Special adviser and former manager Senichi Hoshino said that he was "very suprised" to hear that Rakuten wants to hire him as its first skipper. "This is the first I've heard about it," reacted the one time Chunichi ace pitcher. Hoshino gave up his post in the dugout with the Tigers due to health problems, the most serious of which was high blood pressure. He was non commital as to whether he would accept. If he does take taht job, Hanshin owner Shunjiro Kuman indicated it would have his blessing. Also on Rakuten's shortlist is another ex-Chunichi boss, Hisashi Yamada, who was fired from that job due to losing the respect of his players and a mediocre performance in the standings, and ex-Yomiuri helmsman Tatsunori Hara. 

Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi, who has the steals title locked up with 58, wants to steal at least 12 more in the last 11 games in order to become the first man in 19 years to reach 70 in that category in a
season in the Central League. He added that he wants to topple

Lefthander Kei Igawa is aiming for a new personal best in strikeouts Tuesday when he takes the hill against Yokohama. He needs six more
to eclipse his previous career high of 206. His 201 whiffs leads all of Japanese baseball. 

Reliever Jerrod Riggan, who is out for the season after having elbow surgery, is back in Japan to report on the progress of his rehab from the procedure. 

Hanshin will have its fan appreciation day on Nuvember 20th, or the 21st if the original date is rained out. To get tickets to the festivities, send a kansei hagaki (a kind of postcard) with your name, addressm age and phone number to: Hanshin Tigers Fan Kansha Day Nyuujoken-kakari, Osaka Fukusime Yuubinkyoku Shishobako #19,
553-8791. You need to have it in by October 22. Phone inquiries cam be made at: 0798-46-1818.
 

A broadcast of a Giants game was cut short on the 25th due to their pitching being teed off on early, something which created a minor controversy in japan. Well, the ratings for that match are in and it was ugly, a historic worst 5.3% share. Giants telecasts averaged 12.2% for the year, a low that NTV Chariman Ujiie attributed to all the attention on the olympics this past summer. 

A former Giants mascot girl, Mariko Otsuka, was arrested this past weekend for taking part in an insurance fraud scheme revolving around staged auto accidents. Otska's boyfriend is thought to be one of the leaders of the fraud ring. 

Third baseman Hiroki Kokubo will voyage to the U.S. to have his surgically repaired knee checked out and if doctors okay it, he will participate in the team's fall camp. 

He served his purpose and he is history. Monday, the Gians released

Ace Koji Uehara has a 16 inning scoreless streak and currently 
leads the league in ERA AT 2.65. He hopes to put a lock on it Tuesday, when he makes his final start of the campaign. 

Righthander Hiroshi Kisanuki has been taken off the roster due to 
an oblique muscle strain and 20 year old Takashi Kamoshda elevated n his place. Kamoshida will close. He had been out most of the season with a back problem. 
 

According to the L.A. Times, the Dodgers will release righthander Hideo Nomo. Nomo would very much like to stay in MLB, but should nobody be interested, Rakuten is reportedly extremely ready to sign him up for his marquee value more than anything else. The question is, though, will Nomo be willing to play in Japan again, especially with a brand new team? 

St. Louis outfielder So Taguchi entered Monday's game against Houston as a defensive replacement and grounded out in this one at bat. The Astros hammered the Cards 10-3.

The games canceled due to the strike will not be replayed due to opposition from the players. In addition, if a new ballclub is admitted to the league, there will be no dispersal draft for the players let go.
However, they have allowed the new Orix team to expand their 
roster limit to 80 while the other 10 remaining clubs will have a 70 man limit. Furthermore, any new team can participate in the draft from the first round on whereas there had been talk before of 
holding them off until the fourth. 

On the idea of reorganizing the minor leagues, that looks as if it has been at leats tabled for now. A new committee will be set up sometime during the coming months to look into reorganizing the way pro babeball does business. Hopefully, the integrating of the industrial and minor leagues will be taken up then. For now, though, the latest conept, interleague play, goses into effect next year with each Central League team playing three home and away games each against Pacific League nines. They might be held in May and June, 
if one propsal is approved.

A screening committee for prospective new teams appears as if it is going to happen fairly quickly. However, the chairman of NTV, Yomiuri's television arm, Monday wondered allowed if what he more or less termed little more than IT whiz kids can handle running a team financially. 

But in a real suprise, soon to be former NPB commissioner Yasuchika Negoro scorched the owners in a statement to the press
despite the fact that he got his job only through the auspices of then Giants owner Tsuneo Watanabe. He revelaed that he will have more to say to them during an upcoming meeting, which promises to be pretty negative. 

Shidax manager Katsuya Nomura averred during a tv appearance Monday that his boss, Tsutomu Shitai, has decided to not join NPB
least for the time being. 

Getting back to Live Door, company president Takafumi Horie was asked what he would do about getting some foreign playes by Hochi Sports, Horie responded that he would most likely go to Korea because on a cost versus performance basis some perfectly serviceable players can be found there rather than going through MLB. 

One other unnamed company has applied for admission to NPB, but that was immediately refused because nobody had ever heard of it, thus setting off alarm bells that the so far anonomyous outfit was asking to join for the purpose of seeling the name of the club to other companies. 

The Dodgers as well as at least two other MLB teams are reportedly circling around Yokohama Sogakukan High School righthander Toru Takahashi. The six foot, 160 pounder features a 90mph fastball, a slider and a splitter. Yomiuri is also quite interested and their scouts believe that he will add another 2-3mph to that 90mph heater 
as he matures. 

A couple of years ago, NPB officials attempted to find ways to shorten the length of games. They have failed miserably, although one suspects that is due to a plethora of extra inning games by the Seibu Lions more than anything else. In any case, the average has 
increased by more than seven minutes over last year to a whopping three hours and 29 minutes, or what it takes to play the last five minutes of an NBA game (unfortunately, that is only slightly facetious). 

It should be said that there is little that can be done, as pitcher's 
ERAs are up this season. Higher ERAs mean more walks and more hits and therefore more pitching changes and attendant breaks in the action.