Gary Garland / the japanese insider

April 6, 2002

Saturday’s Games

Lopez Suspended After Confrontation with Maeda in 8-6 Loss to Chunichi

     Apparently unhappy that teammate Tomonori Maeda, who had been at second, held up at third instead of trying to score on singles he hit during the second and eighth innings of Saturday's game, Hiroshima first baseman Luis Lopez got into a shoving match with Maeda behind the team bench and Carp manager Koji Yamamoto decided to suspend Lopez for ten days after the game for interfering with the harmony of the team. The suspension hurts the Carp offense, as Lopez is hitting .417 and with runners in scoring position has put up a mind boggling .833.

     Lopez, 37, is making $822,500 base salary with incentives for homers and RBIs, so it is believed that he may have thought that Maeda's hesitance to run fullout to the plate was hurting him economically. He has told the press that since he is in the final year of his contract he wants to win a Triple Crown (which hasn't been done since Randy Bass of Hanshin did it in 1985). Maeda had an Achilles tendon rupture in 1995 and had it operated on again in 2000 and has missed the better part of the last two seasons due to various injuries, so the sympathy from the fans and team management is clearly with him and not Lopez.

     According to stories in the Japanese press, Maeda, a great athlete who has Hall of Fame talent but has had various maladies hinder him from fully blossoming, making him Japan's answer to Eric Davis, has been hesitant to run at top speed for fear of hurting the tendon again. Hiroshima's management knows about Maeda's problem, but Lopez apparently thought that he was jaking it. However, it should also be said that Japanese baserunners are much more conservative than their MLB counterparts anyway, so part of this incident may be attributable to cultural difference.

     Hiroshima's front office reportedly has no intention of releasing Lopez. At his age, Lopez really has nowhere else to go, so he is pretty much at the mercy of club management. He has already expressed his apologies to club officials. but we'll have to see what this means for the rest of his career, if there is one. It could be that if Takahiro Arai breaks out big offensively and isn't too much of a defensive liability, Lopez will either be confined to a bench role or he will be released.

     Now on to the game itself. Chunichi starter Kenta Asakura did not pitch well, giving up four earned runs on 12 hits in seven innings plus. However, he was fortunate that Carp starter Hiroki Kuroda had an even worse time on the mound. Thus, the Dragons were able to get out to an early lead when Araki beat out a bleeder to third with one gone. Rightfielder Kosuke Fukudome doubled down the leftfield line. First baseman Leo Gomez then came up and drilled a three run homer into the leftfield seats and it was 3-0 visitors.

     Kuroda recovered and struckout the side in the second and Maeda's timidity may have cost his side a run in the bottom of the frame. With one out, Maeda seared a double to leftcenter. Lopez then singled to center and Maeda pulled up at third. Arai followed by whiffing. Catcher Shuji Nishiyama walked to load the bases. The pitcher's spot was next and Kuroda fanned to strand everybody.

     In the top of the third and with two away, Gomez singled to left. Third baseman Kazuyoshi Tatsunami legged out a ball toward short, but in endeavoring to get Tatsunami, Carp shortstop Akihiro Higashide threw the ball away and Gomez came around to score and it was 4-0 Chunichi.

     An inning later, Dragons catcher Motonobu Tanishige unloaded his first homer of the year to the big part of the yard to make it 5-0.

     The Dragons went back on the attack in the fifth, second baseman Masahiro Araki singling to center to lead it off. Fukudome did likewise. Gomez lined out to third. Hiroshima manager Koji Yamamoto then went to the bullpen and brought in Tsuyoshi Kikuchihara. Tatsunami grounded to third, where it was booted by Arai to load the bases. Out went Kikuchihara and in walked Rob Stanifer. Pinch hitter Toshio Haru singled to center to drive in both Araki and Fukudome to expand the Dragons advantage to7-0. Leftfielder Jun Inoue grounded to short, which was converted into a double play to spoil any further fun.

     In the bottom of the fifth, Yamamoto let Stanifer hit and he singled to left. Centerfielder Koichi Ogata walked. Higashide beat out a tapper toward first to pack the sacks. Second baseman Eddie Diaz grounded to his opposite number to plate Stanifer and it was 7-1 Chunichi.

     Then in the sixth, the Carp tacked another one on due to a shot to the centerfield fence by Arai for two bags and another double by pinch hitter Takuya Kimura to crawl within 7-2.

     But a miscue in the top of the seventh by Maeda enabled the Dragons to get that run back. Fukudome leadoff the stanza with a single to right that Maeda let get through him and Fukudome motored around to third. Gomez then lifted a fly ball to, ironically, Maeda and it was 8-2 Chunichi.

     In the eighth, Asakura fell apart and had to be replaced when Maeda clobbered one into the rightcenterfield gap for a double. Lopez singled to center and saw that Maeda didn't score, angering him. Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada nominated Shinichiro Koyama to take it from there. The first hitter he encountered, Arai, walked to pack the sacks. Backup catcher Kazuyoshi Kimura then bounced a shot off the leftfield wall that went for a long single and two RBIs. While Takuya Kimura and pinch hitter Shinjiro Nomura were striking out, Lopez had a fistful of Maeda's uniform top. Higashide singled to push Arai in and it was now 8-5 Chunichi.

     Hiroshima managed one more tally when Maeda's third double of the night sent in leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto, who had gotten on thanks to an error by Araki, but that was all and Eddie Gaillard earned the save.

     Gomez was 2-4 with four RBIs and is now at .333 for Chunichi.

Pitching Lines:

Chunichi:

Asakura (W, 1-1)        IP 7.0 PC 123 H 12 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.11
Koyama                        IP 0.0 PC   11 H  1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40
Endo                             IP  .1 PC     4 H   0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.40
Iwase                            IP  .2 PC   14 H  1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.80
Gaillard (S, 2)               IP 1.0 PC  26 H  1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50

Hiroshima

Kuroda (L, 1-1)     IP 4.1 PC 75 H 9 HR 2 K 6 BB 0 R 7 ER 6 ERA 8.71
Kikuchihara          IP 0.0 PC  6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 27.00
Stanifer                 IP 1.2 PC 18 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 27.00
Kobayashi           IP 2.0 PC 26 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sakai                     IP 1.0 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: T. Maeda (1), Arai (2), Higashide (1), Araki  (1)
2B: Fukudome (4), T. Maeda 3 (4), Arai (1), T. Kimura (1)
HR: Gomez (3) Tanishige (1)
RBI: Gomez 4 (6), Tanishige (1), Haru 2 (3), Higashide (3), Diaz (4), K. Kimura 2 (2), T. Kimura (1)
SF: Gomez (1)
WP: Sakai (1), Asakura (1), Gaillard (1)
GIDP: Arai, Inoue
LOB: Chunichi 4, Hiroshima 11

 Game Time: 3:30
Attendance: 9,000
Umpires: Mori (HP), Arisumi? (1B), Sasaki (2B), T. Kobayashi (3B)

Moore Spins Another Masterpiece for Seventh Consecutive Hanshin Win

     In the 66 year history of the Hanshin Tigers, they have won seven in a row coming right out of the gate only once and that was in 1938. Thanks partly to Trey Moore, they have done it again, as the ex-Atlanta Braves lefty went all the way in a 3-1 victory at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo Saturday with 45,000 on hand.

     Indeed, you would have thought it was Koshien Stadium, the Tigers homeground, rather than enemy territory judging by the tens ofthousands of Tigers faithful who made the trip east to Japan's capital to be a part of history.

     Moore allowed just three hits and a run, even forcing 2001 Central League MVP Roberto Petagine to don the golden sombrero (four strikeouts) with a steady diet of sliders. Moore was clocked at a maximum of 89mph, so he was getting them out not with velocity, but with guile. See batter's eye view of Moore in the game at: http://www.sponichi.com/base/200204/07/images/base01.jpg

     And just to add to the fun for Moore, he rapped out three hits in four at bats. Manager Senichi Hoshino might want to use him as an extra inning pinch hitter someday if he keeps that up. The last time a Hanshin hurler did that was in 1990, when ex-Oakland A's moundsman Matt Keough pulled that off. In the majors, Moore had been to bat 26 times and knocked out six hits, a .231 clip, considered excellent for a pitcher. His batting form isn;t exactly going to be mistaken for TedWilliams' though. See pic at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200204/image/0407mua2NK148406_b.jpg

     The Hanshin offense hasn't been all that productive overall, generating just 24 runs in its seven victories, 11 less than the Nankai Hawks in 1954, the previous club with the smallest amount of scoring over a seven game winning skein at the beginning of the season. Furthermore, the Tigers are only hitting .179 with runners in scoring position. But their pitching has been so dominant, allowing 0.97 runs per game and nine walks total including Saturday's wingding and thus the thin attack has been just good enough to carve out triumph after triumph. As a team, the Tigers already have three complete games, whereas they threw just seven in all of 2001. One thing that helps that are the low walk/HBP figures so far, compared to the 562 the staff free passed or plunked last year. Their defense has also been super, making one error so far, compared with a next to league worst 86 last season

     Alan Newman pitched solidly, surrendering two runs in five innings on six hits, and one of those tallies came about only because he was called for a balk in the third. Moore was aboard on a leadoff squibber he legged out and was then sacrificed to second. The balk was called to move him to third, from where he was plated on a single to left from third baseman Atsushi Kataoka.

     In the inning before that, Hanshin had gotten out in front when Newman hung a curve ball and catcher Akihiro Yano, who was focuing on hitting the ball back up through the middle, crushed it into the centerfield seats.

     It remained at 2-0 until the eighth, when Hanshin leftfielder Derrick White mortared a shot into the centerfield bleachers himself and it was now 3-0. See pic of his swing after making contact at: http://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/kiji/2002/04/07/20020407012748.jpg

     Moore had  a little trouble in the bottom of the ninth before closing it out. The first two hitters of the inning struckout, but catcher Atsuya Furuta singled to center. For whatever reason, despite the gimpy knee, Furuta wasn't pinch run for. Third baseman Akinori Iwamura walked. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez singled to left and White dover for it, but trapped the ball and Furuta labored around third and to home to make it 3-1. Second baseman Noriyuki Shiroishi then hammered a Moore offering, but right at White and that was the ballgame.

