There was a great deal of curiosity about Korean import Lee Byung-kyu, who had a relaxed first day in a Dragons uni. Lee speaks no Japanese, so outfielder Kazuki Inoue attempted to speak with him with his limited knowledge of Korean. 

Number one high school pick Naomichi Donoue was outdone by big bother Takehiro in the batting cage, as the elder Donoue cranked nine dingers to Naomichi's two. Between all their batting drills that day, they took a combined total of around 800 swings. Naomichi was relieved to get the first day as a pro out of the way. 

Hanshin While manager Akinobu Okada is looking for a replacement for former ace Kei Igawa, who now has a New York address, third baseman Makoto Imaoka, who had his 2006 cut short by a chronic hand issue, is endeavoring to reclaim his job from Kentaro Sekimoto. He was just about the best clutch hitter in the Japanese game in 2004-2005 and a revivial of his fortunes would lend his side greater production that may help obscure a mildy questionable pitching picture that includes up and down Esteban Yan and former Pirate Ryan Vogelsong. 

Yan impressed batting instructor Katsumi Hirosawa with his bat speed and power during hitting practice, saying that as far as pitchers go, he has more pop than ex-Tiger Trey Moore, though Moore was better at making solid contact. Moore is the standard by which Hanshin's pitchers hitting ability since he was so handy with the stick. 

Tomoyuki Kubota, the ex-closer whose fortunes fell off of a cliff after he broke two fingers in a baby carriage accident at home (you newbies did not misread that; his daughter almost fell out of the carriage and he lunged to stop the fall) last season, threw 136 pitches in the bullpen while manager Akinobu Okada watched. 

One of the team's starters, Shinobu Fukuhara, was more restrained, firing only 63. 

Returning to the quest for an Igawa stand in, a passel of lefthanders vied in the bullpen for Okada's attention. Atsushi Nomi, who has tons of potential but who is still not there yet, delivered 91 pitches and leaked that he wants to throw everyday during spring training. 

Touted Osaka Gas refugee Tatsuya Kojima unwrapped his wing as well and will get a long look for a rotation job. 

If Hanshin is to win the pennant in 2007 they will need centerfielder Norihiro Akahoshi's bat to arise from its 2006 slumber and Thursday he took around 300 swings between batting practice and hitting off of a tee. Hirosawa is working with Akahoshi on keeping the lower and upper halves of his body in synch after injuries knocked his stroke out of wack last season. 

Shortstop Takashi Toritani, perhaps not wanting to be bested, had 323 hacks and blistered 11 balls beyond the outer limits. Coaches still believe that Toritani will connect for 30 homers one day even though nobody would ever mistake him for a power hitter at 5'10" and 178 pounds. 

Minor league outfielder Kodai Sakurai pounded 13 out in 76 swings and bush league first baseman Go Kida lost none in 71 swings. 

Chiben Wakayama High product Ryohei Hashimoto is now in the midst of his first pro spring in his bid to eventually supplant incumbent Akihiro Yano. He took 75 swings and lofted four over the fences. Hashimoto has devastating power and it will be worth watching to see if he develops. 

Hiroshima The Carp had a 3200 meter run (a little over two miles) and knuckleballer Jared Fernandez came in well behind the rest of the pack. However, he was hindered by the fact that the workout clothes he was given were too big for him. Fernandez lost 20 pounds during the offseason. Besides, do knuckleballers really need to be in tip top shape to lob it up there at 50-60mph?

Yakult Catcher/manager Atsuya Furuta was a busy man Thursday as the Swallows fell in for spring training. First, he received pitches from Ryo Kawashima while simultaneously keeping an eye on prize rookie sidearmer Tatsuyoshi   Masubuchi before he took the hill to lend centerfielder Norichika Aoki some batting practice. He paused only long enough time to grab a quick munchy while everybody else was at lunch and continued with his schedule. 

He also named pitcher Kazuhisa Ishii as captain of the mound staff and shortstop Shinya Miyamoto as captain of the position players. Furuta later called infielder Hiroyasu Tanaka and outfielder Shinichi Takeuchi on the carpet for showing up late.

