Dead Ball (JPN Baseball Thread)

[Bucky]

more on Tanaka

RHP Ryohei Tanaka made his debut with the Baysox in the sixth inning of a 5-2 victory that capped off Sunday's doubleheader sweep of visiting Erie. Tanaka, a former first-round Draft pick by the Chiba Lotte Marines, was making his first professional appearance since being signed by the parent-club Orioles in the offseason. The first Japanese-born player in Baysox history pitched two scoreless innings of relief -- including a 1-6-3 double play in the ninth to end the game. With the effort, the 26-year old earned his first career save as the Baysox locked down their third consecutive win and took three out of four games from second-place Erie. HE SAID IT: "He's got five pitches and it looks like he can throw all of them for strikes," Baysox pitching coach Larry McCall said of Tanaka. "He's played baseball a long time and he really looks like he understands the game."

[Bucky]

Sixth-round choice Shaver Hansen, a middle infielder from Baylor, is the son of Stan "The Lariat" Hansen -- also known in the ring as "Stan the Man." He began his pro wrestling career in 1973 and wrestled with Andre the Giant and Randy "Macho Man" Savage during the heyday of the World Wrestling Federation. He was a star in Japan, where he was in All Japan Pro Wrestling beginning in 1981.
In 1990, "The Lariat" lassoed Hulk Hogan in front of a cheering crowd at the Tokyo Dome. His son still recalls how big a deal it was in Japan when Dad retired from wrestling.

USA Today

Shaver's father is Stan Hansen, a professional wrestler known as Stan "the Lariat" Hansen or "Stan the Man." His father has wrestled with World Wrestling Federation (WWF) icons including Hulk Hogan, Sting, Andre the Giant and Randy Savage, in arenas such as Madison Square Garden and the Tokyo Dome.
Shaver said he wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
"It's really good," Stan said. "You don't really understand the magnitude until you go to Japan and see the fans at his retirement."
Stan recalls what it was like to raise children in his profession.
"I was big in Japan, so the kids didn't have a chance to see me on television," Stan Hansen said. "It wasn't like other wrestlers. Their kids could watch them on TV. It was like I was gone on business."
Stan began wrestling in the United States and later wrestled in Japan until his retirement in 2001 after almost 30 years in the business.
In the ring he is known for his cowboy getup and signature moves -- the Western Lariat and the Brazos Valley Backbreaker. . . .
. . . To the Japanese, Stan is a hero of the entertainment world. Fans shout "lariato" after he performs his finishing move. To Shaver, he's not Stan "the Lariat" Hansen, but a quiet, supporting, loving father.

Stan's on the left More on Stan here
More on Shaver here

Mom's name is Yumi.

[Greji]

Mom's name is Yumi.

Yumi? Hmmm, sounds Irish!

[Bucky]

[Bucky]

[ythq]X2h5-pln-aE[/ythq]

Shaquille O'Neal is nuts, right? The big man has been training in MMA for a few years. He called out 7-foot-2 Korean giant Hong Man Choi in a recent interview. It would be an even size matchup for Choi, who recently destroyed former baseball player Jose Canseco. Shaq is an estimated 340 pounds at 7-foot-1.

Don't laugh at the possibility that this could go down in the future. Who thought an NBA legend, who's made $271 million alone in salary, would've tried law enforcement assignments in Phoenix and Miami?

[Bucky]

Reports are circulating that Hideki Matsui may head back to Japan after this season, perhaps to play for Hanshin.

[Greji]

Reports are circulating that Hideki Matsui may head back to Japan after this season, perhaps to play for Hanshin.

He's also been rumored as up for trade, since the knee blowout. Even though he has 10 dingers, the Yanks have need for some position players, so it would not be odd to see him traded. He's still got some big contract value in the states, so unless he's just tired of US styled sushi, I think he'll hang around for another season or two, even with a trade.

[Gilligan]

He's also been rumored as up for trade, since the knee blowout. Even though he has 10 dingers, the Yanks have need for some position players, so it would not be odd to see him traded. He's still got some big contract value in the states, so unless he's just tired of US styled sushi, I think he'll hang around for another season or two, even with a trade.

Personally, I don't see a lot of holes in the Yankee lineup]Brian Cashman agrees with me[/URL]:

Brian Cashman doesn't expect to make a major move before the trade deadline, since he likes the team he's assembled.

