Fighters 1 at Marines 5/Marines 3 at Fighters 2 - Minor Major Doubleheader - August 17, 2010

The Nippon Ham Fighters are back in Tokyo this week for a 3-game set against the Chiba Lotte Marines. The teams are locked in a battle for the 3rd and final playoff spot in the Pacific League, with the Marines holding a 2.5 game lead. Orix is also in the running just another game back. It's not quite as exciting as a pennant race, but with the NPB allowing half the teams into the playoffs, it's the best we can get.

Interestingly, both teams' minor-league squads faced off in the afternoon in Lotte Urawa Stadium. So I decided to check that out as well, making it a doubleheader with the same teams, just in different stadiums.

Game 1 - Nippon Ham Fighters 1 at Chiba Lotte Marines 5

Lotte was the home team here and Yuta Ohmine (above) got the start for them. He was the hard-luck loser in the game I saw in the Tokyo Dome last week, giving up just two runs in 6 innings but falling to the Giants 2-1.

Today though, he got some run support as Lotte broke out with 2 runs in the 2nd off Mitsuo Yoshikawa. After Juan Muniz (above on third) walked and Shota Ohmine singled, Katsuya Kakunaka doubled them both home. That's Shota rounding third below.

In the 6th, Makoto Imaoka led off with a double and later scored on a sac fly by catcher Masahiko Tanaka (shown below stretching in the bullpen). Lotte added two more in the 7th on a Kakunaka walk and doubles from Takumi Kohbe and Imaoka.

Meanwhile, Ohmine was pitching a gem. Through 8 innings he had given up just three hits and two walks while throwing 127 pitches. With the Marines holding a 5-run lead, I figured they would take him out as it was a rather stifling 35C (95F) out. But no, he wanted the shutout, so he came in to pitch the ninth. Pinch-hitter Kazuya Murata led off with a double and advanced to third on a groundout. Ohmine then uncorked a wild pitch and the shutout was gone. After walking Kenji Satoh, Ohmine was finally taken out of the game, having tossed a mere 140 pitches. Kodai Matsumoto came in and got pinch-hitter Manabu Iwadate to ground into a double play to end the game.

Fighters 3rd baseman Suguru Ichikawa

This was a critical win for Lotte who are now tied for the lead in the Eastern League with the Giants. I was impressed with Ohmine's stamina given how hot it was. Imaoka (below), who is in his first season with Lotte after 13 campaigns with Hanshin, was the key offensive player with the two doubles. What I found amusing is that he didn't waste any time at the plate, only seeing 6 pitches in his 4 appearances. His two outs were deep flies to center, so he was certainly seeing the ball well.

Overall, an interesting and thankfully quick game that allowed me to get down to the Tokyo Dome in plenty of time for the nightcap.

Game 2 - Chiba Lotte Marines 3 at Nippon Ham Fighters 2

The starters were both foreigners, with Bill Murphy (above) getting the call for Lotte against Bobby Keppel (below) for the Fighters. Murphy spent the last two seasons with the Blue Jays organization but only saw action in 8 big league games before signing a lucrative contract to play in Japan. He was 9-4 with a 3.69 ERA. Keppel was with the Twins last season but decided to seek his fortune over here and it was a wise choice as he is 12-4 so far.

I had high expectations for this game and wasn't disappointed. Murphy started poorly though, giving up two runs in the first, highlighted by a double from Eiichi Koyano. But the Fighters left the bases loaded when catcher Shinya Tsuruoka grounded out.

In the top of the third, Toshiaki Imae grounded a single past diving shortstop Makoto Kaneko, who didn't get up immediately. The Fighters gathered around as the trainer checked him out, and it wasn't good news. Kaneko had to be helped off the field (looks like a torn calf) and was replaced by Yuji Iiyama. What's interesting is that Iiyama had played in the afternoon's game as well, going 0-for-4 before being taken out in the 9th, no doubt so he could make the trip down to the Dome.

Despite the setback, Keppel continued to pitch well, breezing through 4 innings before running into trouble. With two out and runners on first and second, Tadahito Iguchi (who won the World Series with Chicago back in 2005) blooped a ball that fell just inside the right field foul line. It rolled to the fence and both runners came around to score, with Toshiaki Imae taking out Tsuruoka with an aggressive slide. Tsuruoka didn't like that much and must have said something because next thing you know, both dugouts emptied. A bench-clearing brawl! Not really, this is Japan after all. The players merely milled around home plate for a minute before returning without any punches being thrown.

The score remained tied through 7, but in the 8th Iguchi took Keppel's first offering to deep center to give Lotte a 3-2 lead. Keppel finished the inning but the damage was done. In the bottom half, the Fighters Sho Nakata was hit by reliever Shingo Ono with one out. Tsuruoka sacrificed him to second but Iiyama grounded out to end that threat.