Masubuchi turned 30 pitches loose during his bullpen stint and looked good. 

Yokohama Was it a bullpen session or an AARP meeting? Thursday, 43 year old lefthander Kimiyasu Kudoh, who was moved to the Bay Stars as a compensation pick for the loss of pitcher Ken Kadokura to Yomiuri, whipped 99 balls at the guy who was catching him, new skipper Akihiko Oya, who is 59. Scouts for Chunichi and Hanshin were reportedly not happy with what they saw since Kudoh, a hall of fame candidate, will face their teams when the regular schedule gets underway. 

The lead singer of the popular pop band Orange Range stopped in to say hello to pitcher Hayato Terahara, who was acquired by Yokohama in the Hitoshi Tamura deal with Softbank. The two men first met when they were introduced by Terahara's then teammate Nagisa Arakaki, who is, like the band, from Okinawa. 

Yomiuri Michihiro Ogasawara, the replacement for third baseman Hiroki Kokubo, who has returned to Fukuoka, had his first practice as a member of the Giants before a press corps numbering, by one count, around 220, as well as 1200 fans at Sun Marine Stadium in Miyazaki, Miyazaki Prefecture. Manager Tatsunori Hara had them out there for seven hours between the daytime and night time workouts. 

Another new addition, former Orix leftfielder Yoshitomo Tani, had a chance to get reaquainted with being an infielder (which is what he was when he first came up with the Blue Wave) during a relay drill. Chief defense and baserunning coach Haruki Ihara had outfielder Takayuki Shimizu at first base, fellow flychaser Kenji Yano at second, speedster Takahiro Suzuki at short and oft injured slugger Yoshinobu Takahashi also, like Tani, spending some time at third. Takahashi hits lefty but throws righty. Hara hoped that by doing that that the outfielders would obtain a better grasp as to what infielders are supposed to do and therefore anticipate where they should throw the ball on drives to the deep parts of the yard.  

During bp, Takahashi propelled six into the seats and then remarked that since there are so few players left on the club who began their careers with the Giants he has to get his ass in gear. 

Onetime Colorado infielder Luis   Gonzalez was stationed at second base in his Japanese baptism, where he handled everything easily and displayed a strong arm in the bargain. During batting practice, he belted three into the great wide open in 45 swings. Infield coach Kazunori Shinozuka as well as Hara expressed satisfaction with their first look at Gonzalez. A reporter for Chunichi Sports claimed in an article that Gonzalez is a dead ringer for Orix first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara. 

Second year lefthander Takanobu Tsujiuchi, who still has yet to see any time in the show, worked with pitching coach Takao Obana Thursday. Tsujiuchi toiled in the Hawaiian Winter League this offseason and acquitted himself farily decently while adding a changeup to his arsenal. Obana, who had Tsujiuchi fling 66 pitches into a net while guiding him on how to use his lower body, liked the kid's heater but asserted that his curve ball needs polishing. 

Ace Koji Uehara, who suffered a strained hamstring while working out in January, began the spring with the minor leaguers as a physical therapist looked on. Uehara will be worth paying attention to this season because MLB scouts will want to see if he can return from the nagging leg injuries that hindered him in 2006 as he makes his case for a job with the Yankees via free agency. 

Lefthander Tetsuya Utsumi, who pitched in a lot of tough luck last year thanks to the wan kyojin offense, hurled 56 pitches in the bullpen and then signed autographs for fans. He pronounced himself happy with the day's routine. 

First baseman Seung-yeop Lee, who had season ending knee surgery after an excellent campaign that saw him pop more than 40 homers and then dealt with the passing of his mother from cancer, eclipsed the fences three times in 47 swings in batting practice. He explained to the press that he will be aiming to be better at sitting on his back side at the plate this year and refrain from overswinging. 

Sankei Sports had a little fun with the Ogasawara-Lee combo, calling it "the OL Cannon." That is a reference both to the "ON Cannon" of Sadaharu Oh and Shigeo Nagashima during the Giants glory years of the 1960's and 1970's as well as "OL," which is an abbreviation for "office lady" in Japan. Yes, they use the english for that in Japan. An office lady is basically an administrative assistant.