They could probably use a little help in their 'pen as they currently rank 10th in the AL in bullpen ERA, but I don't think they're going to trade Matsui for a set-up guy.

[Bucky]

[Behan]

Only Japan related in that he plays in the same independet league as Mac Suzuki and Irabu Hideki

If some mad genius ever creates a rodeo for baseball, his or her first call should be to the man in this video, Josh Womack, who currently plays for the Long Beach Armada of the independent Golden Baseball League.

Womack, a second-round pick of the Mariners in 2002, didn't have enough success with them to advance beyond Class A (other than some apparently token at-bats) before being let go in '08.

That he is batting .293/.387/.402 for the Armada this season in a league that features the likes of Jose Lima(notes), Mac Suzuki and Hideki Irabu must be great for Womack. After all, he's still getting paid to play a kid's game.

But it's not Womack's hitting that has the Internet Tubes abuzz. Add a ball to the equation and, sorry Josh, but few care. It's his nimble digits, the lightest fingers this side of a cabal of Times Square pickpockets, that are providing him this 15 minutes.

If you listen to the video, you'll hear Womack say he bruised a palm sliding into home. He's doing magic while injured!

Of course, the first thing one thinks about this video in this cynical society probably is:

Is is fake?

It seems real. No Photoshop or Final Cut Pro kind of sleight of hand here. Steroids? Well, who knows in this day and age. Let's hope not.

In case you're not convinced, here's another routine caught on tape (VIDEO) that includes Prentice Redman, a former major leaguer.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Wicked-video-Minor-leaguer-performs-major-leagu?urn=mlb,171207

[Gilligan]

In case anyone missed it, and I'm sure you haven't, the Sox are skipping Matsuzaka's next turn in the rotation and he could be headed to the DL. And if Smoltz pitches well when he comes back from his rehab assignment on Thursday, Matsuzaka could be on the DL for quite a while. And even if Smoltz doesn't, the Sox still have Buchholz down in AAA (1.90 ERA over 11 starts covering 71.0 innings).

Money quote:

Matsuzaka was the MVP of the World Baseball Classic this spring for the second straight time after going 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA in 14 2-3 innings over three starts. Francona said Matsuzaka wasn't the same pitcher when he returned to Red Sox spring training.

"It all started with the WBC. It's become obvious that his velocity wasn't what it was," Francona said.

[Gilligan]

ESPN.com's Rob Neyer, riffing off the Boston Globe's Bob Ryan, assesses the Sox's $103 million investment in Matsuzaka.

Neyer:

In retrospect, investing $103 million in a pitcher who'd never pitched against most of the best hitters in the world seems at least a little bit risky, right? Particularly a pitcher who had, by all accounts, thrown an immense number of pitches before reaching physical maturity?

Ryan (emphasis added):

There's a lot of financial craziness out there in modern professional sport, but we have not yet reached the point where a third or fourth (and in this case, fifth) starter is worth a total investment of $103 million for six years.

And then there's this Tom Verducci piece that was in SI back in late April, looking at the track record of Japanese pitchers coming to the majors and breaking down in their 3rd or 4th seasons.

Nomo, Ishii, Irabu and Yoshii all had initial success. But the third and fourth seasons became treacherous. Nomo was much worse in his third year and released by the Dodgers in his fourth year. Ishii was done after his fourth year. Irabu made only five more starts after his fourth year. Yoshii was released after his third year.

[Greji]

".....
And then there's this Tom Verducci piece that was in SI back in late April, looking at the track record of Japanese pitchers coming to the majors and breaking down in their 3rd or 4th seasons.

Quote:
Nomo, Ishii, Irabu and Yoshii all had initial success. But the third and fourth seasons became treacherous. Nomo was much worse in his third year and released by the Dodgers in his fourth year. Ishii was done after his fourth year. Irabu made only five more starts after his fourth year. Yoshii was released after his third year.
....."

He doesn't note that in baseball age, they all had flowing beards and canes by the time they got to the states, thanks to the JPB isolationist FA rules....

You can't esxpect many more seasons from them....
Dice-K is a bit younger, but the WBC may have finished him...

[Gilligan]

He doesn't note that in baseball age, they all had flowing beards and canes by the time they got to the states, thanks to the JPB isolationist FA rules....

You can't esxpect many more seasons from them....
Dice-K is a bit younger, but the WBC may have finished him...

