it. Are they insane? One wonders what the Nagoya nine's veteran scouts think....Reliever Daisuke Yamai, who has been slowed by the last couple of weeks by a groin injury, threw batting practice Friday for 79 pitches and exhibited good action on them....Manager Hiromitsu Ochiai says that he won't be putting on any plays up until the last five games of the exhibition season. "I want them to show me what they can do on their own," said the former Triple Crown winner....Middle man Hitoki Iwase threw 57 times in the bullpen and exclaimed that this is his first spring ever where things have gone so smoothly.

Yomiuri Roberto Petagine has been elevated back up with the top club after spending time in the minors rehabbing a knee. In batting practice Friday, he launched 14 homers in 74 swings and took some ground balls at first base....Outfielder Tuffy Rhodes went yard 47 times in a 259 swing hourlong bp session and said afterward that he felt good up there. He will play in an exhibition game against his old team, Kintetsu, on the 29th. "I want to hit a homer in that game," he disclosed....Veteran lefty Kimiyasu Kudoh, who could very well be in an MLB spring camp this time in 2005, threw 183 pitches in his workout today. Unfortunately, during the outing, he hurt his left foot, but he kept at it anyway....Hiroshi Kisanuki will open on the mound in the first Yomiuri exhibition game, so he took the day off Friday. He says his parents will come down to see it and that he intends to use mostly his fastball against slugger Seung-yeop Lee.

Yakult Lefthanded reliever Hirotoshi Ishii suffered an oblique strain during workouts. Thursday, the southpaw fanned all three LG Twins batters he saw in a practice game and was clocked at 97mph. There is no projection as yet as to when he will return, but one has to guess it could be at least a month....Third baseman Akinori Iwamura had a special hitting session and propelled 54 dingers in 159 swings, three of those completely leaving the yard. He is shooting for a .300-30-30 season....Leftfielder Alex Ramirez will be absent Saturday and Sunday during the club's opening exhibition contests, as his hamstring is still bothering him. They expect, though, that he will be back in time for next weekend's faceoff with Nippon Ham....Number one draft choice Ryo Kawashima threw 100 pitches in Friday's workout under the tutelage of catcher Atsuya Furuta, who was lending advice on facing righthanders. "I want to be able to throw anytime," said the youngster. Furuta was less effusive. "If he throws nothing but strikes, he's going to get lit up." The great backstop has begun taking batting practice again, as he endeavors to heal up from an injury to a right leg flexor muscle.

Hiroshima Pitcher Masayuki Hasegawa will be out two weeks with a finger injury on his right hand after a tumble during workouts on the 25th.

Yokohama Outfielder Hitoshi Tamura sprained his right ankle during workouts Friday and will be out two weeks. He will have a more through exam on Monday in Yokohama....New righthander Pete Walker will join the team sometime next week and will probably make an exhibition appearance soon after. Coaches remarked that Walker only gets it up to about 90mph, but the movement on his cutter, slider and changeup is "wonderful"....Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki threw in the bullpen Friday and was taken deep three times on 34 pitches by infielder Katsuaki Furuki and once by infielder Shuichi Murata on 33 pitches. He used all of his pitches, including a sinker he's been messing around with. When asked about Walker, though, he responded that he didn't know anything about him....Pitcher Takeharu Kato admitted that he was bitten by a dog during his childhood and is now afraid of just about any animal, even birds.

Daiei Righthander Kazumi Saito threw 66 pitches Friday and may start Sunday after experiencing shoulder discomfort earlier in the week....Manager Sadaharu Oh said that he is expecting 30 homers out of DH Julio Zuleta in anticipating that his three though seven hitters will all see that figure. Rightfielder Hiroshi Shibahara and third baseman Munenori Kawasaki will bat one and two respectively....Number one draft choice Takahiro Mahara will start against Yokohama on the fourth and then take a relief assignment against Kintetsu on the 11th....Four spots in the rotation are already decided, with Saito, Tsuyoshi Wada, Toshiya Sugiuchi and Nagisa Arakaki occupying them. Brandon Knight, Hayato Terahara, Junji Hoshino and Mahara will compete for the final two slots.