     It's hard to believe this is a guy who had a career MLB ERA of more than 5.00, but he's found a second life in Japan and Hanshin fans are loving it, as this pic shows: http://www.sponichi.com/base/200204/07/images/base01.jpg

     "His fastball was really moving," said Yakult shortstop Shinya Miyamoto. "It's hard to see the ball when he comes sidearm," revealed rightfielder Atsunori Inaba.
 
     By the way, the record for most consecutive wins right out of the gate is eleven, by the Nishitetsu (now Seibu) Lions in 1954 and the 1999 Chunichi Dragons, the latter managed by Hoshino.

     For Hanshin, White was 2-4 with an RBI and is now at .412. George Arias was 0-4 and is at .103.

     For Yakult, Ramirez was 2-4 with an RBI and is now at .250. Petagine is now at .259 and has struckout seven times in his last seven official at bats against Hanshin.

Pitching Lines:

Hanshin:

Moore (W, 2-0)  IP 9.0 PC 128 H 6 HR 0 K 9 BB 3 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.20

Yakult:

Newman (L, 1-1)  IP 5.0 PC 74 H 5 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.45
S. Iriki                   IP 3.0 PC 36 H 4 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00
Sakamoto            IP 1.0 PC 13 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50.
 
E: Shiroishi (1)
2B: Manaka (1)
HR: Yano (2), White (3)
RBI: Ramirez (2), Kataoka (4), White (4), Yano (3)
GIDP: Furuta
Balk: Newman (2)
LOB: Hanshin 8, Yakult 7

Game Time: 2:27
Attendance: 45,000
Umpires: Watamari? (HP), Kasahara (1B), Suginaga (2B), Watada (3B)

Pedro is the Man as Daiei Destroys Nemisis Yarnell 10-3

     Daiei Hawks hitters were not looking forward to facing Orix' Ed Yarnell Saturday at Kobe Green Stadium. Last season, the destructive Daiei order was all but suffocated by the ex-Red and Yankee to the tune of a .175 team average and were 1-3 against him.

     Well, it's a new year and the Hawks generated nine hits and seven earned runs in just short of five innings against Yarnell, who threw wild pitches in the third and fourth to inadvertantly aid the Daiei cause. Leftfielder Pedro Valdez then homered twice in the late innings off of Satoshi Tokumoto to turn what had merely been a nice lead into a near thrashing, the final score being 10-3. The Hawks have now taken all six of their games for the first time since the days of the late revered manager Kazuto Tsuruoka back in 1955, when the nine were called the Nankai Hawks.

     Before the Valdes longballs, though, the early part of the context was what Sankei Sports termed, "timely on parade' and they were spot on. With Orix in front thanks to a walk to rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi and a triple to right from catcher Takeshi Hidaka, Daiei came up in the third and tied it. With one out, first baseman Morgan Burkhart was plunked by Yarnell, who then threw a wild pitch to put Burkhart on second. One out later, centerfielder Hiroshi Shibahara walked. Valdez spanked an RBI single to left and the inning concluded at 1-1.

     In the top of the fourth, the Hawks put a three spot up with a concentrated barrage. Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo walked to lead it off. DH Nobuhiko Matsunaka singled to center. Catcher Kenji Johjima singled to center, too and Kokubo hit the dish for a Daiei lead. Rightfielder Koji Akiyama sacrificed Matsunaka and Johjima along to second and third. Burkhart went up the middle of the diamond, too for two RBIs and it was 4-1 Hawks after four.

     Then in the fifth, they disposed of Yarnell altogether. Second baseman Tadahito Iguchi singled to right. Kokubo walked. One out later, Johjima slammed a double up the rightcenterfield gap and Iguchi was home. Akiyama singled to left to send Kokubo across and it was now 6-1 Hawks. Shortstop Yusuke Torigoe singled to left and Johjima was back in the dugout for a 7-1 Daiei lead.

     In the bottom of the seventh, Daiei starter Keisaburo Tanoue hung a changeup and Orix first baseman Fernando Seguignol went yard for the third time in three games to make it 7-2.

     A half inning later, Valdez replied with a jack to center and Daiei was in the driver's seat with an 8-2 score. Valdez then repeated the feat in the top of the ninth with Shibahara on first via a baseknock while the Blue Wave only got one of those back on a leadoff single to centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani, a walk to Seguignol, and a single to left by Katsuragi before Aikawa flied out to end it, the final 10-3.

     In losing his first six in a row at the start of the regular schedule, Orix manager Hiromichi Ishige has set a record for most consecutive season opening losses by a new field boss, breaking the previous mark of five held by three men, Hitoshi Tamaru of the 1966 Tokyo Orions (now the Chiba Lotte Marines), Shozo Doi, the man who thought Ichiro would never hit, in 1991 with Orix, and Akihito Kondo in 1993 with Yokohama.

     Kind of interesting story about Tamaru. He went right from coaching at Hosei University right into managing for one season for Tokyo. I couldn't find any info on how or why that happened since even in Japanese information seems to be rather thin about him. If anyone knows, I would appreciate knowing it.

     For Daiei, Burkhart was 1-3 with two RBI, a walk, an HBP and two strikeouts and is now at .381. Valdez was 3-6 with four RBIs and is at .385.

     For Orix, third baseman Scott Sheldon was 0-4 and is at .292. Seguignol was 1-3 with an RBI with a walk and is at .182.
 
Pitching:

Daiei:

Tanoue (W, 1-0) IP 9.0 PC 136 H 7 HR 1 K 4 BB 2 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.20

Orix:

Yarnell (L, 0-2)   IP 4.2 PC 114 H 9 HR 0 K 0 BB 5 R 7 ER 7 ERA 10.38
Iwashita              IP 2.1 PC  38 H H HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.25
Tokumoto          IP 2.0 PC  32 H 4 HR 2 K 1 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 15.43

2B: Johjima (1)
3B: Hidaka (1)
HR: Valdez 2 (4), Seguignol (3)
RBI: Valdez 4 (9), Johjima 2 (5), Akiyama (4), Burkhart 2 (8), Torigoe (1), Seguignol (5), Katsuragi (2), Hidaka (2)
WP: Yarnell 2 (2)
HBP: Burkhart (Yarnell)
LOB: Daiei 11, Orix 6

Game Time: 3:12
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires:

Matsui Homers Twice to Upend Bay Stars 9-5

     Yomiuri Giants starter Koji Uehara was great for eight innings Saturday at Yokohama Stadium, allowing no runs on three hits. Unfortunately, baseball is a nine inning sport and Uehara got knocked around for five runs, four earned, on five hits and a sac fly in the bottom of the fifth before getting back in the groove and stifling the Stats offense the rest of the way.

     Little that it mattered, though, as Hideki Matsui homered twice and leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu went bombs away for the first time this season, all off of three different pitchers and by the bottom of the fifth inning to help down the Yokohama Bay Stars 9-5.

     Jason Turman started for Yokohama and got the Giants out in order in the first two innings, but thanks to an error by Stars shortstop Takuto Ishii, a door was opened to a five run third for the Giants and Turman went to the showers. Yomiuri shortstop Daisuke Motoki singled to right to lead it off and catcher Shinnosuke Abe singled to right as well. Uehara hit a little groundball that Turman got a force at third on. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu popped to second. Second baseman Toshihisa Nishi singled to left and Abe scurried in with a 1-0 Giants lead. Rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi hit a ground ball to short that Ishii made a wild throw on and Abe and  Nishi were able to both make it to home on, 3-0 Giants. Centerfielder Matsui then checked in and got an 86mph fastball on the inner half of the plate and rocketed it into the rightfield seats and the inning ended with Yomiuri up 5-0.

     In the fourth, Motoki leadoff with a single to center off of reliever Masahide Yone. Two outs later, Shimizu ripped an inside fastball and just got it inside the rightfield foul pole to widen his team's advantage to 7-0.

     Then an inning later, Takahashi singled off of Masao Morinaka. Matsui stepped in again and obliterated a first pitch heater and  went stage right to make it 9-0. The Stars pitching staff has been taken deep 12 times in seven games, which would project to 240 homers over a full season, an awful pace that has to be slowed if Yokohama would like to finish in the upper part of the league this year.

     Yokohama made it at least respectable in the fifth, but they definitely shot all the bullets they had in that at bat. Second baseman Hitoshi Taneda, First baseman Takahiro Saeki and catcher Ryoji Aikawa all singled to left, the latter getting the RBI. Pinch hitter Hitoshi Nakane doubled down the leftfield line to drive in Saeki. Ishii carromed an Uehara offering off the rightfield wall to plate Aikawa and Saeki. Centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo flied to center to usher in Nakane and make it 9-5 Giants.

     For Yokohama, third baseman Mike Gulan was 0-4 with two strikeouts and is now at .214. Rightfielder Boi Rodrigues was 0-4 and is now at .227.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

Uehara (W, 1-1) IP 9.0 PC 139 H 8 HR 0 K 6 BB 0 R 5 ER 4 ERA 3.71

Yokohama:

Turman (L, 0-2)  IP 3.0 PC 68 H 4 HR 1 K 4 BB 1 R 5 ER 1 ERA 7.71
Yone                   IP 1.0 PC 18 H 2 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Morinaka           IP 1.0 PC 16 H 4 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.40
Taniguchi          IP 3.0 PC 48 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.68
Takeshita           IP 1.0 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: T. Ishii (2), Taneda (1), Aikawa (1)
2B: Nakane (1), T. Ishii (2)
SF:Kinjo (1)
HR: Matsui 2 (3), Shimizu (1)
RBI: Shimizu 2 (3), H. Matsui 4 (8), Nishi (3), T. Ishii (2), Kinjo (2), Aikawa (1), Nakane (2)
PB: S. Abe (2)
Catcher's Interference: Aikawa
GIDP: S. Abe
LOB: Yomiuri 5, Yokohama 3

Game Time: 3:02
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Manabe (HP), Honda (1B), Kamimoto (2B), Kittaka (3B)

Kazuo Matsui, Matsuzaka Combine to Slip by Nippon Ham 4-3

     Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui leadoff Saturday's game by putting a big hurt on a first pitch fastball from Nippon Ham starter Tsutomu Iwamoto and leaving it more than 400 feet away in rightcenter for his first dinger of the season and the fifth leadoff longball of his career to help his club to a 4-3 victory at Tokyo Dome.