Yes and no. Nomo was 26 in his first season with the Dodgers--same age as Matsuzaka when he first joined the Sox.

In fact, Ryan mentions that the Sox understood this trend, but felt it was age related (as you imply). Nomo and now Dice-K are possible evidence to the contrary.

[Bucky]

Yes and no. Nomo was 26 in his first season with the Dodgers--same age as Matsuzaka when he first joined the Sox.

Yes, but how many pitches had they thrown in the lives by that time compared to, say, an American pitcher of the same age? I suspect they had far more wear and tear on their arms .

[Greji]

Nomo and now Dice-K are possible evidence to the contrary.

Not necessarily Gil. You cannot set the same gage to every pitcher in the game. This is what the media so loves to (wrongly) do.

A pitcher hits his physical peak between 26 and 29 years of age. Once 30, or older, they're pitching on the downhill of their physical abilities and using the efficiency and knowledge they have learned and perfected through experience to continue their careers. The the difference between Japan and USA shows markedly in the higher age range. Look at the percentage of J pitchers that make it past 35 and than those very, very few that get past 40.

Compare those with the numbers in the US and you will find the older pitchers naturally live longer in the MLB, hands down. No contest.

[Bucky]

Gilligan, sorry to report:

The Baltimore Orioles sent pitcher Koji Uehara for a test on his ailing right elbow Tuesday, and it's still uncertain how long he will remain on the 15-day disabled list. Uehara hasn't picked up a baseball since his last start on June 23 against the Florida Marlins. He was placed on the DL on Sunday with a strained elbow.

Or perhaps you already knew this.

[Greji]

Gilligan, sorry to report:


Or perhaps you already knew this.

Looks like it is a tendon in the elbow. Initial reports this morning said he'll probably miss two months....

[Gilligan]

While I suspect it's more empty saber-rattling than anything else, Scott Boras, in an attempt to get his client a contract larger than what is allowed under current-draft rules, is threatening to have #1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg sign with a team in Japan.

The Major League Rules is a sprawling, dense, little-known, 254-page document, periodically updated, that governs the business side of baseball. Among other things, it lays out, in painstaking legalese, the process and guidelines for the sport's annual draft, and in recent years, these sections have provided a road map for a certain notorious agent bent on circumventing the draft itself. ...

This summer, Boras has another high-profile client, San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg, for whom he would love nothing more than to blow apart baseball's draft system, allowing Strasburg to be compensated in line with his talent -- his asking price is believed to be around $50 million -- as opposed to within the parameters of the current system, in which no player has ever received more than $10.5 million.

Even before talks began with the Washington Nationals, who made Strasburg the first overall pick June 9, Boras was dropping hints privately that he is preparing to explore a new frontier in his ongoing draft-busting crusade: Japan.

Seems WAY too risky to me to be anything more than a major bluff. If he signs with a Japanese team he won't get a big contract, and in order for him to prove he deserves the contract he wants, he'd need to dominate here--definitely no guarantee that would happen.

And then there's this:

A player signing with NPB would be subject to its "reserve" system, which binds a player to his team for nine years, although exceptions can be made. According to Itaru Kobayashi, a Columbia Business School graduate and former NPB player who is now marketing director for the league's SoftBank Hawks, the bigger issue would be cultural.

"This will do more harm than good to the NPB club. [Strasburg] will not be welcomed, neither by the teammates or the media," Kobayashi said. "It is not easy to sympathize with a guy who comes to Japan just as [part of] a negotiation process to squeeze more millions out of [an MLB] club."

And this:

Boras is also looked upon unfavorably in at least some parts of Japan over his handling of Matsuzaka's messy jump from the NPB's Seibu Lions to the Red Sox in December 2006.

Boras "is generally regarded as greedy and egotistical," said Robert Whiting, an American who has authored seven books on Japanese baseball, "and many people here are [fed] up and angered by his remarks that he is intending to use Japan just as a tool to intimidate MLB and get more money for his client. It shows a lack of respect for the country."

[IkemenTommy]

NJR but I had to throw this on here
Blue Jays sign Sean Ochinko

The Toronto Blue Jays have signed catcher Sean Ochinko who was selected by the club in the 11th round of the 2009 First Year Player Draft.

The Blue Jays have now signed 26 players selected from the 2009 draft.

Good luck, Ochinko.

[Greji]

NJR but I had to throw this on here
Blue Jays sign Sean Ochinko

Good luck, Ochinko.

