Hiyama, Arai lift Hanshin over Chunichi

Kyodo

Apr 5, 2008

NISHINOMIYA —
Pinch-hitter Shintaro Hiyama tied the game on an RBI single in the seventh inning and Takahiro Arai followed with a go-head single as the Hanshin Tigers came from behind to down the Chunichi Dragons 3-2 on Tuesday. Scott Atchison (2-0) pitched seven sharp innings, allowing one run on five hits while striking out three with no walks in Hanshin’s first home game at the renovated Koshien Stadium. Kyuji Fujikawa gave up one run in the ninth but got Motonobu Tanishige to fly out after loading the bases with two out for his sixth save.

In another Central League game, Yokohama and Yomiuri tied 3-3 after 12 innings. In the Pacific League, Orix hammered Softbank 8-3, Seibu edged Lotte 4-3 and Nippon Ham beat Rakuten 8-7.

Yomiuri's Uehara sets sights on majors

Kyodo

Apr 4, 2008

TOKYO —
Yomiuri Giants right-hander Koji Uehara said Monday he wants to fulfill his dream of playing in the major leagues after meeting the requirements to become a free agent. ‘‘I haven’t seized the dream of playing in the major leagues. That is my ambition,’’ Uehara told a press conference. ‘‘I don’t have that much time left and I want to achieve that goal before I see out my career,’’ added the 33-year-old.Uehara qualified for free agency for the first time on Friday and is expected to formally announce his decision to exercise that option after the end of the season. Uehara has a 106-58 career record with a 2.97 ERA over nine-plus seasons with the Central League club. He took the loss in a 4-3 defeat to the Chunichi Dragons in his first start on Tuesday after returning to the rotation this season.

Sakamoto's slam powers Yomiuri in rout of Hanshin

Kyodo

Apr 7, 2008

TOKYO —
Hayato Sakamoto hit a grand slam to record his career first home run and Hiroshi Kisanuki pitched eight strong innings Sunday as the Yomiuri Giants romped 9-1 over the Hanshin Tigers to win their second game this season. Yoshinobu Takahashi gave Yomiuri a 2-0 lead with a two-run blast in the third and Sakamoto’s drive to the seats in left capped a six-run fifth at Tokyo Dome. Takahashi went deep to right again with a solo shot in the eighth for his fourth homer this season.

In other Central League games, Hiroshima routed Yokohama 17-3 and Chunichi blanked Yakult 6-0. In the Pacific League, Seibu edged Rakuten 4-3, Lotte beat Softbank 5-4 and Nippon Ham defeated Orix 3-2.

Nomo ready for another crack at majors

Kyodo News
Feb 16, 2008

SURPRISE, Arizona — Veteran right-hander Hideo Nomo began his bid Thursday for a comeback to the big leagues with the Kansas City Royals as spring training got under way with eight different major league clubs. The 39-year-old Nomo joined teammate and former Lotte Marines right-hander Yasuhiko Yabuta at the camp, where newly appointed manager Trey Hillman takes the reins after leading the Nippon Ham Fighters to two consecutive Pacific League titles in Japan.
Nomo, who has compiled a 123-109 record in 11 seasons in the majors, is taking part in the Royals' spring training as a non-roster invitee after signing a minor league deal with the club last month. It will be an uphill battle for Nomo after a two-year hiatus from the majors. One concern is the condition of his right elbow since undergoing surgery in 2006 and the strength of his right shoulder, which was operated on in 2003.

A calmer spring and big hopes for Matsuzaka

Mainichi Daily News
Feb 12, 2008

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) -- The media frenzy is finished. The interest in the gyroball is missing. The curiosity about the brilliant Japanese pitcher is gone.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is no longer a rookie in U.S. Major League Baseball. This spring training is already much calmer than his first one with the Red Sox.

"I know where everything is," he said through a translator. "I know the layout of the facilities and things like that, so it's been a lot easier being back this year."

Only about 20 reporters spoke with Matsuzaka after his second day at camp Monday. Last year, at his first official news conference of spring training, there were about 100 media members plus nine satellite trucks.