     Daisuke Matsuzaka started for the Lions and went 7.1 innings of three run ball on three hits, two of them leaving the yard and the other a double, while fighting off pain from a blister on the part of the inside of his thumb that connects with the palm that burst in the fifth inning. The 22 year old righthander struckout 11, walked two and hit a batter.. He was finally taken out after being victimized by a two run homer from Fighters centerfielder Tatsuya Ide.

     Following Matsui's homer, it remained 1-0 until the bottom of the second, when Nippon Ham leveled things by having DH Sherman Obando go downtown on the righthand side to make it 1-1. Leftfielder D.T. Cromer then howitzered a Matsuzaka pitch to the centerfield wall, but he was stranded  when Matsuzaka tempted third baseman Yukio Tanaka to fly out and struckout second baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto and rightfielder Toshihiro Noguchi.

     Seibu restored their one run lead in the top of the third, Matsui walked with one out, as did rightfielder Tatsuya Ozeki and DH Ken Suzuki singled to center to drive in Matsui and it was 2-1 Lions.

     Next time up, Nippon Ham starter Iwamoto made a bad choice and it perhaps cost his club the game. Seibu Third baseman Scott McClain leadoff the inning with a double to leftcenter. Centerfielder Susumu Otomo hit a ball back toward the mound that Iwamoto fielded and threw to third to try to get McClain, who snuck in under the tag. Catcher Tsutomu Itoh sent a sac fly to center to make it 3-1, While pitching to second baseman Hiroyuki Takagi, Iwamoto threw a wild pitch and Otomo moved into second. Takagi then cracked a single to right and Otomo was in at home with a 4-1 lead. Iwamoto walked Matsui and that was it for him, as manager Yasunori Oshima took the ball from him and handed it to Tatsuhito Kato.

     Seibu had one more scoring opportunity in the fifth, first baseman Alex Cabrera tattooing a double up the rightcenterfield gap to lead it off. He moved to third on a groundball to first, but couldn't go anywhere else since McClain popped to second and Otomo struckout.

     Matsuzaka was pretty much humming along until the eighth, when he just ran out of gas. With one away, pinch hitter Hiroshi Narahara walked. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide then homered to right to  carve two runs off the Seibu lead and make it 4-3.

     In the ninth, the ballgame ended in a way that would make any manager livid and if Oshima ripped his charge a new one it would be understandable. Obando leadoff the inning with a single and was pinch run for by Hichori Morimoto. Cromer popped out to third and Tanaka flew out to right. Seibu reliever Toyoda then picked Morimoto off to end it.

     For Nippon Ham. Cromer was 1-4 and is now at .273. Obando was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk and is now at .160.

     For Seibu, Cabrera was 1-4 with a walk and is now at .308. McClain was 1-3 with a walk and is now at .318.

Pitching Lines:

Seibu:

Matsuzaka (W, 2-0)  IP 7.1 PC 118 H 3 HR 2 K 11 BB 3 R 3 ER 3 ERA 2.76
Mori                            IP  .2 PC  13 H 0 HR 0 K  1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Toyoda (S, 1)            IP 1.0 PC   6 H 0 HR 0 K  0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Nippon Ham:

Iwamoto (L, 0-1)     IP 3.1 PC 81 H 5 HR 1 K 1 BB 4 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.48
Kato                         IP 3.0 PC 50 H 3 HR 0 K 4 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Tateyama                 IP 1.2 PC 39 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sasaki                       IP  .2 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shibakusa                IP  .1 PC  2 H 0  HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00

SB: Ozeki (1), Furuya  (1)
2B: Cromer (2), McClain (4), Cabrera (3)
HR: K. Matsui (1), Obando (2), Ide (1)
RBI: K. Matsui (3), K. Suzuki (3), Ide 2 (5), Obando (5), T. Itoh (4), H. Takagi (2)
SF: T. Itoh (1)
WP: Iwamoto
HBP: Ogasawara (Matsuzaka)
LOB: Seibu 10, Nippon Ham 3

Game Time: 3:34
Attendance: 30,000
Umpires: Yamamoto (HP), Sakaemura (1B), Yamazaki (2B), Akimura (3B)

Nakamura Clout Paces Buffaloes Over Lotte 7-1

     Kintetsu Buffaloes third baseman Noirhiro Nakamura got a fourth inning 1-1 fastball down and in from Chiba Lotte Marines starter Natahan Minchey and reamed it real good, banging it off the seats in straightaway centerfield for a two run homer to power the Buffs to a 7-1 romp over the Chiba Lotte Marines. The loss was a new club record for consecutve defeats from opening day for Lotte, now at seven and counting.

     Buffaloes first baseman Yuji Yoshioka slammed three doubles and drove in two runners in five at bats and shortstop Masahiro Abe cannonaded a screamer into the leftcenterfield gap to plate two in the bottom of the second before Nakamura applied the coup de grace in the fourth.

     Takamura started for Kintetsu and went eight strong innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and striking out five while walking four to cadge the win, his first of the season.

     Minchey, by contrast, only held out for 3.2 innings and was abused for seven runs, six earned, on seven hits and three walks while striking out three. Just one of those days for the big righthander.

     For Kintetsu, leftfielder Tuffy Rhodes struckout twice in four hitless at bats and is now at .217. DH Nigel Wilson went 1-3 with two walks and is now at .364.

     For Lotte, DH Glenn Bolick 0-3 with an RBI and a walk and is now at .950.

Pitching Lines:

Kintetsu:

Takamura (W, 1-0) IP 8.0 PC 119 H 3 HR 0 K 6 BB 4 R 1 ER 0 ERA 0.79
Miyamoto               IP 1.0 PC  19 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.50.

Hiroshima:

Minchey (L. 0-2) IP 3.2 PC 78 H 7 HR 1 K 3 BB 1 R 7 ER 6 ERA 7.15
Takagi                  IP 1.2 PC 27 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
K. Yamasaki        IP 1.1 PC 23 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Tak. Tanaka        IP 2.1 PC 28 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 4.15

E: M. Abe (2), Hatsushiba 2 (3), Hori (1)
SB: S. Omura (1)
2B: Yoshioka 3 (5), M. Abe (3), N. Nakamura (3), Sakai (1)
HR: Nakamura (2)
RBI: N. Nakamura 2 (3), Bolick (1), Yoshioka 2 (6), Abe 2 (1), Fujii (1)
HBP: Wilson 2 (Minchey), Takano (Tak. Tanaka)
SF: Bolick (1)
LOB: Kintetsu 11, Lotte 7

HBP: Wilson 2 (Minchey), Takano (Tak. Tanaka)

Game Time: 3:05
Attendance: 29,000
Umpires: Kawaguchi (HP), Nakamura (2B), Iizuka (2B), Tsugawa (3B)

Trivia Time

     Who is the winningest manager of all time in Japanese pro baseball? Answer at bottom of the article.

Wayne Graczyk on Player Movement Between Japan and MLB

     This article is a little over two years old, but it's interesting nevertheless for those who haven't seen it.
http://www.weekender.co.jp/LatestEdition/991119/coverstory.html

Ishii Looks Like His Old Self in Dodgers Victory

L.A. Times story at: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-000024857apr07095133.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dsports

White Sox Fan Obsessed with Ichiro

     See Seattle Times story at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sports/134432714_horn07b.html

This Day in Japanese Baseball History

     The above games took place April 6th, so what happened on that day in Japaneese baseball history?

     On that day in 1974, a member of the Japanese royal family, Ms. Atsuko Ikeda, threw out the first ball in a game at Okayama Prefectural Stadium before a game between the Taiyo Whales (now the Yokohama Bay Stars) and Hanshin. That was the first time that any woman had thrown out the ceremonial first pitch before a pro game in history.

In KBO Action....

     The Korea Times has the action for Saturday's games in the Korean pro baseball league in english, so stop on over at:
http://www.hankooki.com/kt_sports/200204/t2002040717025347110.htm

A Note of Gratitude

     In all the articles I've brought you, I've had to amass information from a lot of different sources for each one since I live in the U.S. and not Japan. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the folks who do the actual heavy lifting in a reporting sense and I hope  that you readers will patronize their websites since there is a lot more on each one than what I convey each time out.

     Below are those organizations and their website addresses. All are in Japanese except the last five.

Sports Nippon Tokyo Edition: http://www.sponichi.co.jp
Sports Nippon Osaka Edition: http://www.sponichi.com
Nikkan Sports Tokyo Edition: http://www.nikkansports.com
Nikkan Sports Osaka Edition: http://www.nikkansports
Sankei Sports: http://www.sanspo.com
Chunichi Sports: http://tochu.tokyo-np.co.jp/
Baseball Monthly: http://www1.u-netsurf.ne.jp/~elysian/
Japan Times: http://www.japantimes.co.jp
Asahi Shimbun English Edition: http://www.asashi.com/english/english.html
Yomiuri Shimbun English Edition:  http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm
Japanese Baseball: http://www.japanesebaseball.com
Japan Today: http://www.japantoday.com

Trivia Answers

     The field boss whosw clubs have seen in the most victories was Kuzuto "oyabun" Tsuruoka, who managed the Nankai (now Daiei) Hawks for 23 seasons from 1946 to 1968, proving victorious 1773 times while losing on another 1140.

     Btw, since you're no doubt wondering, the head man with the most defeats is former Yomiuri Giants, Taiyo Whales, Nishitetsu Lions, Kintetsu Buffaloes and Yakult Swallows skipper Osami Mihara, who dropped 1453 against 1687 wins. He also managed the most games, 3248.

     For those who want to judge by winning percentage with at least 1,000 games under his belt, Tsuruoka owns that as well with a .609 mark. Tetsuharu Kawakami, who managed the Yomiuri Giants to their nine straight Japan Series titles, was second at .591.

     Total wins stack up like this (top five): Tsuruoka, Mihara, Sadayoshi Fujimoto (Yomiuri, Hanshin twice, Hankyu Braves, Shochiku Robins, Daiei Unions) 1657, Shigeru Mizuhara (Yomiuri, Chunichi, Toei Flyers) 1586, Yukio Nishimoto (Hankyu, Daimai Orions, Kintetsu) 1384.