In the 9th, closer Hiroyuki Kobayashi came on for Lotte and gave up a leadoff single to Kensuke Tanaka. After another sacrifice, Atsunori Inaba walked. Koyano grounded out to advance both runners and bring Yoshio Itoi to the plate. It was do-or-die time but Itoi couldn't come through, grounding to Iguchi to end the game. Murphy got his 10th win and Kobayashi picked up his 21st save while Keppel dropped to 12-5.

This was a thriller that came down to the last pitch. The story of the game was how many chances Nippon Ham wasted. They left 13 men on base and constantly took themselves out of rallies with sacrifice bunts (5 in total, plus a missed bunt that resulted in a line drive double play). Murphy and the relievers did not pitch particularly well, yielding 15 baserunners, but they were able to escape every jam as the Fighters just gave them outs. I felt like Nippon Ham was playing scared, just trying to get a run here and there when a big rally was what they needed. I am not a fan of the sacrifice to begin with, but using it 5 or 6 times in a game is just silly. That's Itoi below preparing for another one.

With the win, Lotte moved 3.5 games up with two more games in the series. You have to feel for poor Iiyama, he played 15 innings in the two losses, going a combined 1-6 in the process.

Thoughts

It is unfortunate that the NPB changed the rules to allow three teams into the playoffs in each league as there would be two great pennant races now: Hanshin leads Yomiuri by a game in the Central League with Chunichi just 2.5 back; in the PL Seibu leads Softbank by 1.5 games. First place still matters as that team hosts all games in the Climax Series final stage, but it's not as compelling as eliminating the other team during the regular season. Fans of the teams fighting for third might disagree, but I think the long baseball season should reward only the best teams with a playoff spot. Even the wild card in MLB is a bad idea.

Best,

Sean

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Chiba Lotte Marines 1 at Yomiuri Giants 2 - Eastern League - August 9, 2010

There's usually no baseball on Monday here in Japan as both the majors and minors take the day off. But for some reason, there was a minor-league game between Lotte and Yomiuri at Tokyo Dome yesterday. These are the top two teams in the Eastern League, and I wanted to see how the crowd would be, so I went to check it out.

The Game

Keisuke Saito (above) started for Yomiuri. He's in his second season but hasn't seen much action this year. He has an odd delivery in that he leaves his arm behind him as you can see in the picture. Yuta Omine was on the hill for the Marines. He's been up with the big club this season but struggled with an ERA over 5.

Ikusei player Kota Sumi flies out

The game was scoreless in the 4th when Daisuke Fujimura led off for the Giants with a triple. Daisuke Nakai followed with a fly to left. Fujimura broke for home as Katsuya Kakunaka made the catch. The throw was on time but catcher Masahiko Tanaka couldn't hold on as Fujimura slid home. But the umpire didn't see the ball bounce out of Tanaka's glove and made an emphatic out call. After the Giants pointed out the error, the umps had a conference, and the call was sheepishly reversed.

In the 6th, Fujimura singled and Nakai drove him home with a double to make it 2-0 Giants. Meanwhile the Yomiuri pitchers were keeping Lotte off the board. Saitoh lasted 5 1/3 striking out 4, but it was a laborious effort as he threw 89 pitches. Yuki Furukawa and Jumpei Ohno each pitched to a batter to end the 6th. I was surprised to see top-team closer Marc Kroon come out for the 7th, I guess he is on rehab. He's a fireballer who has 168 saves over 6 seasons here, with 1.3 K/IP. He also holds the record for the fastest pitch thrown here at 161 km/h (100 mph). Anyway, he pitched a perfect inning.

Taishi Ohta breaks his bat

Finally in the 8th, Takuma Sadaoka started with a single off the Giants' 5th hurler of the evening, Kyohei Tsuchimoto. A double by Hiroshi Miyamoto and a walk to Shota Omine (who goes by Shota) loaded the bases and ended Tsuchimoto's evening. Veteran Yasunari Takagi took over and got Kakunaka to ground to second, scoring the Marines' first run on the force at second. Pinch hitter Toshio Saito then grounded into a double play to end the threat.

In the 9th, Yi-Hao Lin, a Taiwanese prospect who was recently added to the Giants roster from the ikusei program, entered the game. After a leadoff single to Cuban Juan Muniz (above calling off Shota), Lin settled down to strike out two and get Tanaka to fly out to end the game. The Giants used 7 pitchers in all, but it seemed to work as Lotte only managed 6 hits. The game took 2:54, mainly due to all the pitching changes.

With the win, Yomiuri moved within a game of league-leading Lotte, with two more games in the series, including another one tonight at the Tokyo Dome.

The Minors In Japan

Before I got there, I was expecting a few thousand fans. But the attendance was over 17,000! That's more than watched a Swallows game I went to last month. I used to think that the NPB ignores the potential revenue from having the minor leagues play in the evening in smaller towns where community matters more. There are plenty of decent stadiums that could support 54 games a year. Moreover, the players need more chances to see game action. The Giants have 83 players on their roster, split between the major and minor team. Why not make 3 teams with 25-28 players on each roster and have 2 minor leagues with players moving up and down and team names that are different from the big club?

