gotoh00

Got news from Japan that he's on his way over right now. According to a report he's gonna try to go the other way a lot so he's ordered many custom made bats that are .5 inches longer than he's used to. Also plans to run a lot so he has also order some special spikes to help give him an edge.

Anyone ever seem him intentionally walk someone with a runner on third? He floats the ball to his catcher sometimes and when he did that once in Japan the runner stole home on him. He's a stubborn guys and still does it though.

dis's a lot on Asian players and non-Cub teams in general. In the words of Joe Morgan: "Announcers are supposed to be fair and neutral as possible, no matter who is signing their paychecks."

QUOTE(CWSGuy406 @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 11:49 PM) Speaking of which, is he going to be introduced to the media tomorrow or Friday...? Physical exam tomorrow, press conference on Friday. I am not a Cubs fan fyi, I hate Chip the biggot and Steve "he's so" Stoned

QUOTE(103 mph screwball @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 11:25 PM) By the way gotohOO, thank you for all of the Iguchi information. I apprecitate your news and opinions. You are welcome. Now....Can you put that on the board???? YES!!!!

Who else here thinks they need to change the team announcers for the White Sox? Not to bash on them or anything, but mildy hearing Darrin chiming in "YES!" after "....put it on the board!" is getting annoying. Also, both guys talk very monotonous and unclearly at times, plus they are very biased towards opposing teams. I'd like to hear someone say "He's gone!" when big Frank stikes out.

Just wanted to say it once

QUOTE(JUGGERNAUT @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 03:56 PM) I haven't heard or read any news with respect to steroid usage there. I imagine it's because the player salaries are no where near MLB. The min salary here is like the average there. I don't think it will every be an issue either because most of the players are shorter than 6 ft. I'm sure they take speed just like the MLers do but that's probably where it ends. Overall I think I read somewhere that the lowest payroll in the MLs still beats the highest payroll in Japan. With the bottom feeders of the MLs though you never can tell. Man, get your facts straight before you dis on Japanese baseball. The Japanese min. wage is about 100 grand a year, which isn't too shabby. The majors could learn a lesson from this. The highest paid guy right now is earning about 5 mil a year. There is no steroid problem because of the honor and integrity Japanese players bring to the game. Yes, some are probably using it, but less than 1% overall. There is the probelm, however, of big market teams vs. small market ones. Only about 5 teams in Japan are in contention every year since their parent companies have the mulla to back them up. The others just get beat up on day after day with no hope of winning a pennant. For example, Bobby Valentine's Chiba Lotte Marines.

おい！つっぱてんじゃねぇーよこのチンピラ！ちゃんとした日本語を話せるんだったらしっかりと英語に訳せよ。どうせ先の反論をプログラムで書いたくせに。「そ のテキストにying yang の上の間違いがある」とはどういうこっちゃい？しばくぞこの野郎！ 清原命

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 01:29 AM) here you go -- You need to get a better translating program. That text has mistakes up the ying yang.

QUOTE(qwerty @ Jan 26, 2005 -> 01:14 AM) Where did you get the quote from? Just curious. Japanese site, www.nikkansports.co.jp. Good luck reading it.

Just got a fresh quote from Iguchi saying he plans to hit .300 and steal 30 bases, at least. He's going to get into training at the end of the month and practice everyday until the earliest possible time he can enter Tuscon. Sounds like he really means business.

There is a bias now in the American press that Japanese players don't qualify as rookies in the Majors, which is complete bull. That's why Hideki Matsui came in second in Rookie of the Year voting even though he had 100+ rbis. Expect that same discrimination towards Iguchi.

QUOTE(LDF @ Jan 25, 2005 -> 04:54 AM) well i may not agree with your 40% assessment, since we are both not in the professional level of judging talent and grading the league. i will give way to you knowledge of baseball in japan. if it is 40% then why wasn't this guy snatch up and courted by other teams???? Why did he have to settle for less than what he was asking for? why isn't there more influx of those players this offseason? i know i may coming across strong, but i am not in the thinking of this guy putting up good numbers. i will cheer for him and hope for the best. i love the move and if it pays off great. if not, i am still in the thinking that we had nothing to loose and all to gain in getting this guy here. fyi ............... many who posted and predicted good numbers will turn on him if he fails. i will still be in his corner saying that the risk in getting him was a worthwhile risk. i just want him to be given a chance without any major expectations. The reason Iguchi had to settle for less was because it is really difficult to tell how Japanese hitters will fair over here. Case in point, So Taguchi. But, the level of pitching is very high in Japan, so I'd say about 35 % of the pitchers there could get on any MLB 40-man roster easy. The reason we don't see more of an influx is that the Japanese league is doing everything it can to stop it. Players don't get free-agency until after 7 full seasons on a team so, with injuries, that equates to about 10 years they have to play over in Japan first. This means that many players are past their primes before they even have the chance to come to the majors. Also, many fans brand those players who do come here as "traitors" for abandoning their old teams and loyal fans. So, more often than not, Japanese players decide to remain in Japan out of fear of hurting everyone they know.

Hey, do you watch Japanese baseball at all? Many major league players, while some don't like to admit it, say its a higher level of baseball than AAA. Maybe its not quite up to the major's standards, but I'd say about 40% of its players could easily get starting jobs in the U.S. Most of them pitchers.

That's an olympic photo of Iguchi. He was on the team in his college years.

Igawa wants into the majors bad right now but his team refused to put him on the auction block this off-season. He gets his free agency in three years but the owners promised they would let him go after next season.

No one here has even considered lefty Igawa. He's the youngest of the three with the most nasty stuff. Very hard fastball with an unhitable circle change. Great control and poise too. Will probably be auctioned off in 2006 too.

He'll be over in 2006 since his team doesn't want to lose him in free agency for nothing. Probably will aution him off to the highest bidder for 10 mil. He's still a punk though.

Yeah, there should be, especially in Fukuoka. I know they'll be showing a lot more Sox games live in Japan now that 2 Japanese stars are on the team. I was sure getting sick of watching the Mariners and Yankees 5 times a week.

I like Uehara over Matsuzaka. Uehara has a sharp fastball and a great forkball. He's not afraid to pitch inside and stuck out Barry Bonds 3 times in an exhibition game. Overall, Matsuzaka has better stuff but he's a punk. Great fastball, curve, slider, and circle-change but shows guys up too much. Thinks he's the best at everything and is prone to the long ball. Once got a huge fine for illegal parking in front of his girlfriend's house and had his trainer pay for it.

Also gets most of his power from his legs.

Its the normal golf-stance approach that many batters have. No leg kick or anything. He holds his hands up high though.

.280/20HR/70RBIs/30SB at best. The adjustment may take a while but Iguchi will be a star before long His old ball park had 50 feet high outfield walls and he still managed to hit a lot of dingers. Just hope he bats 6th or 7th rather than in the top two holes, just so he can use his power to drive in runs more.

Well....Mike Hardgrove said Ichiro was nothing more than a 4th outfielder when he saw him play in 1998. It's hard to rely on major league guys' analyses soince some of them just can't accept that many Japanese players are good enough to play over here.