     Among active managers, the leader is Daiei's Sadaharu Oh, with 812 triumphs going into this season. Senichi Hoshino of Hanshin is second with 767. Katsuya Nomura, who got canned to make room for Hoshino, had been tops with 1309.

Source: http://www.din.or.jp/~nakatomi/record/kantoku/index.html

Friday’s Games

Igawa Looking Like a Sawamura Award Contender in Shutout of Yakult

     Southpaw Kei Igawa, who is only 22 years old, just missed out on an ERA title last season, though he had a losing record since he was on a Hanshin Tigers team that finished last for its fourth year in a row and had no offense. This season for the resurgent Osaka favorite sons, Igawa appears if he is taking the role of a number one starter to heart since he is absolutely dominating right now, as he allowed a mere three singles and hit a batter over eight spectacular innings against a high powered Swallows attack while ringing up 11 strikeouts and walking one in combining with closer Mark Valdez to shutout Yakult 2-0. See pic at: http://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/kiji/2002/04/06/20020406010004.jpg

     Shugo Fujii started for Yakult and while giving Hanshin one major chance to break through in his seven innings, nevertheless rendered Hanshin scoreless on four hits and four walks in seven innings while striking out five. That missed opportunity for the Tigers came in the top of the second inning when, with one gone, Derrick White walked. Outfielder Osamu Hamanaka singled to center. Catcher Akihiro Yano got his ancient legs going and outlegged a ball toward short and the bases were juiced. But the speedy shortstop Yoshinori Okihara pinged one on the ground to his opposite number, Shinya Miyamoto, who went to Shiroishi and then on to Roberto Petagine at first and Fujii was out of the inning.

     Having thrown 110 pitches in seven innings, Yakult pitching coach Itoh thought it best that he shut his Fujii down for the night and brought in Tadashi Honma from the pen. Unfortunately, that didn't work too well. Hanshin second baseman Makoto Imaoka leadoff the eighth with a double to leftcenter. He was pinch run for by Taichiro Kamisaka. Honma then threw a wild pitch with third baseman Atsushi Kataoka up at the plate. Kataoka walked and that brought up George Arias, who has gotten off to a slow start. Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino, before the at bat, told Arias in english to "hit to center." Arias didn't do that, but he did lift a fly ball to left deep enough to bring in Kamisaka with the first run of the night.

     Yakult was overpowered by Igawa in the bottom of that frame, as Takahiro Ikeyama and Hirobumi Watarai struckout and centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka popped out.

     In the top of the ninth, Hanshin got a leadoff double to leftcenter from Yano off of Swallows reliever Naoya Shimada. Okihara sacrificed him to third. Shimada is then substituted for Tatsuki Yamamoto, who came in to face Hiroshi Yagi. But Yamamoto balked and Yano jogged in and it was 2-0 Hanshin. Yamamoto induced a ground ball from Yagi, but he then hit centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi with a pitch. Akahoshi tore out for second with Akahoshi at the dish and he was safe. Kamisaka singled to right, but Akahoshi didn't want to challenge Atsunori Inaba's arm and held at third. Kataoka grounded out to second to end the inning.

     Mark Valdez climbed on the hill for the ninth and got two groundballs and a whiff for his third save.

     Hanshin has usually found Meiji Jingu Stadium a house of horrors, as they were 2-9-1 there last year and Yakult has taken every season series between the two clubs since 1992. Itoh allowed that by replacing Fujii, who wanted to stay in the game, he feels responsible for the team losing the game, but I beg to differ. The blame lies on the offense's inability to do anything with Igawa, who was 0-4 last season against them. In fact, Igawa had never won a game against the birds.

     Igawa said after the game that he was concentrating on Yano's mit and not anything else. However, he also said that he had some shoulder discomfort in the wake of his effort, as he did in the aftermath of his first start. Is his shoulder going to go kablooey? We'll see.

     For Yakult, Petagine struckout three times in three official at bats and is now at .304.. The 2001 CL MVP is now 0-17 against Igawa over the last two seasons. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez was 0-3 and is now at .200.

     For Hanshin, Arias was 0-3 with an RBI and is now at .120. Leftfielder Derrick White was 0-2 with two walks in four times up and is now at .385.

Pitching Lines:

Hanshin:

Igawa (W, 2-0)     IP 8.0 PC 114 H 3 HR 0 K 11 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.53
Valdez (S, 3)        IP 1.0 PC  10 H 0 HR 0 K  1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yakult:

S. Fujii                      IP 7.0 PC 110 H 4 HR 0 K 5 BB 4 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.51
Honma (L, 0-1)        IP 1.0 PC   20 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40
Shimada                   IP  .1 PC     4 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40
Yamamoto               IP  .2 PC   14 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.70

E: Furuta (1)
SB: Akahoshi (6)
2B: Okihara (1), Imaoka (3), Yano (3)
RBI: Arias (4)
SF: Arias (2)
WP: Igawa (1), Honma (1)
HBP: Kataoka (S. Fujii), Petagine (Igawa)
PB: Yano (1)
GIDP: Okihara
LOB: Hanshin 10, Yakult 4

Game Time: 3:03
Attendance: 36,000
Umpires: Tomoyori?(HP), Suginaga (1B), Watada (2B), Watamari (3B)

Yokohama Fianlly Wins One as They Scrape by Yomiuri 3-2

     Daisuke Miura, who pitched well enough to win his first time out this regular season but lost, threw another good one Friday and this time got what he deserved, as he parked himself on the group W bench Friday with an outstanding and dogged outing against the Yomiuri Giants at Yokohama Stadium.

     The Giants Masumi Kuwata, trying to join Keiichi Yabu on the guys who looked washed up but are attempting to reach deep down for at least one more good season list, twirled six fine innings himself, but some sloppy defense on the part of his third baseman, Akira Etoh, ultimately did him in during the second inning. Yokohama third baseman Mike Gulan leadoff that fateful frame with a groundball to Etoh, who booted it. Takahiro Saeki then sacrificed Gulan to second. One out later, rightfielder Boi Rodrigues checked in and Kuwata hung a forkball in the middle of the plate and the 2001 Mexican League home run and RBI champ torched it, spraying the horsehide remnant amongst the good folks in the centerfield seats to make it 2-0.

     In the third, the Bay Stars came by their scoring in a more conventional way, as shortstop Takuro Ishii beat out a roller to second to leadoff the inning. Tatsuhiko Kinjo sacrificed him to second. Now I don't understand this: you got a contact hitter at the plate, a guy who has already won a batting championship in his career plus a man with a couple of steals titles in his pocket in Ishii. So you play hit and run, right? Nope, not to the fossilized thinking of Yokohama manager Masaki Mori. Anyway, after Mori gave Yomiuri a free out, leftfielder Takanori Suzuki moved the runner to third with a grounder to second. Mike Gulan, who has been in a slump so far, then unloaded a "timely two base" into the leftfield corner and it was now 3-0 home team.

     In the fifth, though, Yomiuri threatened to get all those runs back at a single stroke. Shortstop Daisuke Motoki walked to begin the inning. Kuwata was surprisingly allowed to swing away and singled to center. Leftfielder Takayuki Shimizu singled to center and now the bases were loaded with nobody out. But Miura is a resourceful and steely and induced second baseman Toshihisa Nishi to pop to first. He then struckout rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi. He got behind to Godzilla Matsui 3-1 and still had the gall to thrown him a forkball that sunk out of the strike zone. Matsui took the bait, though, and grounded weakly to first and he survived with his lead intact.

     In the top of the eighth, Nishi leadoff with a double down the leftfield line. He moved to third on a groundout to second and scored on another groundout to first by Matsui. Thus, Miura departed ahead and now it was up to closer Takashi Saito to ensure the victory.

     Saito took the mound and was greeted by having Etoh take his first pitch way out to leftcenter to make the game razor close at 3-2. But catcher Shinnosuke Abe hit a comebacker to Saito for the first out, Motoki went down hacking for the second and pinch hitter Takayuki Saito tapped to second, where it was gobbled up by Hitoshi Taneda, who flipped to first and it was over, Yokohama's first win of the season.

     For Yokohama, Gulan was 1-3 with an RBI and is now at .250. Rodrigues, an Indiana University product who has practically toured the world playing baseball, was 1-2 with two RBIs and is at .278.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

Kuwata (L, 0-1)       IP 6.0 PC 76 H 5 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 3 ER 1 ERA 1.50
Nishiyama               IP 1.1 PC 15 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Y. Maeda                 IP  .2 PC  7 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yokohama

Miura (W, 1-1)           IP 8.0 PC 123 H 7 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.72
T. Saito (S, 1)              IP 1.0 PC  11 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.00

E: Etoh (1)
SB: T. Ishii (2), Shimizu (1)
2B: Gulan (2), Nishi (2), Shimizu (3), Aikawa (2)
HR: Rodrigues (3) Etoh (1)
RBI: Rodrigues 2 (5), Gulan (3), Matsui (4), Etoh (3)
GIDP: Gulan, Rodrigues
LOB: Yomiuri 7, Yokohama 2

Game Time: 2:40
Attendance: 26,000
Umpires: Tani (HP), Kamimoto (1B), Kittaka (2B), Manabe (3B)

Sasaoka Dominant in 4-0 Shutout of Dragons by Hiroshima

     Shinji Sasaoka, Hiroshima's number one starter, was pretty fabulous his last time out, giving up just an unearned run in seven innings, and he was even better in this one against the Chunichi Dragons Friday at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium in a 4-0 complete game shutout. Sasaoka limited the Dragons to six hits, one of the infield variety, and didn't walk anyone while striking out seven and has now gone 16 innings without anyone scoring an earned run off of him.

     The big blow of the game was in the sixth inning with Hiroshima already leading 2-0. Carp shortstop Akihiro Higashide was on second via a single to center and a sac bunt. Chunichi starter Masahiro Yamamoto had already been through an 11 pitch at bat with leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto, who ultimately grounded out to first. Now with Higashide on third, Yamamoto tried to get a screwball in under the hands of rightfielder Tomonori Maeda, but it just rolled up to the plate and Maeda crushed it more than 400 feet over the centerfield fence to make it 4-0 and the Dragons really had no chance after that, since Sasaoka was giving the opposition batters fits.