Ken Kadokura, who inked a deal with Yomiuri after saying sayonara to Yokohama, made 60 pitches and grumbled about what he viewed as less than adequate spin on his fastball. 

Righthander Kentaro Nishimura, who got off to a promising start before fading last season, almost doubled Kadokura's output, dispatching 127 pitches plateward in the pen. 

Number one draft pick Norihito Kaneto, selected out of Ritsumeikan University, had his first session in a Giants uni and threw 74 pitches, all fastballs. He allowed that he was able to put the ball where he wanted it only about 70% of the time and wil wait until he can command it somewhat better before mixing in his breaking stuff. 

Southpaw sinkerballer Hisanori Takahashi, who was the team's closer for a good chunk of 2006, hopes to make it back into the starting rotation, dealing 55 pitches Thursday and saying that his shoulder feels strong. 

Inconsistent righthanded setp man Yuya Kubo threw a whopping 172 pitches and subsequently muttered that the inconsistency is still there. 

Utilityman Takayuki Saito was in an auto accident Tuesday and sustained bruises to his right knee and his abdomen. So he was given a lighter workout menu Thursday as a result. It appears that the taxi driver who collided with Saito is at fault. 

Former Royals and White Sox outfielder Mark Quinn will be in camp Monday hoping to win a roster spot. He is also tentatively penciled in to play in intrasquad games on the 11th and 12th. Yomiuri will also be working out erstwhile Cincinnati pitcher Wilfin Obispo. 

Miscellaneous With the fever over former Waseda Jitsugyo High School ace Yuki Saito, currently at Waseda University, having not abated much at all, NTV will be broadcasting Tokyo Big Six University League tilts on the internet as well as television. I have no idea if those of us living outside of Japan will be allowed to see the netcasts, though. 

Boston righthander Daisuke Matsuzaka had a press conference Wednesday with more than 100 reporters in attendance in Newport Beach, California and revealed that he has been pushing himself hard during his pre-spring training preparations and believes that he is physically ready to go. He arrived in the U.S. on January 11th to get acclimated and then apologized for holding this get together on the first day of NPB's spring training. 

The $51 million man disclosed that he had doubts about the food quality in the states. "The fish and vegetables here are better than I thought they would be. So I was able to properly concentrate on baseball and have a pleasant time." He didn't have a set regimen, he said, but would determine what to do after getting out of bed. He also had a coach from the Red Sox watching him as he worked out. Catcher Jason Varitek told Matsuzaka during a phone call that he would be there if there is anything he wanted to talk over. The Yokohama High product is looking forward to meeting his new teammates and bought a magazine in Japan that had pictures of the Bosox roster so that he would recognize them when he reports to camp. He further offered that Boston fans have been very solicitious of him and he is very happy about that. 

In something that the Boston management might have mixed feelings about though, Matsuzaka said that he would like to take part in the qualifying tournament for the Beijing olympics. Matsuzaka's contract does not forbid him from participating. 

NHK has announced that it will televise all of Matsuzaka's regular season starts on its satellite service. In addition, they will also air one of his spring training appearances live. 

Former Orix Buffaloes third baseman Norihiro Nakamura is still waiting for a phone call after he was cut loose in the wake of a bad year in 2006 and refusing to accept a huge salary decrease. Thursday, he worked out by himself in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, taking 200 swings on a cold, windy afternoon. There has been some discussion in the press about Nippon Ham perhaps keeping an eye on him in case Andy Green fails. For his part, Green said that he remembers playing against Nakamura in the U.S. minors but otherwise he didn't leave much of an impression on him. 

Yankees president Randy Levin, accompanied by GM Brian Cashman and vice president Jean Afterman, visited the head office of the Yomiuri newspaper chain Thursday in Otemachi, Tokyo and talked with chairman Tsuneo Watanabe before heading over to the Foreign Correspondent's Club, where he talked about revising the posting system and his trip to China. That party will meet with Hanshin owner Tsuneaki Miyazaki Friday to say thanks for coughing up Kei Igawa. 

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays announced that infielder Akinori Iwamura will participate in its upcoming fan caravan.