Outfielder Byung-kyu Lee impressed Hiroshima scout Tomotaka Tamaki during his time in the batting cage, peppering liners to center and left from the lefthanded side of the plate. He pulled only three balls. But Tamaki said that Lee has almost no wasted motion and should have few problems adapting to Japanese pitching. 

Hanshin Owner Tsuneaki Miyazaki had dinner with Yankees GM Brian Cashman, team president Randy Levin and VP Jean Afterman Friday due to the the Bombers acquiring former Tigers southpaw Kei Igawa.  

Igawa is still in Japan and visited an elementary school and a juniro high he attended as a child. The principal of the junior high would like to see Igawa return as a guest teacher for a day at some point. 

In addition, an official of the township that Igawa was raised in disclosed that the local babbits are considering not just putting up a commemorative plaque at their ballpark, but naming it after Igawa. Yeah, no pressure to succeed in the big leagues there. 

Big righthander Tomoyuki Kubota followed up his 136 pitch bullpen Thursday with another 200 Friday but reportedly displayed good life on his pitches all the way through. Kubota said he had pretty much run out of gas around the 170 mark. He further elaborated that he will be eclipsing the 100 mark a good deal of the time in the runup to the exhibition schedule. 

Reliever Jeff  Williams threw 25 pitches in his first bullpen of the spring. The Aussie setup man arrived in mid-season due to knee problems, so manager Akinobu Okada was gratified that he will get to use the former Dodger right out of the gate this time around. 

When asked about Kubota, Okada blamed his participating in the WBC as one of the chief culprits for Kubota's lackluster 2006. 

Okada also thinks that because of the DH in the American League, Igawa will be able to concentrate better on the hill due to not having to hit and run the bases. But he also warned that Igawa is a 100 pitch pitcher and that as long as you keep him blow that mark he will be fine and win into double figures. 

Catcher Akihiro Yano was asked about Igawa by Cashman and offered to be there for Igawa if he wanted to get on the horn for a chat. He also joked about going to New York to catch Igawa's starts. 

One of the lefthanders endeavoring to replace Igawa is Atsushi Nomi and he was back in the pen for 103 pitches, including his breaking stuff. 

Hiroshima Here  is a pic that Carp knuckleballer Jared Fernandez will have to live down. More seriously, though, he was also celebrating his 35th birthday and threw 56 pitches down in the pen to regular receiver Yoshiyuki Ishihara, who had five of the deliveries end up going to the backstop. All the pitches except one were the old dancer. Manager Marty Brown then sidled up to Fernandez and reportedly said, "just because it's your birthday doesn't mean I want you to go out and overeat." Fernandez lost 20 pounds over the winter but still appears that his personal trainer is actually David Wells.   

Rookie hurler Michito Miyazaki had what was described as a "strong" bullpen session Friday. When he is on, he can reportedly get it up to 95mph. 

Infielder Eishin Soyogi worked out in a red ski mask, causing Brown to call him Spiderman. 

Yakult After infielder Hiroyasu Tanaka and outfielder Shinichi Takeuchi were late to practice yesterday, thoroughly pissing catcher/manager Atsuya Furuta off, Furuta ordered everybody out at 7:30 a.m. for early morning calisthenics to drive home that he expects some intensity and dedication from his players. This also, of course, probably put the two youngsters in the doghouse with their teammates and they apologized for their tardiness and the fallout. 

Aaron Guiel complained of some residual jet lag, but nonetheless Furuta was pleased by what he saw from the former Devil Ray in the batting cage. 

Tampa Bay bound infielder Akinori Iwamura was tutored by one of the best in the business Friday, hall of fame third sacker Futoshi Nakanishi. Nakanishi, who as a player used to unload ungodly Mike Piazza-like bazooka shots thanks to strong, thick wrists, also offered advice on keeping in a good mental frame of mind in his initial MLB campaign in addition to lending him batting tips. 

Another former major leaguer, Kazuhisa Ishii, tossed 40 pitches to one of the team's interpreters. He said that he wanted to just check his form. 

Yokohama Ace Daisuke Miura threw 146 pitches in the bullpen Friday, but that was topped by 43 year old southpaw Kimiyasu Kudoh's 192. What inspired Kudoh to increase his pitch count was that he didn't like the quality of his deliveries, so he kept throwing until he finally was. 

Miura was tinkering with his mechanics and insisted that the big pitch count was just business as usual for a spring training day. 

Yomiuri Righthander Ken Kadokura focused on hitting the corners during his 100 pitch bullpen session Friday. Regular backstop Shinnosuke Abe performed that duty in this instance. At one point, Kadokura split a nail and it bled, but he kept on hurling anyway. 