     Chunichi manager Masashi Yamada started Sekikawa in center in this game since he's had pretty good success against Sasaoka in the past, but while Sekikawa only had a single in four at bats, he made a highlight play when he robbed Takahiro Arai of a three run homer with a leaping catch over the top of the wall that instead became a sacrifice fly. See pic at: http://tochu.tokyo-np.co.jp/00/baseball/20020406/sekikawa.jpg

Pitching Lines:

Chunichi:

M. Yamamoto (L, 0-2) IP 5.2 PC 98 H 7 HR 1 K 4 BB 0 R 4 ER 4 ERA 5.56
Endo                              IP 1.1 PC 16 H 0 HR 0 K 3 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 6.00
Shotsu                           IP 1.0 PC  9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Hiroshima:

Sasaoka (W, 1-1)       IP 9 PC 106 H 6 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

2B: Lopez 2 (3), Araki (1), Fukudome (3)
HR: T. Maeda (1)
RBI:  Maeda 2 (2), Arai (3), Lopez (4)
SF: Arai (1)
GIDP: Araki
LOB: Chunichi 3, Hiroshima 2

Game Time: 2:34
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Ino (HP), T. Kobayashi (1B), Sasaki (2B), Mori (3B)

Trivia Time

     Which team has gone the longest since its last Japan Series appearance? Answer at the end of the article.

Irabu vs. Ichiro April 12

     With Chan-ho Park now on the shelf due to a bad hamstring, it appears that the Texas Rangers are going to put Hideki Irabu into the rotation. Of course, this has resulted in articles in the Japanese press about how Irabu did against the seven time batting champ (eight if you count his American League title) and Ichiro did okay, though he hardly lit Irabu up. While with the Orix Blue Wave, Ichiro faced "the Jellyfish" 41 times between 1993-1996, did him for 12 hits but never took him deep and drove in two runs for a .293 batting average. Of course, that was when Irabu could run it up there at nearly 100mph (and that was legitimate) and not the 92mph he does now. I haven't seen any stats on how many times Ichiro whiffed against Irabu. But Chunichi Sports pointed out that Irabu went at Ichiro mostly with sliders, so it may be a non-issue.

Ichiro Seat Plan Extended

     One thing people don't know about Ichiro is that he has made seats available at Orix' home ballpark, Kobe Green Stadium, for little leaguers and others for free since just after the earthquake there in 1995. In fact, not only a couple of seats, but its been expanded to 20. No word on how much this all costs, but if you figure that the average ticket to a Japanese ballgame is about $40 a ticket, that's $800 a game multiplied by 70, or $56,000. Ichiro's base pay this season is slightly less than $3.7 million, so it doesn't exactly hurt him, but he doesn't have to do that, either.

Korean League Starts Season

     The KBO opened its season Friday with a four game slate. The Kia Tigers, who had a losing record in 2001, beat the Korea Series champion Doosan Bears 4-1. Jong-beom Lee, an infielder now back with Kia (which used to be owned by Haitai) who was that country's version of Ichiro before he went to the Chunichi Dragons and had three largely undistinguished seasons with them, reportedly had a decisive RBI double. The Korean season is 133 games in a single league and the top four clubs qualify for a playoff that culminates in the Korea Series.

Today in Japanese Baseball History

     On April 5th, 1958, Shigeo Nagashima, fresh out of Rikkyo University, made his regular season debut at third base for the Yomiuri Giants against the Kokutetsu (now Yakult) Swallows and their future 400 game winner and Hall of Famer Masaichi Kaneda . Nagashima took home a golden sombrero (four strikeouts in four at bats). Nagashima, after batting .305 for his career and slugging 444 homers, is now both a Hall of Fame inductee and Japan's Mr. Baseball.

Trivia Answer

     The team that has not been back to the Japan Series the longest is the Chiba Lotte Marines, who last went to the championship faceoff in 1974, when it was known as the Lotte Orions. The second longest is Nippon Ham, which hasn't won a pennant since 1981.

     In any event, the Orions played the Chunichi Dragons in 1974 and won it all, four games to two.
 

April 4, 2002

Thursday’s Games

Tenacious Hanshin Approaches 64 Year Old Record

     The Hanshin Tigers just keep on rolling along, as they locked up their fifth consecutive win to open the regular season by beating the Yokohama Bay Stars 2-1 in 11 innings Thursday at Yokohama Stadium. It was in the spring of 1938 when the club, which was known as the Osaka Tigers, last accomplished that feat. And by throwing a perfect inning of relief in the tenth, Kanazawa won his first game since turning pro four years ago.

     The veteran Nobuyuki Hoshino sparkled as the starter for Hanshin in this one, as he spun six innings of one run ball on two hits while hitting a batter but otherwise not walking anyone and striking out six and even got himself an infield hit, too.

     Hoshino was staked to an early 1-0 lead in the aftermath of centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi getting a walk off of Yokohama starter Takeo Kawamura and then one out later stealing second and third and then coming home thanks to third baseman Atsushi Kataoka spanking a double a down the leftfield line. Hoshino then went on to retire the first nine men he faced in order before permitting his first hit of the ballgame in the fourth and then disposing of the next six in a row, including striking out the side in the fifth.

     But in the bottom of the sixth, Hoshino left a pitch in catcher Ryoji Aikawa's wheelhouse and he scalded it down the leftfield line for a double. Yokohama centerfielder Tatsuhiko Kinjo moved him up 90 feet with a sac bunt. Hoshino then plunked shortstop Takuro Ishii. Second baseman Hitoshi Taneda flew to center and Aikawa tagged and jogged in  to deadlock it at 1-1.

     The following stanza, Yokohama had a golden opportunity to go ahead and let it escape. Hanshin reliever Masashi Date nailed leftfielder Takanori Suzuki to begin the inning. Third baseman Mike Gulan singled to right. Ishii then grounded out to Date and the next two men whiffed.

     In the top of the ninth and two out, Hanshin leftfielder Tomochika Tsuboi hit a bazooka shot to the centerfield wall, the ball missing going over the fence by inches. Running hard all the way, Tsuboi rounded second and headed for third, but he was cut down, violating the old axiom of not making the last out of an inning at third.

     In the bottom of the same frame, Gulan doubled to leftcenter with two gone. Ishii walked. But then rightfielder Hitoshi Nakane grounded to Kataoka and it went to overtime.

     A baserunning blunder by catcher Akihiro Yano may have cost the Tigers a chance at winning it in the tenth. Yano lead off with a single to right. One out later, pinch hitter Hamanka walked. When Yokohama reliever Takashi Saito turned his back to Yano, the veteran receiver attempted to sneak into third, but was tagged out for a totally unnecessary out. Akahoshi then hit a grounder to Ishii at short and he booted it. No redemption for Yano, though, as second baseman Makoto Imaoka struckout to conclude the inning.

     In the top of the eleventh and Guzman now toiling for Yokohama, Kataoka leadoff with a single to center. First baseman George Arias singled to left. Both men were advanced by rightfielder Shinjiro Hiyama's sacrifice. Tsuboi was then intentionally walked to set up a force at every base. With the infield in, Yano grounded to second and Kataoka was out at home. Derrick White was then sent up to pinch hit for shortstop Atsushi Fujimoto. Guzman quickly got behind to White 3-0. White then took two called strikes. Guzman then ran a fastball up to the plate and it was ruled a ball and Arias trotted in with what became the game winning run. Mark Valdez put away three of the four hitters he saw in the bottom of the eleventh for his second save.

     Seeing a picture of that last pitch to White, it appeared to be a strike to me, but it was definitely bordeline. Have a look for yourself at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200204/image/0405white_OS279404_b.jpg For his part, White said of the Guzman delivery, "I know what I can hit and that was definitely a ball."

     Hanshin manager Senichi Hoshino was elated after the game about equaling the 64 year old mark and credited White with using his head out there.

     In contrast, Yokohama manager Masaki Mori was livid, sharply deriding that call as well as one made earlier on a check swing by one of his charges. I'm not going to go into what Mori said specifically, but it did include the use of a word which in translation isn't heard on television.

     For Hanshin, Arias was 1-5 with two strikeouts and is now at .136. White walked in his one at bat and had an RBI and is at .455.

     For Yokohama, Gulan was 2-5 with two strikeouts and is now at .238. Rodrigues was 0-2 and is at .267.

Pitching Lines:

Hanshin:

N. Hoshino                    IP 6.0 PC 76 H 2 HR 0 K 6 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.50
Date                                IP 3.0 PC 43 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kanazawa (W, 1-0)       IP 1.0 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
M. Valdez (S, 2)            IP 1.0 PC 14 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yokohama:

Kawamura             IP 6.0 PC 101 H 4 HR 0 K 5 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.50
Kizuka                   IP 1.0 PC  19 H 1 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Takeshita              IP 1.0 PC  15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Saito                       IP 2.0 PC  33 H 2 HR 0 K 3 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Guzman (L, 0-1)    IP 1.0 PC  31 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 1 ER 1 ERA 5.40

E: T. Ishii (1)
SB: Akahoshi 3 (5)
2B: Kataoka (2), Tsuboi (1), Aikawa (1), Gulan (1)
RBI: Taneda (1), Kataoka (3),White (3)
HBP: Tsuboi (Kawamura) T. Ishii (N. Hoshino), T. Suzuki (Date)
GDIP: Yano, Tsuboi
LOB: Hanshin 10, Yokohama 6

Game Time: 3:53
Attendance: 22,000
Umpires: Honda (HP), Kittaka (1B), Manabe (2B), Tani (3B)

Ishikawa Dominates Carp in Win, But Iida Comes Up Injured

     Judging by his spring training performances, rookie lefthander Masanori Ishikawa seemed as if he would need more seasoning before being able to take a place in the Yakult Swallows rotation. Well, so much for that, as Ishikawa and the young reliever Ryota Igarashi scattered a total of six hits over nine innings in the Swallows 4-0 whitewash Thursday of the Hiroshima Carp at Meiji Jingu Stadium in Tokyo on a gusty, windy day.

