NPB Bullet Points (2008/08/16)
A busy work schedule kept me away from the blog for a few days, but I’m back with another post. We’ll start with the usual randomness and hopefully I’ll have some more focused content to post in a couple of days.
English Articles:
- I’ve made my list of 2009 free agents a permanent page on the site.
- Mike Plugh’s Darvish Watch blog is back.
- SeeBeautiful published some excellent photographs from a recent Tigers-Swallows game.
- Speaking of photography, here’s a great shot of the Lucky 7 jetto-fusen at Koshien.
- 2006 Rookie of the Year Tomoya Yagi pitched well in his first game of the season.
Japanese Articles:
- Orix slugger Alex Cabrera had 4 hits and 3 RBI’s in the Buffaloes’ Aug 16 win over Nippon Ham, pulling within 1.5 games of a playoff spot. Cabrera is promising to close the gap: “The team is clicking and it’s a good atmosphere. We’re definitely going to the playoffs, so to all the fans, why don’t you come with us?” (note: translation of a translation. These are not his exact words.)
- Olympic teammates Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanaka have shaved their heads for the games. Darvish comments in his blog: “You know the reason. Tomorrow, we’ll win.”
- Rakuten’s Hisashi Iwakuma won his 16th game and dropped his ERA to 1.93. Looks like we have a new favorite for the Sawamura Award. Iwakuma was presented with a bouquet for setting a new career high in wins.
- Yomiuri’s Hisanori Takahashi has qualified for domestic free agency. I’ve added him to my list of 2009 free agents.