First baseman Seung-yeop  Lee  ripped 13 balls into the seats in 39 swings during batting practice Friday, one of them travelling over 450 feet. Five of the bombs were consecutive. 

Lefthander Takanobu Tsujiuchi threw 38 pitches Friday and pitching coach Takao Obana, who worked with the kid on using his legs during his delivery Thursday, indicated that he noticed improvement in that department. 

Obana also helped Kentaro Nishimura with using his lefthand to make his throwing motion more consistent since when he moves it while delivering the ball it throws things out of wack. 

Reliever Kiyoshi Toyoda turned 36 Friday and spent it doing a little throwing. 

First baseman Michihiro Ogasawara made a diving grab of a hot shot down the line off of a coach's fungo bat and then basically apologized for it, saying that he wanted to take it easy this spring to ensure that he wouldn't injure himself but that when the ball came off the bat he just reacted. He also took 51 swings in batting practice. 

A minor league bullpen coach was guiding rookie Ryosuke Fukamachi, a righty out of Chukyo University, and asked him what his repetoire was. "Just fastball-forkball," the 22 year old responded. The coach then ordered, "well, try a curve ball then." Fukamachi proceeded to bury a sharp hook right on the outside corner at the knees. "Hey, don't lie to me!" the coach reacted. "Uh, I didn't try to put it there," Fukamachi shyly peeped. 

Number one starter Koji Uehara is still being gingerly due to discomfort in his right elbow and left calf, but he was able to extend himself more in longtossing and did some running and weight work as well. 

Outfielder Yoshinobu Takahashi smacked only two homers in 37 swings, which he attributed to stiffness from the cold weather. "I'll pick it up when it gets warmer," he said. 

Yuya Kubo followed up his 172 pitch outing Thursday with one of 66 pitches Friday. 

Damon Hollins hit off of a tee while manager Tatsunori Hara watched and told reporters that he still has some work to do to be ready for the regular season. 

Shigeki Noguchi, a lefthander who is just trying to justify his existence with the Giants, threw 101 pitches Friday. 

Rookie lefthander Norihito Kaneto threw 42 pitches during his bullpen stint and Hara approved. "He'c coming along nicely," Hara nodded. 

Miscellaneous Hochi Sports, which is owned by Yomiuri, is now hiring. See information Here . 

NPB officials are in the process of explaining the new drug testing policy to its 12 teams. Under the framework set by the league, there are four possible outcomes if a player comes up positive for a banned substance: 1). A reprimand; 2). A suspension of less than ten games; 3). A suspension of less than one year; 4). An indefinite suspension, which could extend to a lifetime. Whatever punishment will be meted out will be determined by the circumstances surrounding the player's use. In addition, team officials will also be disciplined if one of their charges is revealed as not following the rules.  

Two players will be chosen at random after each game for screening and be forced to undergo a urine test. 

Waseda University pitcher Yuki Saito could be the Opening Day pitcher when the Tokyo Big Six University League spring schedule commences. If anything, one can see this happening just for publicity purposes since attendance figures at the league's games has been falling off the last few years. 

Pittsburgh acquired pitcher Tony Armas and Sankei Sports took the angle of Armas being competition for Masumi Kuwata in the Bucs rotation. I had a good laugh at that since Kuwata will be lucky just to remain with the organization the entire season in the minors. Look at what a washout Yusaku Iriki was and then take a gander at who had the better numbers in Japan the last three years. Yep, Iriki by a mile. 

Former Tokai University pitcher Hideki Nagasaka has been signed by the minor league Nashua Pride. He joins former Kintetsu reliever Akira Okamoto on that team. Nagasaka was also a member of the Samurai Bears. 

Difference between U.S. sports media and that of Japan: on the front of Nikkan Sports' website, they had a blurb about Brett Favre deciding to play again next season. The American press can't even be bothered to run wire reports about the Japan Series let alone the fact that spring training has begun in that country. By the way, there is zero pro football in Japan. What "amefuto" (American football" there is is played is by a handful of few colleges. Rugby is far more common though.

Philadephia Phillies thug Brett Myers was given a rich new contract (three years, $25.75 million) and hey, aren't parents everywhere celebrating THAT. Nothing like telling kids that as long as you're a jock you can beat the shit out of women on a public street and not only have it ignored by your ballclub and given only a cursory look by the local authorities, but also be rewarded as long as you can make half decent starts every fifth day. Female sportswriter Jackie McMullen called for Myers to donate $5 million of that deal to a battered women's shelter while she was making an appearance on ESPN's Around the Horn. That Myers is allowed to still have a baseball career is an absolute disgrace to the sport and everyday that he walks the earth he is a stain on humanity.