Japanese-American Perspectives

HANSHIN TIGERS

...Minoru Iwata was removed from the active roster on Sunday with stiffness in his buttocks. According to the coaches, he suffered the injury while pitching against the Giants on the 10th.

...Tigers' manager Akinobu Mayumi celebrated his 56th birthday on Sunday.

ORIX BUFFALOES

...The Buffaloes are the first team in the NPB to give up 400 runs this season.

RAKUTEN EAGLES

...Hisashi Iwakuma gave up 4 home runs against the Softbank Hawks on Sunday and has now given up 7 on the

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HANSHIN TIGERS

...Akihiro Yano started in a game against Ni-gun Hiroshima on Saturday and went 1-for-2 with a walk. He stayed in the game until the 5th. His last rehab start came on June 30th against Ni-gun Softbank, but after feeling some pain in his right elbow after the game, they shut him down for a few days and held off on letting him appear in any games.

RAKUTEN EAGLES

...Hisashi Iwakuma will likely be called up to start Sunday's game against the Softbank Hawks.

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HANSHIN TIGERS

...In an effort to help find his swing, Takashi Toritani spent about 40 minutes in the batting cages on Wednesday. Toritani is currently batting .241 with a .690 OPS and is 4-for-20 over his last 6 games.

...Just how bad can the Japanese media be? Kevin Mench was photographed riding around on a scooter and the media is going crazy about how he wasn't wearing a helmet (but since he was riding around within the training grounds, he technically wasn't doing anything

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HANSHIN TIGERS

...Akihiro Yano started his throwing exercises back up again on Thursday. He tossed 40 balls from a distance of 30 meters and then fielded some grounders at third and made about 14 throws to first.

RAKUTEN EAGLES

...Todd Linden should arrive in Japan some time on the 19th. Kazuo Fukumori could also be ready to join the ball club at that point in time as well (his try-outs went well and a contract has been signed). Fukumori's number is likely to be in the 90's as a "sign"

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HANSHIN TIGERS

...The Tigers almost had a scare last night when Tomoaki Kanemoto and Takashi Toritani collided in the field in the third. Kanemoto appeared to get the brunt of the collision, but he ended up staying in the game.

Tigers' Chief Trainer said, "Kanemoto said he feels like he was knocked out. But we didn't go to the hospital or anything, just iced him down." On the line for Kanemoto, of course, was his "every inning of every game" streak that

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