That event was televised live to Japan, where it was 7 a.m. -- must-see TV after Boston paid $51.1 million for the right to negotiate with him and another $52 million for his six-year contract.

Most of that pressure has disappeared. The burden of making up for the absence of Curt Schilling has been added.
Dice-K threw 41 pitches Monday, ignored by most of the media. The blogger at 38pitches.com, Schilling, is the team's big story now.

"I think at the end of the season last year, I had already decided that I'd put a lot of pressure on myself this year to perform really well," Matsuzaka said Monday. "So that was decided before I knew about Curt's injury. But now that I do know, I'd like to do my best to fill whatever holes I can."

Matsuzaka had a legitimate chance to become No. 2 pitcher in the starting rotation, behind Josh Beckett, even before it was disclosed last week that rehabilitation of a shoulder injury would sideline Schilling at least until the MLB All-Star break.

Matsuzaka will be in that spot at the first official workout for pitchers and catchers Saturday, two days after they're scheduled to report. Four-fifths of the projected rotation -- Beckett, Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz -- already are in camp. Only Tim Wakefield didn't work out there Monday.

Matsuzaka lived up to his billing as perhaps Japan's best pitcher from the start of last season, even though he playfully refused to say whether he had brought his perhaps mythical gyroball pitch with him.

In his first game with Boston, he allowed one run and struck out 10 in seven innings of a 4-1 win at Kansas City. In the first half of the season, he was 10-6 with a 3.84 ERA with 123 strikeouts and 38 walks.

Then the long grind of the season took its toll. In the second half, he was 5-6 with a 5.19 ERA with just 78 strikeouts and 42 walks. His fatigue peaked at an unaccustomed time.

"In Japan, it usually comes around June or July," Matsuzaka said. That's "when I feel the most tired. I can build myself back up toward the end of the year and toward the playoffs.

"But what happened last year was I couldn't time it as well. So I just felt the fatigue just dragged on gradually all the way throughout September, so I wasn't able to readjust. But for me I felt like it was a little bit off even from the beginning of spring training."

Overall, he was 15-12 with a 4.40 ERA and was sixth in the American League with 201 strikeouts.

His problems continued in the playoffs when he failed to get out of the fifth inning in his first two starts before earning the win in the seventh game of the AL championship series in Cleveland when he gave up two runs in five innings.
And in Game 3 of Boston's sweep of Colorado in the World Series, he came through again,. allowing two runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 10-5 win.

Then his first U.S. season was over. He returned to Japan as part of a championship team. His journey from star in his native country to rookie in the United States was over.

His second American spring training is under way. His regular season begins in Tokyo where the Red Sox will face the Oakland Athletics on March 25 and 26.
Matsuzaka's participation is uncertain because his wife is due to give birth about that time. He declined to talk about that on Monday.

He had no qualms about discussing baseball, especially since he can go about his business without having videocameras trailing him around camp. On Monday, few reporters watched him wrap up his workout with some short sprints.

"Compared to last year," Matsuzaka said, "things are going to be a lot more comfortable, a lot more familiar. So, in that sense, there's going to be a lot less stress. So, hopefully, I can take some of that energy and really focus it on baseball.

"As for high expectations, I think I'm the one that has the highest expectations for myself."
（Mainichi Japan） February 12, 2008

Boston Red Sox lefty setup man Hideki Okajima plays 'I've Got A Secret'

Mainichi Daily News
Feb 14, 2008

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) -- Hideki Okajima smiled, raised one finger to his lips and said "secret" when asked about his new pitch.

A secret himself a year ago after 12 seasons in Japan, the Boston Red Sox discovered what they had as their championship season rolled along -- one of the best setup men in Major League Baseball.

"I don't think we expected the level of performance that he provided," Boston pitching coach John Farrell said on Wednesday. "He was in an elite group of relievers in the American League."

