Australia is in the midst of a drought and controls have been put on water use, so manager Bobby Valentine implored his charges to be stingy with their consumption of the precious liquid. The government has imposed fines of as much as $2000 Australian for those not heeding directives to forego watering lawns, among other things. Sankei Sports mentioned global warming in connection with this story. It was reportedly in the high 90's Thursday. 

Nippon Ham Infielder Andy Green, who is likely to play third this season for the Fighters, and pitcher Brian Sweeney were both introduced to the reporters in a press conference at Nago, Okinawa Prefecture Thursday. They then repaired to the ballpark for their first workout with the club. The pressure is especially heavy on Green since he has to fill the huge shoes of departed slugger Michihiro Ogasawara, who is "only" second all time in NPB annals in batting average. No pressure there. He socked six into the bleachers in 53 swings. 

Outfielder Hichori Morimoto, who will takeover the centerfield job as well as the number one from the retired Tsuyoshi Shinjo, showed up naked from the waste up and with a strip  of  tape on his back in the shape of that digit, which provoked a lot of laughs from hsi teammates. He also had similar strips over his nipples  "I wanted to do something that would bring attention to myself," he averred. Nikkan Sports' Hokkaido edition made a perverse analogy of Morimoto's nipples with tennis honey Maria Sharapova's because, I assume, in the cool Japanese weather, they were probably, uh, firm. Uh yeah. 

First round collegiate selection Ken Miyamoto is working on a shuuto. He threw five of them during his Thursday bullpen session. 

Speaking of which, I have been getting hits on my site when people have been looking for instruction on how to throw the shuuto. So here is how it is done: Two seam fastball grip and you put pressure on the ball with your index finger and snap your elbow outward as you deliver it. This causes it to act like a reverse slider. You don't bring the elbow all the way down and through like a screwball. Some pitchers can sink that pitch, too, but just how they get to the front of the ball enough to do that I have no idea. The advantage is that if you can get it to move late you can saw people off like nobody's business, which is why it is often nicknamed as a pitcher's kamisori (razor). The disadvantage is that if you hang it you will need a new ball because it just drifts up to the plate. So there you go. 

Orix Sports Nippon made kind of a big deal out of the fact that first baseman Kazuhiro Kiyohara wore blue training clothes rather than the white ones called for by manager Terry Collins, but Collins kind of blew it off while Kiyohara was given a separate workout regimen due to some mild aches and pains he has. 

Anyone remember the remark I made when Collins took over the Buffaloes and took the number one away from shortstop Mitsutaka Goto so he could wear it himself? Well, as I predicted,. Goto is still upset about it. So this little bit of emotional theater between Collins and Goto will be another thing to watch this season and it will also be fascinating to see if any of the other players resent Collins for doing that to their teammate. 

Rakuten Hisashi Iwakuma, who goes into the spring as the early favorite to snatch the number one starter's position, had a light 40 pitch bullpen session Thursday at their spring camp in Kumejima, Okinawa Prefecture. The locals have spent around $2 million to gussy up the facilities, including a new scoreboard. They expanded the capacity of the stadium to 3,000 as well with new infield seating. 

Much ballyhooed number one high school pick Masahiro Tanaka threw 59 pitches and impressed manager Katsuya Nomura, However, Nomura also worked with his prize puppy on achieving better balance with better use of his hand. 

Friday, 15 pitchers will toss batting practice as Nomura strives to find a useful combination of arms to attain his goal of making the playoffs this season. 

Seibu Pitcher Jason  Johnson didn't hold much back in his first time in a Lions uniform, as he threw 83 pitches in the bullpen. He had planned to throw 50, but felt so good he decided to stretch it out a little. 

Top rookie Takayuki Kishi, who is being counted on bigtime to help compensate for the defection of Daisuke Matsuzaka, zipped 57 pitches through the air during his bullpen stay.

Versatile Yoshihito Ishii had a case of butterfingers during defensive drills, inspiring infielder Hiroshi Hirao to yell, "I see you're going to suck this year, too." 

Softbank For the first time since he left the Hawks in order to have stomach cancer surgery last June, manager Sadaharu Oh and watched his team go through its first pre-season paces for five hours in 50 degree weather, paying special attention to the batting workouts of newly acquired outfielder Hitoshi Tamura and prodigal third sacker Hiroki Kokubo. While still appearing skinnier than he was before the procedure, Oh has reportedly recovered enough to be able to enjoy a somewhat normal eating routine. 

Lefthander Tsuyoshi Wada flipped 90 pitches to his catcher as a tribute to Oh, who wears that number on his back. 

Speaking of Kokubo, he has sworn off alcohol for the duration of the season to demonstrate how committed he is to the club. 

Ace Kazumi Saito, who had a year for the ages and took a Sawamura Award home for his effort, kicked off his 2007 with 66 pitches. That is also his uniform number. 

A gaggle of Pacific League umpires are in camp with the birds of prey and reminded players that their shoes have to now be in the team's colors.