Kintetsu According to the Kyodo News Service, team president Mitsuru Nagaiis stepping down as team president and will be replaced by general manager Tetsuya Kobayashi....Third baseman Norihiro Nakamura is hardly a little guy, but he felt dwarfed by the size and power of some of the Dodgers players he was taking part in batting practice with Friday. "I can't match that kind of power," he commented while watching Juan Encarnacion. I'll have to figure out how to make it carry with the body I have." The burly Osakan saw 36 pitches from former teammate Hideo Nomo and six more from Wilson Alvarez....Team owner Kazu Tashiro apologized to NPB commissioner Yasuchika Negoro for the fuss surrounding the Buffaloes consideration of selling its naming rights....Hector Carrasco got his first pitching in against live hitting since leaving MLB in an intrasquad game Friday, getting it up to 94mph while surrendering a run in a one inning stint. "I'm at about 90% right now," Carrasco offered, also citing some control issues he had during the assignment. But a Buffs pitching coach assessed that he will be able to use Carrasco with little worry....In his last two intrasquad games, veteran backup outfielder Daisuke Masuda has gone 4-5 with two RBIs and two steals. Masuda is attempting to cut down the extent of the uppercut in his swing and is using the envisioning of swinging a samurai sword that Sadaharu Oh propounds. Import Larry Barnes has been having trouble figuring out Japanese pitching thus far (.185 to date) and Masuda hopes to perhaps supplant the former Angel in the lineup.

Lotte 19 year old Keita Asama will start against Yomiuri Saturday as the exhibition season commences. Asama's heater tops out at 89mph and also features a sharp curve. 'He's a good looking kid with a load of talent plus he's from Chiba Prefecture," noted manager Bobby Valentine. The game is reportedly sold out and will be broadcast on television. Valentine brough 21 pitchers with him to camp to fight if out for the ten or 11 spots on the roster. With Tomohiro Kuroki, Nathan Minchey, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, Satoru Komiyama and Masahide Kobayashi locks to open the season, that leaves only about five or six spots for 16 hurlers. First baseman Seung-yeop Lee will hit fourth in the order and will see the match broadcast back to his native Korea. He has homered in each of his last three intrasquad games.

Nippon Ham Centerfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo will bat sixth in Saturday's exhibition game, according to Sankei Sports.

OrixManager Haruki Ihara, well known for his Tommy Lasorda-like predilection to putting in time during games in the third base coach's box, said that he will continue that tradition this season, too as a way to help get the team out of offensive ruts.

Miscellaneous Yankees owner George Steinbrenner is whining about how draining it will be for his team to go to Japan, revealing he allowed it out of obligation to Yomiuri owner Tsuneo Watanabe, who only he could call "a good man." What a crybaby!...And while we're talking about the Yankees, outfielder Hideki Matsui hit against closer Mariano Rivera and had what appeared to be a couple of ground ball singles, but othewise, like his teammates, didn't do anything with the premier reliever in batting practice...According to an article in Friday's Sports Nippon, the Mariners have largely abandonded the idea of slotting Ichiro Suzuki into the three hole. "He's the best leadoff hitter in baseball," stated manager Bob Melvin. "We like him better at the top of the lineup." Putting Ichiro, who is 60 knocks away from 2000 for his Japanese-American career, third has been a frequent topic of discussion since the M's have often had trouble generating runs the last two seasons, but it has again apparently gone by the wayside....Masao Kida, a spring invitee with L.A., tossed some bp for 35 pitches....Another Japanese reliever, Seattle's Shigetoshi Hasegawa, was on the hill in both the bullpen and during batting practice, too and delivered a total of about 100 pitches. His and Ichiro's former field boss at Orix, newly minted hall of famer Akira Ogi, showed up for a visit....Dodgers manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Jim Colborn said Friday that they will just let Hideo Nomo do his thing and won't worry about supervising his workouts. On the spring so far, Nomo characteristically replied, "just more of the usual."

In the News

Nagashima Knows His Job Well

See story at: Joong Ang Ilbo Article

Jays' Walker Sold to Yokohama

See story at: MLB.com Article

Relaxed Ichiro Reports to Camp

See story at: MLB.com Article

Takatsu Ready for Any Role

See story at: San Diego Union-Tribune Article

Padres Like Otsuka's First Strike Capability

See story at: San Diego Union-Tribune Article

See related, and somewhat contradictory, article at: MLB.com Article