     Ishikawa, who was doing a fine job of keeping his pitches down, had taken some advice about how to use his changeup from Shugo Fujii before the start and along with the usual outstanding guidance provided by Atsuya Furuta, who loaded up on painkillers for his ailing left knee just for this start, the Aoyama Gakuin University grad mixed it in well with his screwball, slider and mid-80's fastball to baffle the Carp order, inducing them to hit the ball on the ground, 17 of his 20 outs not leaving the infield. You can see a pic of Ishikawa's delivery at: http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200204/image/0405ishikawa_NK152404_b.jpg

     In the top of the sixth, though, with two gone and a man on second, Carp catcher Shuji Nishiyama hammered a ball back to the mound, where it bounced off Ishikawa's leg and into shallow leftfield. Seeing that, manager Tsutomu Wakamatsu came out to the mound and immediately waved in fireballing reliever Ryota Igarashii, who got Kojiro Machida to ground out to second to end the inning and then threw two more scoreless innings for his first save of the season.

     Yakult did most of its damage its damage in the fifth, as third baseman Akinori Iwamura leadoff the inning with a walk off of Carp starter Ken Takahashi. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez lasered a double down the leftfield line to get Iwamura over to third. Two outs later, centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka, not really a power guy, then dialed long distance and connected with a three run homer to right and now it was 3-0 Swallows. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto scorched a double down the leftfield line, but rightfielder Atsunori Inaba grounded to short to end the inning.

     In the bottom of the sixth, first baseman Roberto Petagine cracked a double to leftcenter to kick things off. One out later, Iwamura singled to right and Petagine came across to make it 4-0. Hiroshima never mounted a substantial threat off of Igarashi and it was soon "game setto."

     For Yakult, Petagine was 1-3 with a walk and is now at .350. Ramirez was 103 and is at .235.

     The Swallows got some bad news about outfielder Tetsuya Iida, who is going to be out two months with a ligament injury to his knee. This is going to give Wakamatsu fewer outfield options and weaken the bench a little. Here's to hoping for a speedier than expected recovery.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Takahashi (L, 0-1) IP 5.1 PC 85 H 6 HR 1 K 3 BB 2 R 4 ER 4 ERA 6.75
Stanifer                   IP  .2 PC  9 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Beltran                   IP 2.0 PC 28 H 2 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yakult:

M. Ishikawa (W, 1-0)   IP 6.2 PC 96 H 4 HR 0 K 4 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Ryo. Igarashi (S, 1)      IP 2.1 PC 30 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

SB: Iwamura (1)
2B: Nishiyama (1), Lopez (1), Diaz (3), Inaba (2), Ramirez (2), Miyamoto (2), Petagini (1)
HR: Manaka (2)
RBI: Manaka 3 (5), Iwamura (1)
WP: Igarashi (1)
GIDP: Furuta, Lopez
LOB: Hiroshima 7, Yakult 4

Game Time: 2:31
Attendance: 18,000
Umpires: Arisumi (HP), T. Kobayashi (1B), Mori (2B), Ino (3B)

Takahashi Homer in Tenth Defeats Dragons

     Third year lefthander Hisanori Takahashi had a bad outing Thursday at  Nagoya Dome against the Chunichi Dragons, lasting just 2.2 innings and being screwed, blued and tattooed for five earned runs against a club with not much offense. But the Giants relief staff held firm and was able to wait until Yomiuri began to chip away at Kenshin Kawakami until they were able to tie it in the seventh, partially thanks to centerfielder Masahiro Araki's uncertain handling of the leadfooted Akira Etoh's liner that went for a gift triple. The game eventually went into extra innings and was decided on Giants rightfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi's homer to right in the top of the tenth, as the Giants pulled out a much harder than it should have been 6-5 victory.

     The Giants go off to an early lead in the top of the first, as Kawakami issued a one out walk to second baseman Toshihisa Nishi. The slumping Yoshinobu Takahashi then ripped a single to left, as did centerfielder Godzilla Matsui, and Nishi loped home. One out later, Etoh walked to load the bases, but catcher Shinnosuke Abe flied to left to extinguish the rally.

     Chunichi took its turn in the bottom of the inning and some batting averages became a touch more robust off of Hisanori Takahashi. Shortstop Hirokazu Ibata leadoff with a double into the rightfield corner. Araki singled to right and it was runners on first and third with nobody out. The sizzling Kosuke Fukudome then cranked a double down the rightfield line to tie it at one all. Third baseman Leo Gomez walked to juice the bags. Tatsunami grounded to second and Nishi got the force at the plate. But leftfielder Jiro Fujitate then took a Takahashi  sinker and blistered it to left to plate two to make it 3-1 Dragons. However, Takeshi Yamasaki killed off the uprising when he rolled to Etoh, who whipped it around the horn for the inning ending double play.

     The Giants got two men on to commence the third on a single and a walk, but first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara hit a sharp groundball at Tatsunami, who flipped to Ibata, who sent it along to first and now nobody was on. Etoh walked, but Abe popped out and that was that.

     On that note, the home team then expanded its advantage. With one gone, Leo Gomez clobbered a Takahashi delivery into the leftfield seats. Tatsunami doubled down the leftfield line. Fujitate then got a cut fastball that didn't do anything and he seared it down the leftfield line, too, for a double and it was 5-1 Chunichi.

     In the fifth and one gone, Matsui smacked his first longball of the regular season halfway up the rightfield stands to cut it to 5-2.

     In the sixth, the Giants got it back to equilibrium, but Kiyohara had to be taken to hospital in the process. Yoshinobu Takahashi singled to right to lead it off. One out later, Kawakami nailed Kiyohara on his right hand and the brawny first sacker was removed from the game and taken to hospital for x-rays, which showed no fracture, just a bruise. Tomohiro Nioka came in to pinch run for Kiyohara. Etoh then got a fastball over the outer half of the plate and he hit it on the screws to center, where it got by Araki and two runs scored while Etoh stopped in at third. Dragons manager Hisashi Yamada went to the bullpen and Shigetoshi Yamakita struckout Masahiro Kawai. Yamada then summoned Eiji Shotsu and shortstop Daisuke Motoki singled to center off of him and it was now knotted at 5-5.

     The bottom of the seventh would then prove pivotal for the Dragons. The first two hitters, Fukudome and Gomez, each  singled to right off of second year Giants reliever Tsuyoshi Jobe. Tatsunami then walked to pack the sacks. But Fujitate, who had earlier driven in three runs, swung at the first pitch he saw from Jobe and tapped a combacker to Jobe, who went to Abe, who then winged it to Etoh, who was now at first, for the twin killing. Jobe then struckout Hiroyuki Watanabe to snuff the fire.

      Both teams went relatively quietly the next two frames, but in the top of the tenth and two away, Takahashi connected and then Kawahara put the Dragons to bed on two grounders to first and a strikeout to save the 6-5 Yomiuri triumph.

     Yoshinobu Takahashi's 4-6 night raised his previously subpar average to a more distinguiahed .348. Nevertheless, he also says that his batting mechanics are still messed up, so we'll see if he replicates last season, when he didn't so well in the first half but the picked it up Johnny Damon-like in the last six weeks or so of the campaign.

     Godzilla Matsui was 2-4 with two RBIs and is now at .444.

     Yomiuri got some good news and some bad news today. Reliever Hector Almonte is going to be out for a few days with a back problem. Fortunately, they could replace him with Hiroki Sanada, who threw seven shutout innings on one hit down on the farm in his most recent start this week.

Pitching Lines:

Yomiuri:

H. Takahashi            IP 2.2 PC 59 H 8 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 16.88
Sakai                          IP 2.1 PC 40 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Nishiyama                IP 1.0 PC 10 H 1 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Jobe                          IP 2.0 PC 28 H 3 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Okajima (W, 1-0)     IP 1.0 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 2.80
Kawahara (S, 2)       IP 1.0 PC  7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Chunichi:

Kawakami              IP 6.1 PC 122 H 10 HR 1 K 4 BB 4 R 5 ER 5 ERA 7.11
Yamakita                 IP  .1 PC     5 H  0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shotsu                     IP  .2 PC  14 H  2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Iwase                       IP  .2 PC  15 H  0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Koyama                  IP 2.0 PC  34 H  2 HR 1 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.70
 
E: Sakai (1)
SB: Nishi (2), Araki  (1)
2B: Ibata(2), Fukudome (2), Tatsunami (1), Fujitate (1)
3B: Etoh (1)
HR: H. Matsui (1), Gomez (2), Y. Takahashi (1)
RBI: Fujitate 3 (3), Fukudome (3), Gomez (2), Takahashi (1), Matsui 2 (3), Etoh 2 (2), Motoki (1)
HBP: Kiyohara (Kawakami), Araki (Sakai)
GIDP: Yamasaki, Fujitate, Ibata, Kiyohara

Game Time: 4:21
Attendance: 40,000
Umpires: Kasahara (HP), Watada (1B), Watamari (2B), Tomoyori? (3B)

Nippon Ham Says Sayonara to Orix
 
     The Orix Blue Wave fought back from a 3-0 first inning deficit to take a one run lead in the ninth on first baseman Fernando Seguignol's two run homer, only then to have Masanobu Okubo blow it and pile on another "kuroboshi (loss), " 5-4 at Tokyo Dome Thursday.

     Hiroyuki Sekine started for Nippon Ham and went five shutout innings on 74 pitches, allowing two hits and striking out seven while walking none. In the meantime, his side was bleeding and nubbing its way to three first inning runs. With two out, Seguignol booted a grounder. DH Sherman Obando, not a speed merchant, legged out a ball toward third. Leftfielder D.T. Cromer then tapped one near second and he beat it out. Third baseman Yukio Tanaka singled to right off of Orix starter Masahiko Kaneda to drive in Obando and rightfielder Toshihiro Noguchi plated two more with a shot up the leftcenter gap to make it 3-0. But any further damage was limited by Noguchi trying to go to third and getting tagged out.

     Kaneda struckout the side in the second and went on to handcuff the Fighters until the fifth. In that inning, catcher Kazunari Sanematsu rifled a double down the leftfield line to start things off. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide walked and one out later so did first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara to load the bases. With the infield in, Obando grounded to short for a force at the plate. Cromer then grounded out to second to strand everybody.