My gf is a big fan of Ochinko!

[TennoChinko]

NJR but I had to throw this on here
Blue Jays sign Sean Ochinko

Good luck, Ochinko.

[SIZE="6"]No, we are not relations, sir.[/SIZE]

[Gilligan]

Igawa just became the winningest pitcher in Yankee history ... Scanton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee history

[TennoChinko]

It's official. Bobby Valentine announced he will not be returning to manage Chiba Lotte in 2010:

http://chinkyeyedjoe.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-official-bobby-valentine-decides.html

The latest rumor I read indicated he was talking to the Washington Nationals.

[Greji]

It's official. Bobby Valentine announced he will not be returning to manage Chiba Lotte in 2010:

http://chinkyeyedjoe.blogspot.com/2009/07/its-official-bobby-valentine-decides.html

The latest rumor I read indicated he was talking to the Washington Nationals.

I talked to him Friday night at a dinner for the Notre Dame team and he didn't indicate any plans. He will definitely be here through September per the conversation.

I don't know that he is definitely done for that matter. As with players, popular managers can play the game for bigger and better contracts. He could also be doing that given the effects on upper management that will happen with the large fan movement aimed at keeping him in place.

[Bucky]

Ichiro bailed out the Mariners with the first game-ending hit of the 1,953 he's had in the major leagues since arriving from Japan in 2001.

It is amazing to me that after 8-1/2 years of playing for the Seattle Mariners that last night was the first time Ichiro has had a game winning hit! Jose Lopez the M's 2nd baseman has 8 this season alone.

Ichiro has had plenty of opportunities to drive in game-winners, however it seems that more often than not, in clutch situations, he does NOT come through.

Sorry about the quality of this video. The poster did not seem to know that what "focus" meant. Ichiro's game winner from 7/28/09:

[Gilligan]

It is amazing to me that after 8-1/2 years of playing for the Seattle Mariners that last night was the first time Ichiro has had a game winning hit! Jose Lopez the M's 2nd baseman has 8 this season alone.

Ichiro has had plenty of opportunities to drive in game-winners, however it seems that more often than not, in clutch situations, he does NOT come through.

That is interesting, but I imagine it's more flukey than anything else. A quick check of his splits finds (not that surprisingly) that Ichiro's batting statistics are pretty much the same (taking into account the varying sample sizes), regardless of situation. Over the last 3 years, his overall BA has been .328, his OBP has been .376, and his SLG has been .411 (2059 ABs). During that same time span, he's hit .335/.409/.399 with runners on base (669 ABs), .301/.410/.351 with runners in scoring position (379 ABs), and .328/.448/.410 with runners in scoring position and 2 outs (183 ABs). They didn't have splits for runners on late in a close game, but even if they did, you'd probably be dealing with a sample size so small that it's probably not worth talking about.

But then again, it's not TOO surprising when you consider that Ichiro drives in an average of only 58 runners / 162 games. He just doesn't hit with enough power to get the job done with any consistency. But that's not why he's on the team, either.

Now if you told me he'd never scored a run that ended a game, THEN I'd be surprised.

[Gilligan]

Some people just aren't as impressed with Ichiro as most Japanese people seem to be.

But as prolific as he's been, Ichiro is a significantly less productive hitter than other players with similar batting averages. Of his 1,974 hits with Seattle, an astounding 81% have been singles, a higher proportion than any modern-era player with at least a .320 average. More remarkably, nearly one in four of his hits never left the infield. The problem: singles don't translate into runs as well as other kinds of hits. And when he's not hitting, he very rarely walks. Despite leading all batters in hits this season, Ichiro ranks No. 25 in on-base percentage and No. 39 in runs scored.

[Behan]

It's incredible that he gets on base so often with all those infield hits. I guess he's just incredibly fast. Or is he hitting the ball between fielders?
Ichiro is currently second to Joe Mauer on the AL batting average list.

[Greji]

Some people just aren't as impressed with Ichiro as most Japanese people seem to be.

That's the usual "I know ball better than you" crowd Gil. Look at his SBs and runs scored. Maybe not league leaders, but exactly what you want in your lead-off hitter. These know-it-alls may not want him, but I would be willing to bet any MLB GM, or manager would take him in a flash.

PS. That was his first walk off HR, not game winning hit, of which he has had many before, just not four baggers.