Pitcher Domingo Guzman, whose 2005 season was hindered by shoulder trouble, has cut his hair in hopes of changing his luck, 
he said. 

Outfielder Alex Ochoa and first baseman Tyrone Woods will report later on in the spring as per their agreements with the Dragons front office. 

Hanshin Lefthander Kei Igawa has lost 11 pounds, says Hochi Sports, but got the most notice for cutting his hair shorter. Igawa, who was inconsistent last season, needs to rack up major innings to satisfy manager Akinobu Okada's desire for extended efforts by his starters. 

But wait a second, Sankei Sports has Igawa asserting that is weight is his usual 96kg (about 211 pounds), but that he is just in particularly good shape this year. 

Manager Akinobu Okada warned outfielder Osamu Hamanaka to not overwork himself and thus risk reinjuring his shoulder. 

Centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi surrounds himself with red, but that is going to change somewhat. The reason that he and Sammy Hagar agree on their favorite color is that his last name, which is his real one, means, "red star." But for a change of pace, this season, he will be wearing white wrist bands and use a white glove in the outfield. 

And while we are on the subject of Akahoshi, he might see some action this spring batting second behind shortstop Takashi Toritani. According to Nikkan Sports, Okada is expecting a .300 average and 15-20 homers out of Toritani this season while Akahoshi, who is almost totally bereft of pop, isn't a threat to give his team an instant 1-0 lead. Of course, one could also argue that the higher OBP Akahoshi gets on and if Toritani puts one over the fence it is 2-0 and not 1-0. So we'll see how this all shakes out. And tomorrow, the press will come up with another new formulation for this. Make up your minds, guys. 

Pitcher Chris Oxspring had a physical today and it was found that he had lost eight pounds since coming to Japan, which he attributes to Japanese cooking. "Jeff [Williams] said that rice and noodles is good for you," the former Padre allowed. Oxspring is reportedy at 182 pounds at the moment. 

Hey, look at  what  is on leftfielder Tomoaki Kanemoto's training table. What he is holding in his lefthand is a masu of shochu,
roughly a kind of Japanese vodka. In his righthand is the array of seven suppliments that Kanemoto takes each day, one of which is shark cartilage. Kanemoto says that he normally goes through two bottles of shochu each spring, but now that he is 37, he will cut it down to the one. 

For you Hanshin followers in Yokohama, a Tigers goods shop will open in Sumiyoshi-cho, Chuo Ward in that city on March 22nd. In addition, when Hanshin is in town, shop hours will be extended. 

Hiroshima Manager Marty Brown held a team meeting after the Carp got to their spring training site Tuesday and told his players to live in the moment during games instead of focusing on extraneous matters that aren't going to help you that day. 

Yakult Some of the Swallows players, including catcher/manager Atsuya Furuta, got ina  2-3 hour workout Tuesday morning 
at Urazoe, Chiba Prefecture before getting on the plane for Okinawa and the club's spring camp. 

Here is to hoping that  this isn't going to be the best swing we see out of Furuta this season. 

Shingo Takatsu threw batting practice today. Mets fans might react, "like we haven't seen that before, but only in regular season games." 

Yokohama In an announcement that one isn't going to be inclined to file under "earthshaking," manager Kazuhiko Ushijima has designated 2005 Central League ERA champion Daisuke Miura as his Opening Day starter. 

The team and its officials also visited a shrine in Okinawa Tuesday to pray for a winning season, with Ushijima scribbling the characters for "winning the pennant" on a prayer plaque called an  ema .

Yomiuri The Giants players have all reported to the team's spring training site at Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture, an estimated 1000 fans and local officials turning out to greet the club at the airport. They also stopped at a Shinto shrine for  this ceremony Manager Tatsunori Hara is seeking some passion: "the only goal is a Japan Series title. It is necessary to fight so passionately that your blood boils." 

But the only thing boiling for rookie lefthander Takanobu Tsujiuchi was his body temperature, as he came down with a cold and a sore throat. Nonetheless, Hara has indicated that the number one high school pick will be making an intrasquad appearance soon. Tsujiuchi said that he wants to make his first pitch in that contest a fastball on the corner. Fortunately, Tsujiuchi's cold is showing signs of abating now. 