     In the eighth and with Satoru Kanemura now on the mound for Nippon Ham, Orix put a couple of runs on the board. Third baseman Tatsuya Shindo struckout but the ball got away from Sanematsu and he was able to reach. Rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi singled to right and  pinch hitter Yasuo Fujii then singled Shindo in to make it 3-1 Fighters. Catcher Takeshi Hidaka sacrificed to move Katsuragi and Fujii up 90 feet. Shortstop Makoto Shiozaki grounded to third, Tanaka's only play being to first as Katsuragi scored. Second baseman Oshima walked. Centerfielder Yoshitomo Tani grounded out, though, and the inning concluded with a 3-2 Fighters lead.

     Nippon Ham went out "sansha bontai" (three up m three down) in the bottom of the eighth and Orix came to bat. DH  Scott Sheldon singled to left off of Fighters closerTomokazu  Iba. Ryota Aikawa jogged in to pinch run for Sheldon. Seguignol then parked an Iba pitch into the leftfield seats and now the Blue Wave was looking at its first win of the season.

     In the bottom of the ninth, though, backup second baseman Shigeyuki Furuki singled to lead it off. Sanematsu sacrificed Furuki to second. Ide walked. Shortstop Makoto Kaneko singled to right to push the tying run in. Okubo intentionally walked Ogasawara, a good idea, to load the bases. Obando then hit one toward Shindo at third and he booted it in trying to make the relay to the plate for a "timely error," as the Japanese say and Orix is still winless on the season in five tries.

     For Nippon Ham, D.T. Cromer was 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is now at .278. Obando was 1-5 and is now at  .136.

     For Orix, Sheldon was 1-4 with three strikeouts and is now at .350. Seguignol was 1-4 with two RBI s and two strikeouts and is now at .158.

Pitching:

Orix:

Kaneda               IP 6.2 PC 104 H 8 HR 0 K 4 BB 3 R 3 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yamaguchi        IP 1.1 PC  19 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Okubo (L, 0-1)   IP  .1 PC  25 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 2 R 2 ER 1 ERA 27.00

Nippon Ham:

Sekine                 IP 5.0 PC 74 H 2 HR 0 K 7 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Kanemura          IP 3.0 PC 52 H 2 HR 0 K 4 BB 1 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.86
Iba (W, 1-0)      IP 1.0 PC 20 H 2 HR 1 K 2 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 9.00

E: Seguignol (1), Shindo (1)
2B: Noguchi (2), Sanematsu (1)
HR: Seguignol (2)
RBI: Shiozaki (3), Seguignol 2 (4), Fujii (1), Kaneko (1), Cromer (2), Y. Tanaka (1), Noguchi (2)
HBP: Ogasawara (Kaneda)
WP: Kanemura (1), Iba  (1)
GIDP: Kimoto,
LOB: Orix 4, Nippon Ham 10

Game Time: 3:07
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires:

Trivia Time

     Former Hankyu Braves third baseman Hiromi Matsunaga and Seibu Lions shortstop Kazuo Matsui are the only players in Japanese baseball history to share three accomplishments. What are they?

Asahi Shimbun: Japanese Baseball More Popular by More than 2-1 Margin

     One of Japan's big three national newspapers, the Asahi Shimbun, recently did a poll asking which brand of pro baseball are fans more concerned with, the domestic teams or MLB? By a 42%-17% disparity, the local nines come out ahead of their overseas counterparts bigtime. 12% stated that they liked both equally. 28% weren't fans of either, with 37% of all women quizzed revealing that they don't care for baseball. By comparison, only 18% of males had the same apathetic attitude.

     Furthermore, and maybe most alarming to pro yakyu owners, the pollsters discovered that those in their 30's and under are roughly split (33% pro yakyu, 26% MLB) while the higher one goes the less well MLB does, which means that the NPB has a lot of work to do marketing itself to a younger demographic. Men in their 50's are apparently the most beholden to the Japanese league, the study concluded, as 55% pronounced themselves as preferring their native country's hardballers.

     The Asahi poll also found a positive reception as to the idea of Japanese playing in MLB, with 53% off all respondents saying they want their players to gradually filtrate overseas while 33% are opposed to this development. Among just the pro yakyu enthusiasts, though, nearly 40% view their stars leaving as a negative while 51% say they don't mind, so there is a schism among the hardcore pro yakyu devotees in that regard.

     When asked if they had a positive or negative impression of MLB, an overwhelming 81% averred that they look kindly toward MLB while 15% held the opposite opinion.

Terahara Has First regular Season Start in Minors

     In front of 5,000 in a game for the Daiei Hawks Western League affiliate against Kintetsu's minor league branch, 18 year old phenom Hayato Terahara went three innings and allowed just one hit, hitting 92mph on the radar gun. Terahara will train with the big club in between pitching appearances on the farm.

Hotoku Gakuen High Goes All the Way at Koshien Tournament 8-2

     Congratulations to Hotoku Gakuen High School, which beat Tokushima Prefecture's Naruto Kogyo High School 8-2 Friday to win the Koshien Spring Invitational High School Baseball Tournament at Koshein Stadium, Osaka in front of a packed house.

     Hotoku Gakuen, a private school in Hyogo Prefecture that boasts former Yomiuri Giant Tadashi Matsumoto as one of its alumni, got out to a 2-0 early lead and then added five more in the third to put it in the refrigerator. Starter Tomohisa Otani went all the way in getting the victory, hitting 91-92 on the radar gun. This was Hotoku's third overall Koshien tournament win, but its first in 28 years.

     Naruto Kogyo was playing in its first ever Koshien final when it lost.

     About the picture: playing at Koshien is considered a big honor for the teams that make it there. Thus, many of the players take home bits of dirt from the ballpark as a souvenir. http://tochu.tokyo-np.co.jp/00/spogene/20020406/narumonko.jpg

Baseball Still King in Japan, But is That Changing?

     Some interesting facts and figures put up by the Asahi Shimbun's Takeshi Fujitani in that paper's english language edition, which you can read at:  http://www.asahi.com/english/sports/K2002040500321.html

Trivia Answer

     They are the only pair of players to have a stolen base title, homered in a game from both sides of the plate twice and to have hit for the cycle at least once during their careers. Both have Gold Gloves, as well.

Hanshin Wins First Four for First Time in 46 Years

     Thanks to a five homer barrage against the Yokohama Bay Stars Wednesday, including two by leftfielder Derrick White, the Hanshin Tigers have taken their initial quartet of regular season contests for the first time since 1956, when the club was managed by Hall of Famer and "Mr. Tigers," Fumio Fujimura. Your humble scribe wouldn't even be conceived for another year, that's how much time has passed since  the Tigers pulled that off.

     Hanshin starter Shinji Taninaka went 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits, walkiing one and striking out three and emerged as the winner. Taninaka, while limiting Yokohama's run production, complained after the game that he had left too many pitches up in the strike zone and wasn't all that happy with his performance.

     But even less statisfied, for reasons that are rather clear, with his showing was Yokohama starter Shigeo Inamine, who was shelled for four runs on five hits, three of them homers, and definitely didn't help his cause with three walks in his three innings of work.

     Hanshin broke through first in a splashy way in the top of the second. Rightfielder Osamu Hamanaka leadoff by crushing an Inamine delivery over the leftcenterfield wall. Catcher Akihiro Yano also got something he could handle and lost it in the leftcenterfield bleachers for a lightning quick 2-0 Tigers lead.

     In the bottom of the inning, Taninaka's defense saved him from perhaps really getting roughed up. With one away, Yokohama first baseman Hiroo Ishii singled. One out later, Rightfielder Boi Rodrigues singled to center. Catcher Nakamura then singled to center, but Rodrigues made a wide turn at second and centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi threw behind him, Rodrigues being tagged out before Ishii could score to get out of the inning and preserve the 2-0 advantage for Hanshin.

     A half inning on, Hanshin tacked another run on when Derrick White obliterated a hanging changeup and rainbowed it 420 feet into the upper reaches of the leftfield bleachers for his first longball in Japan. Hamanaka followed with a single and Yano walked. Shortstop Yoshinori Okihara then cracked an RBI single to left and it was 4-0 Tigers after three complete.

     Third baseman Atsushi Kataoka then unveiled his initial roundtripper of 2002 on a curve ball on the inner half of the plate to the folks in the rightfield stands in the fourth with nobody on off of Kazushi Hosomi to make it 5-0. Then White went long in the top of the fifth for a 6-0 Tigers lead. Hamanaka then almost followed suit, bouncing a ball off the leftfield wall for a two bagger, but he was ultimately stranded.

     Taninaka was in a groove by now, not having allowed a baserunner since the third. But in the home half of the seventh, Rodrigues stepped up and with one swing of the bat did away with Taninaka's shutout. Taninaka then hung something to Hirofumi Ogawa, who rocketed it off the centerfield fence for a double, but Taninaka then got catcher Ryoji Aikawa to fly out to center and shortstop Takuro Ishii to bounce to first to end the inning, the score 6-1 Tigers after seven. Yokohama added a run in the eighth on three singles, but went peacefully in the last inning and that was the ballgame.

     For Hanshin, White was 2-5 with two RBIs and is now at .455. If you want to see pics of White's homers, they are at:
http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200204/image/0404whiteOS319403_b.jpg and
http://www.nikkansports.com/news/baseball/bb-020404-1.jpg

     Hanshin first baseman George Arias got the golden sombrero (four strikeouts) as part of an 0-5 night and is now at .118. Arias' slump has Hanshin manager Senichi Hoshino contemplating putting White into the cleanup spot in the order, pretty heady stuff for the 32 year old San Francisco native who has bounced around four MLB organizations plus Korea and Mexico. Hoshino likes White's aggressiveness at the plate, though off the field the former Expo is said to be quiet by nature.

     For Yokohama, Rodrigues was 2-4 with an RBI and is now at .308. Third baseman Mike Gulan was 1-4 and is at .188.

     Hanshin's success has also extended to its Western League team, which has won its first four battles of the regular season as well. Tetsuro Kawajiri atarted Wednesday for that team and went seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits.

