Japanese-American Perspectives

...Hanamaki Higashi High School stand-out pitcher Yusei Kikuchi (菊池雄星) is drawing interest from MLB scouts. Dodgers scout Logan White (?) was seen at a practice game recently during his trip to see the WBC.

Kikuchi is a 17-year-old lefty pitcher that currently tops out at 146km/h. He stands at 184cm and weights 82kg. He can throw a curve, slider, change, and fork.

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...20-year-old Kai-Wen Cheng will be holding a press conference on the 12th in Taiwan to announce that he has signed a contract with the Hanshin Tigers. He will be flying into Japan on the 13th. Cheng was on Taiwan WBC roster this year.

...The Hiroshima Carp will be offering special limited edition tickets for games between May 24th and September 30th in their new stadium this season. The new seating package is called "UC Rock Seat 2009" and will include a limited edition figure set, special box lunch, and a reserved seat in the outfield section. Rock Seat tickets will cost 4700yen.

(The Unicorns are a band out of Hiroshima that recently got back together again after breaking up 16 years ago.)

UC Rock Seat 2009 Figure Set

...Edgardo Alfonzo may have lost the position battle at second base due to "sluggish" fielding. Seems like the coaches are ready to start testing him over at third and first, which means he may end up battling Seung-Yeop Lee for the starting first base job.

...The NPB may be moving toward adding instant replays on disputed home run calls. During the last Executive Committee meeting, held on the 9th, officials decided to start looking into how much it would cost to implement the technology to allow for instant replays.

The Central League may actually begin testing technologies during the second half of the season this year, begining with the Yomiuri Giants.

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...Eri Yoshida tossed her first bullpen session in 2 weeks. Of the 51 pitches she threw, 26 were knuckeballs. She is expected to make her official debut during a game on the 27th of March.

"It was my first session in two weeks and it felt great. And I felt I need to throw a little more than 40... So I threw a little more than that. I was so preoccupied with my session, I didn't even notice the reporters."

Eri Yoshida

Here are some other comments she has made:

On the first day of camp
This is the first time I have been to Awaji Island. Too bad it's cloudy today. But the ground looks wonderful. We've got one more week here so I'm really looking forward to it. I'm going to do my best.

On your bullpen sessions
A few things came up that I need to work on. How I use my body and my balance are two things. I felt a number of things. But I think I'm on the right track. I can't really say things were good from the start though.

On your knuckleball
I couldn't throw it much when it was cold. I could definitely feel a loss of control because of that. It felt different the minute I held the ball. I usually do long tosses with the knuckleball during the warmer months, so I'd like to try to work it in when I play catch.

On opening day
I'm doing some image training. I'm picturing my ideal knuckleball and a good fastball. I tend to think if I imagine it in my head, my body will follow.


There was also a little incident with the photographers at her bullpen session. 1 of the close to 50 photographers at her session apparently made it threw security by simply saying that he knew one of the Kobe 9 Cruise coaches.