After the Dragons victory, Nagoya police announced that they will be restricting access to Nagoya Dome to only those who are holding tickets to game five in order to maintain public order should the team prevail. 

Hanshin Manager Akinobu Okada wondered aloud Wednesday how much it would take for the Tigers to acquire Alex Rodriguez. When a reporter answered that it was north of $25 million, Okada smirked, "if each of the sports dailies kicks in $2.5 million toward his salary maybe we can make it happen." Okada then let out a little laugh at the absurdity of the idea. 

Okada, though, continuing the Yankee theme. urged second baseman Kentaro Sekimoto, who had a terrible year in 2007 (.243), to be the Tigers version of Derek Jeter because they need a righthanded two hitter who can move runners and show occasional power. Shortstop Takashi Toritani hits lefthanded. 

Kyuji  Fujikawa threw 27 pitches in the bullpen during the Japanese olympic qualifying team's workout and manager Senichi Hoshino was impressed: "phenomenal." 

By the way, that squad will hold a practice game against a team of players from the Kansai area on the sixth at Kobe Green Stadium. 

Tigers chief batting instructor Katsumi Hirosawa is, if nothing else, a colorful guy and while working with slick fielding minor league shortstop Yamato Maeda Wednesday, told him to "not stick your dick out when you swing." That is, Hirosawa thinks that Maeda tends to shift his weight too far forward during his swing and was trying to find some analogy to help him keep his weight on his back side. 

After going on the warpath Tuesday, catching coach Katsuhiko Kido took a more civilized approach to his job Wednesday. But he also remarked to reporters, "don't write that I'm hitting and kicking players." 

Tatsuya Kojima, who threw 200 pitches Tuesday, let loose with another 150 Wednesday. He said afterward that he is trying to imitate the delivery of Yakult's Seth Greisinger. Kojima hopes to use up as many as 1500 pitches before the end of the team's fall camp. 

Ryo Watamabe, who had a very promising debut season, is working on a circle change. He first learned the pitch watching Hideki Irabu on tv, but hasn't really thrown it after turning pro. 

Outfielder Shinjiro Hiyama, who was mainly confined to pinch hitting this past season and is due for a big pay cut. However, during a negotiating session Wednesday, he apparently was unhappy with the offer and so didn't sign. 

Hiroshima Free agent Hiroki Kuroda said Wednesday that he will play with whomever gives him the best offer. He will be in L.A. for a week beginning on November 21st. Right now, it is still thought that the Cubs and Mariners are the most interested, while Kansas City, San Diego, the Mets and the Yankees have also been mentioned in various press reports as evaluating a Kuroda acquisition. 

Yakult The Swallows are looking into whether they should pick up utilityman Takayuki Saito, who was recently released by the Giants. 

They are also reportedly investigating a possible pick up of former Lotte ace Tomohiro "Johnny Kuroki," who was recently released by the Marines. They will probably use him in middle relief. 

The resignation and retirement of manager/catcher Atsuya Furuta has hurt the club on the sponsorhip front, as both Lenovo and Intel have pulled their advertising while Uniden has engaged in a partial pullout. All of this will cost the Swallows more than $3 million. 

Yokohama With veteran shortstop Takuro Ishii not getting any younger, and 2008 could even be his last year, coaches are moving to find a replacement for the Bay Stars all time hits leader, even going to the extent of auditioning outfielder Nobuhiro Nishizaki along with Kazuya Fujita, Shingo Nonaka and Takehiro Ishikawa. 

Yomiuri Number three high school choice Daisuke Nakai signed on the dotted line Wednesday for a 50 million yen (in excess of $400,000) and a 5.2 million yen (around $42,000) salary. He is listed as an outfielder, but Nakai, who was a pitcher in high school, said that he will play anywhere the team needs him to. Utilitymen Mototsugu Kawanaka and Takayuki Saito retired and was released respectively, pretty much leaving aging veterna Takuya Kimura in that jack of all trades role. 

Catcher Shinnosuke Abe, who will be representing Japan at the Asian olympic baseball qualifer, said Wednesday that he is most concerned about facing Doosan slugger Kim Dong-ju, who burned Japan way back in Abe's college days in 1998 when he slugged two homers against a Japanese collegiate all star team for a 13-8 Korea victory. 

Abe also cited Dae-ho Lee of the Lotte Giants as a threat. "He's a good young hitter," Abe offered. 

Koji Uehara spent some time during the Japanese squad's workout Wednesday with Lotte free agent righthander Hiroyuki Kobayashi talking about how Uehara throws his forkball. 

Leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani had right elbow surgery Wednesday. 

The Giants will have a coach and a couple of pitchers from the Beijing Tigers of the mainland China pro league in camp for about three weks beginning Thursday. 

Pitcher Hiroshi Kisanuki said Wednesday that his goals for next season are 180 plus innings and five complete games. Kisanuki didn't go the distance in any of his starts this past season. 

Yomiuri has brought in two time steals champ Koichi Ogata (not to be confused with the Hiroshima outfielder) in order to try to improve the baserunning of the younger players during the team's fall camp. The Giants were successful in only 67% of their steal attempts last season, and so improving that percentage will be part of Ogata's focus. 

Miscellaneous For those of you wondering what is going on in Korea, you might want to check out  East Windup Chronicke  . Very nicely done site. 

Boston pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka told reporters that he wants to be allowed to take part in batting practice next season because "it is important to me." The Bosox, in order to prevent injuries, have prohibited their pitchers from swinging the bat, but Matsuzaka believes that it is vital to training his legs. 

Hideo Nomo made his second start for the Caracas Lions in the Venezuelan Winter League and was tagged for three runs on four hits in three innings before they pulled him in the fourth. In his debut there, he didn't even get out of the first, so this was an improvement, but it is further indication that Nomo is done. 

The Cubs are said to be interested in Colorado free agent second baseman Kazuo Matsui. 

Attendance in the Shikoku Island League is growing slowly, as they averaged about 1100 fans a game this past year. That has reduced the league's debt by around $500,000 to just under $800,000. 

By the way, due to some of the mail I have received, I want to say this: for those of you thinking about trying out for that league or the Hokushinetsu Baseball Challenge League: the pay is very meager to the point where the players have offseason jobs in order to make ends meet. Given tight Japanese immigration restrictions and the fact that the SIL and the HBCL will not provide you with an interpreter because they can't afford to, this is probably not an option for you. Try the U.S. independent leagues instead. 

Speaking of the HBCL, they have added two new teams, one from Fukui Prefecture and another from Gumma Prefecture, the Diamond Pegasus, to make it six clubs now in that organization. The Gumma outfit will be managed by former Yakult outfielder Shinji Hata. 

The head coach of Waseda University criticized the strike zone of the plate umpire during their league title clinching game against Keio University the other day, also saying that it wasn't a good idea to have a plate umpire who was an alumnus of circuit rival Meiji University performing the duties. The Tokyo Big Six University League board has asked the coach to explain his remarks. In high school and college ball in Japan, coaches and players are not allowed to publically criticize the officials. 

As a side note to Mike Cameron testing positive for using speed, that has also likely cost him any shot at playing in Japan. The police there would not be amused if any Japanese team tried to sign him. So nice job in helping your career, Mike. Million dollar talent, ten cent head.