Pitching Lines:

Hanshin:

Taninaka (W, 1-0) IP 7.2 PC 99 H 8 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 2.35
Date                      IP 1.1 PC 12 H 1 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yokohama:

Inamine (L, 0-1)  IP 3.0 PC 69 H 5 HR 3 K 4 BB 3 R 4 ER 4 ERA 12.00
Hosomi               IP 2.0 PC 31 H 4 HR 2 K 1 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 5.40
Morinaka            IP 2.0 PC 49 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 2 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Guzman              IP 1.0 PC 12 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.86
Kizuka               IP 1.0 PC 11 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

E: Arias (1)
SB: Akahoshi (2)
2B: Hamanaka 2 (2)
HR: White 2 (2), Hamanaka (1), Yano (1), Kataoka (1), Rodrigues (2)
RBI: White 2 (2), Hamanaka (2), Yano (2), Kataoka (2), Rodrigues (3), Okihara (1), Nakane (1)
WP: Taninaka (1)
HBP: H. Ishii (Taninaka), Akahoshi (Inamine)
GIDP: Arias (1)
LOB: Hanshin 10, Yokohama 7

Game Time: 3:04
Attendance: 26,000
Umpires: Kamimoto (HP), Manabe (1B), Tani (2B), Honda(3B)

Takatsu Can't Close the Deal and Yakult Loses

     Yakult closer Shingo Takatsu, looking for his third save of the young season, came on in the ninth inning of Wednesday's faceoff with the Hiroshima Carp to protect a 2-1 lead. Takatsu disposed of the first two hitters on comebackers, but Carp rightfielder Tomonori Maeda singled to center and was pinch run for by Kazuki Fukuchi, who proceeded to steal second. Takatsu then unleashed a wild pitch and was taken for a single to center by first baseman Luis Lopez to tie the game and Yakult then went on to lose it in the 12th on a pinch hit homer off the bat of Shinjiro Nomura 4-3.

     Both of the starters in this one were outstanding, Futoshi Yamabe for Yakult and Masayuki Hasegawa for Hiroshima, but neither was involved in the decision.

     The Swallow jumped out first in the bottom of the second when centerfielder Mitsuru Manaka leadoff with a single to center. Shortstop Shinya Miyamoto sacrificed Manaka to second. Rightfielder Atsunori Inaba singled to center, but Manaka didn't want to challenge Koichi Ogata's arm and held at third. First baseman Roberto Petagine then singled to right and Yakult was on the board at 1-0.

     Hiroshima evened it, though, in the third. Catcher Shuji Nishiyama walked to lead it off. Hasegawa then sacrificed him along. One out later, shortstop Akihiro Higashide singled to right and Nishiyama came in and it was 1-1 after three complete.

     It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Manaka got real gone into the umbrella laden cheering section in right off of Hasegawa to put Yakult up 2-1.

     Neither side did much at all offensively until Lopez, Fukuchi and Maeda performed their heroics to tie it. So let's go on to the top of the eleventh. With one out, Higashide beat out a roller toward short. Second baseman Eddie Diaz sacrificed his double play partner to second. Leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto hit one back right at Yakult reliever Tatsuki Yamamoto, who booted it and everyone was safe. Fukuji then tapped a bleeder toward short and Higashide hurried in from third and it was 3-2 Carp.

     Oyamada came on to save it for Hiroshima in the home half of the inning and left a fat one over the heart of the plate for Petagini, who parked it stage right to knot it at three apiece.

     Now with the 19 year old rookie Sakamoto on the hill for the Swallows, Hiroshima manager Koji Yamamoto sent up veteran infielder Shinjiro Nomura to pinch hit for Yasuhiro Oyamada. Nomura got a 1-1 fastball in the middle of the plate and up and hammered it through the wind into the rightfield stands to make it 4-3 visitors.

     Tamaki was sent in to finish this mess and got three of the next four hitters to put this baby to bed.

     For Yakult, Petagine was 3-5 with two RBIs and is now at .353. Leftfielder Alex Ramirez struckout all three of his at bats and is now at .214.

Pitching Lines:

Hiroshima:

Hasegawa                IP 7.0 PC 91 H 7 HR 1 K 4 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 2.57
Kobayashi               IP  .1 PC  4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Beltran                    IP  .2 PC  5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Sakai                      IP 2.0 PC 28 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Oyamada (W, 1-0) IP 1.0 PC 28 H 1 HR 1 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.38
Tamaki  (S, 1)         IP 1.0 PC 17 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Yakult:

Yamabe                IP 6.1 PC 87 H 6 HR 0 K 2 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 1.42
Honma                  IP  .2 PC  6 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Ryo. Igarashi         IP  .2 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
H. Ishii                  IP  .1 PC  1 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Takatsu                 IP 1.0 PC 13 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 3.00
Shimada               IP 1.0 PC  8 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Yamamoto            IP 1.0 PC 15 H 2 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 3.38
Sakamoto             IP 1.0 PC 16 H 3 HR 1 K 0 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 9.00

E. Lopez (2), Hasegawa (1), Yamamoto
SB: Fukuji (1), Daita (2)
HR: Manaka (1), Petagine (2), Nomura (1)
RBI: Petagine 2 (4), Manaka (2), Lopez (3), Higashide (2), Nomura (1), Fukuji(1)
WP: Takatsu (1)
LOB: Hiroshima 9, Yakult 8

Game Time: 3:57
Attendance: 20,000
Umpires: Sasaki (HP), Mori (1B), Ino (2B), Arisumi (3B)

Obando Granny, Two Ogasawara Blasts Sink the Blue Wave 12-3

     Nippon Ham collected 15 hits, five of them homers, including a grand slam from DH Sherman Obando, Wednesday at Tokyo Dome to stomp the Orix Blue Wave 12-3. Fighters first baseman Michihiro Ogasawara, who hits in front of Obando,
slugged two out of the park and drove in four runs as part of a 4-4 night that raised his average to .412 and helped his club climb to .500.

     Despite the ultimate extent of the Nippon Ham offensive insurgency in this game, it was Orix who scored first. Scott Sheldon leadoff the top of the second with a single to center. Two outs later, rightfielder Ikuro Katsuragi mashed an RBI double to the centerfield fence to plate Sheldon and it was 1-0 Blue Wave.

     Nippon Ham saw that one and raised them one, however, in the bottom of the inning with a single from third baseman Yukio Tanaka and a jack to right from second baseman Kuniyuki Kimoto and to make it 2-1 Fighters after two.

     In the third, shortstop Makoto Kaneko cracked a single to left with one gone. Ogasawara then got a fastball on the outer half of the plate and mortared it into the rightfield bleachers to make it 4-1 Nippon Ham.

     In the fourth and with two down, Orix first baseman Fernando Seguignol creamed an offering from Fighters starter Carlos Mirabel to right to make it 4-2.

     Ogasawara was the first hitter of the bottom of the fifth and that was when he socked another blow into the seats, this time to centerfield, and Nippon Ham was up 5-2.

     Then in the sixth, the home team put this affair in the refrigerator. With one out and Fumiaki Imamura on the mound for Orix, catcher Kazunari Sanematsu singled to left. Centerfielder Tatsuya Ide walked. Kaneko singled to center to pack the sacks. Tsutomu Tamura was waved in to face Ogasawara, and he balked to score Sanematsu. Ogasawara walked. Rui Makino then took a turn at the center of the diamond as Obando stood in and unburdened the basepaths with a shot into the rightfield seats to open a 10-2 gap between the Fighters and the Blue Wave.

     Orix catcher Takeshi Hidaka homered to left off of Nippon Ham reliever Hiroshi Shibakusa in the seventh, only to have Nippon Ham score again in the bottom of the frame and then get a dinger to left from Hichori Morimoto in the eighth to expand its advantage further and that was the end of the carnage. You got to feel sorry for Blue Wave manager Hiromichi Ishige, who has had a lot to endure this first week of the season.
 
     For the Fighters, Obando was 1-5 with four RBIs and two strikeouts and is now at .118. D.T. Cromer was 0-3 with a walk and is at .286.

     For Orix, Sheldon was 3-4 and is now at .375. Seguignol was 1-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts and is at .133.

Pitching Lines:

Orix:

Tokano (L. 0-1) IP 4.2 PC 84 H 9 HR 3 K 6 BB 1 R 5 ER 5 ERA 9.64.
Iwashita             IP  .1 PC  5 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 5.40
Imamura            IP  .1 PC 11 H 2 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 3 ER 3 ERA 9.00
Tamura             IP 0.0 PC  8 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 1 ER 1 ERA 27.00
Makino             IP 1.2 PC 48 H 3 HR 1 K 2 BB 2 R 2 ER 2 ERA 18.00
Okubo              IP  .1 PC  8 H 1 HR 1 K 1 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 27.00
Kase                 IP  .2 PC 10 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 1 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00

Nippon Ham:

Mirabel (W, 1-0) IP 5.2 PC 88 H 6 HR 1 K 5 BB 0 R 2 ER 2 ERA 3.18
Sasaki                 IP  .1 PC  7 H 0 HR 0 K 1 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shibata                IP  .1 PC  4 H 0 HR 0 K 0 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
Shibakusa            IP 1.2 PC 33 H 3 HR 1 K 3 BB 0 R 1 ER 1 ERA 6.75
Tateyama             IP 1.0 PC 15 H 0 HR 0 K 2 BB 0 R 0 ER 0 ERA 0.00
 
2B: Sheldon (3), Katsuragi (2), Satake (1), Ogasawara (1),
HR: Ogasawara 2 (4), Seguignol, Hidaka (1), Kimoto (1), Obando (1), Morimoto (1)
RBI:  Obando 4 (4), Ogasawara 4 (6), Morimoto (1), Kimoto 2 (4), Hidaka (1), Seguignol (2), Katsuragi (1)
WP: Sasaki (1), Tokano (1)
HBP: Ide (Makino)
Balk: Tamura
GIDP: Tani
LOB: Orix 5, Nippon Ham 9

Game Time: 3:24
Attendance: 10,000
Umpires: Nakamura (HP), Yamamoto (1B), Yanagida (2B), Kawaguchi (3B) </