Even the pitch he's developing to go with his devastating split-finger fastball is no longer a secret. It's a two-seam fastball, Farrell revealed, but it's effectiveness remains a mystery "until he gets in games and he's able to throw that against hitters."

The left-hander with the quirky motion that leaves him looking at the ground when he delivers a pitch had to adjust to plenty of changes when he joined the Red Sox before last season -- food, language, new hitters and a longer season.
Yet his "stoic" demeanor and maturity allowed him to deal with all that, Farrell said.

This year there will be more adjustments after one of the heaviest workloads of his 13 pro seasons left him worn out by September. He plans to throw fewer pitches between appearances so he can "peak at the end of the season," Okajima said on Wednesday through a translator.

In his first 57 appearances last year, he allowed just eight earned runs and had a 1.17 ERA. In his other nine outings, he gave up nine earned runs. He was given extra rest in September for his tired arm and finished with a 2.22 ERA and 3-2 record.

Okajima was much fresher in the playoffs, pitching 7 1-3 shutout innings in his first five appearances. Then he struggled with three earned runs in 3 2-3 innings of the World Series, a four-game sweep over the Colorado Rockies.

The previous season, he won another title as the Nippon Ham Fighters took the Japan Series.
Then he came to the United States, overshadowed by the hype of Boston spending $103 million to sign another Japanese pitcher, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Okajima signed a two-year, $2.5 million deal.

In the majors, the playoffs are "very, very long," he said after throwing indoors when thunderstorms hit the Red Sox complex the day before the official reporting date for pitchers and catchers. "It's nothing comparable to (the) Japanese championship league."

Okajima also had to adjust to more power-packed lineups.
"I became tough mentally because I experienced a lot of strong sluggers in (the) major leagues," he said. "It's totally different from (the) Japanese league, and also the number of games is different -- 162 games, that's a lot of games."
The first home-run hitter he encountered was Kansas City catcher John Buck, who sent Okajima's first pitch in the majors over the fence in the Royals' 7-1 win on April 2.

"It was shortly after that that he did come up with a true strikeout pitch and that is really what allowed his role to emerge," Farrell said.
Okajima's season turned around during a bullpen session on a day when the Red Sox were rained out.

He and Farrell worked together and made a slight change in the grip on his changeup.
"He just split his fingers a little bit more and threw more of a true split-finger or forkball," Farrell said, "and that's the pitch that really emerged to be his strikeout pitch."

Okajima followed the homer to Buck with 19 consecutive scoreless outings. He even retired Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to record his first major league save on April 20, closing because Jonathan Papelbon had pitched in the two previous games. On April 21, Okajima retired two batters without allowing a run.

That was a very good sign, but just how good he could be remained a secret.
"We haven't seen him enough to know how he'll take this and run with it," manager Terry Francona said after those games. "We're really hoping he gets more confident."

He ran with it all the way to an All-Star game spot and a World Series championship.
Now the Red Sox know what they have and have no plans to move Okajima from his setup role for Papelbon.

And it's no secret to Okajima what to expect after a season of adjustments: He knows he can be a very good pitcher in a league with some of the best hitters in the world.

"Obviously, it is different from last year," he said, "and I feel fresh."

Takashi Saito agrees to contract with Dodgers

Mainichi Daily News
Feb 14, 2008

VERO BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Japanese right-hander Takashi Saito agreed to a $2 million, one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday, a day before the U.S. Major League Baseball team's pitchers and catchers report for pre-season spring training.

"I'm very relieved to clean everything up," he said through a translator. "It just feels a lot better not having to worry about my contract. I'm just very happy that the Dodgers consider me a very important part of the team."

Saito, who can earn an additional $200,000 in incentives, was 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA and 39 saves in 43 chances with the Dodgers last season, and made the National League All-Star team.

Saito, who turns 38 on Thursday, signed a U.S. minor league contract with the Dodgers two years ago after playing 14 seasons for Yokohama of the Japanese Central League. He was 6-2 with a 2.07 ERA and 24 saves in 26 chances in his first NL season.
（Mainichi Japan） February 14, 2008