Former Daiei Hawks owner Tadashi Nakauchi has been hired as a consultant by the Giants, according to Sankei Sports.  Team president Tsunekazu Momoi told that paper that they want to know what Nakauchi did to build the popularity of the Hawks in hopes they can use that information for their own marketing purposes. 

Seung-yeop Lee's presence on the team may bring a windfall for Miyazaki, if a piece in Sankei Sports is accurate. According to the article, Miyazaki is already a popular destination for Korean tourists and, when Lee showed up there for his team's camp, five Korean tv outlets were there to meet him. Tuesday, Lee told the press that he wants to connect for 40 homers and drive in a hundred runs. 

Closer Kiyoshi Toyoda said Tuesday that the discomfort in his calf that has relegated him for now to the minor league camp is something that happens to him every spring, though earlier than usual. He takes that as a sign that it means he will be ready for the regular season quicker than anticipated. 

Utilityman Taketomi Sogawa and pitcher Kazuaki Minami have been appointed co-captains of the Giants minor league nine. 

Miscellaneous Seattle's Richie Sexson, according to the Portland Tribune, says, "it will be interesting to see how Johjima adjusts after playing in Japan. At least Ichiro Suzuki will have someone to speak with; teammates hardly speak with Ichiro," Sexson says."He comes in (to work), gets a massage for two hours, plays and leaves," Sexson says. "He alienates himself, because sometimes he's scared to speak English." Make of that what you will. 

Johjima finished his spring training workouts Tuesday and will head to the M's camp at Peoria, Arizona Wednesday.

The 78th Spring National High School Baseball Tournament, otherwise known as the Koshien Tournament, will begin on Mrch 23rd, with 32 schools fighting it out for national supremacy at least until the summer tourney comes. Waseda Jitsugyo High School, the alma mater of Sadaharu Oh, will make an appearance at the spring Koshien for the first time in 18 years and it will be its 18th time overall to be among the schools invited to that season's festivities. 

Komadai Tomakomai High School junior ace 6'1" 160 pound righthander Masahiro Tanaka, who shattered Daisuke Matsuzaka's single season strikeout record recently (230 in 161.2 innings, a K/9 rate of 12.8) , said that he is aming to eclipse Suguru Egawa's spring tourney mark of 60 strikeouts. Egawa, as you know, then went on to be a star for the Yomiiuri Giants. Tanaka is already being drooled over by pros on both sides of the Pacific, but they will have to wait until the 2007 draft to get him. Tanaka's fastball has been clocked as high as 94mph.

Kanazawa Sakuragoaka High School will be making its first Koshien apearance in 31 years and its first at the spring hoedown in 53. Its baseball program isn't very well financed since almost everything is put into the academic side of things, resulting in 50% of its graduates moving on to some of Japan's most prestigioug universities. They will be putting a preminum on pitching and defgense. 

Yaeyama Shoko High School will represent Okinawa during this tournament and it will be the first time ever any of its players will have ever seen the inside of Koshien Stadium to compete against other schools. Its head coach once took a junior high team to a third place finish in a world youth tournament, so it will be interesting to see if he has any suprises for the opposition. 

Chiben Gakuen High School, which has recently evolved into a prominent high school baseball power, thinks it has the second coming of Kenji Johjima in catcher Ryohei Hashimoto. The school's head coach expects Hashimoto to blast five homers during this spring's tournament. Hashimoto has racked up 32 dingers during his schoolboy career. 

For those of you who can read Japanese, Sankei Sports has the breakdown on the schools who will be battling on the big stage
Here .

With the announcement of Cuba's WBC contingent, it will be interesting to see how vulnerable to lefthanders they are. When a Cuban team played a friendship series with an NPB all star squad before the Athens olympics, Japanese scouts sussed out that the then very young commie club had problems with southpaws. However, when the olympics began, Japan threw Daisuke Matsuzaka at them and were completely shutdown for eight innings before the righthanded Lions ace tired in the ninth. Lefthander Hirotshi Ishii was then brought in and had command problems and ultimately had to be bailed out in an eventual 6-3 Japan victory.