Well, that was all just a pipe dream. The Shonan Searex are the only team in the minors to have a different team name than their big-league counterparts (Yokohama Bay Stars) and they usually play in the evenings at Yokosuka Stadium. Unfortunately, it looks like that will change after this season as they revert to the Yokohama name. I guess that minor league baseball just doesn't appeal to a large segment of the population here, fans want established names to cheer for.

Best,

Sean

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Nippon Ham Fighters 0 at Yomiuri Giants 4 - March 30 - Eastern League

One of the best things about Japanese baseball is the early season start. The Pacific League got underway on March 20th while the Central League began on the 26th. The Western League began even earlier with a couple of games on Friday the 19th. As for the Eastern League, which has 6 teams in the greater Tokyo area, it also began on the 20th but poor weather has kept me at home for the first week. But today was a relatively balmy 10 degrees so I decided to visit Giants Stadium to get back into baseball.

I was in for a bit of a shock when I arrived. Last season tickets here were only 700 yen but inflation has hit the minor leagues suddenly and this year it's now 1,000 yen to get in. That's a whopping 43% increase! It's still a bargain though, but it means that 3 of the local stadiums charge 1,000 yen (unless they've raised their prices this season) while 3 are still free.

The Game

I got to the park just a few minutes before first pitch and was surprised to see that Kazuhito Tadano was starting for the Fighters. Despite being a highly touted prospect back in 2002, he was blackballed by the NPB after appearing in a gay porn video. Instead he made his way to the majors where he appeared in 15 games for Cleveland in 2004-05. But he couldn't stick in MLB and was finally drafted in Japan in 2007, pitching for Nippon Ham the last two years. I'm not sure why he's in the minors at this time. He was opposed by Satoshi Fukuda, who has pitched in 48 games over 5 seasons with the big team but seems to be a career minor leaguer.

Tadano delivers

Both pitchers were strong over the first four innings but Fukuda was slightly better, yielding just a single and a walk in that time. In the 5th, Giants' rookie catcher Tomoya Ichikawa crushed a double to left to score Takanori Hoshi and give the Giants a 1-0 lead. But Tadano escaped with no further damage and left after 6 innings still trailing by a run.

Daijiro Tanaka grounds out

In the 7th, ex-Fighter Kazunari Sanematsu hit a sharp grounder to third but Takahiro Imanami made a poor throw and Sanematsu was safe. Next up was Daisuke Fujimura who grounded to second. But Kenshi Sugiya lost his grip on the ball throwing to first and suddenly there were runners on first and second with nobody out. After a sacrifice bunt, Ryota Wakiya (shown below) singled to score both runners. Wakiya later scored on a Kenji Yano double to make it 4-0. All 3 runs were unearned for Shintaro Ejiri, who has pitched with the big club already this season.

Fukuda was replaced by Takahiko Nomaguchi who pitched the final 3 innings, yielding just two more hits and notching the save as the Giants won 4-0. It wasn't a great game for the Fighters who had 4 hits and 3 errors to snap a 5-game winning streak and drop to 5-3. The Giants moved to 3-1 on the year. Because there are 7 teams in the league, teams have several days off and the Giants have already had 3 off days and two rainouts. As an aside, I really can't understand why they don't just merge the two minor leagues; Japan is not that big and travel costs shouldn't be prohibitive. Doesn't make sense to have players not playing.

Balls and Strikes

One interesting change this year in Japanese baseball is that balls are now counted first. Until now, strikes were always first, so a full count was 2-3. But the powers that be decided to follow the west and modified the rule. I noticed it when the umpire called out "Suree-two" when the count was full. Scoreboards have not been fixed yet as you can see below - strikes are still above balls. I wonder if they will bother...

The Gondola

I had some time after the game so took the gondola ride over Yomiuriland, the amusement park that is next to the stadium. If you are visiting, I highly recommend this ride as you get a great view of the ballpark as you go by. It's only 200 yen and takes about 5 minutes. The pictures below show the steps that you need to take to the stadium, as well as the Giants working out after the game. Yep, in Japan there is always work to be done, even after a win. The players were running sprints as I passed overhead.

Next Up

The big-league Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters have a 2-game set in Tokyo this week. So I'll go to the game tonight with my friend Chris, who has yet to see a baseball game in Japan. Then I'm off to Singapore tomorrow for a couple of days before heading to Malaysia for the Grand Prix this weekend. Not sure how much time I'll have to post, but check back on occasion for updates.

Best,

Sean

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Giants win the Eastern League - why ties suck in baseball

It was an interesting finish to the Eastern League here in Japan. The Yomiuri Giants had gone on an 11-3 run in September and with 1 game left in the 108-game slate, they were tied for first with both Shonan and Lotte. However, Japanese baseball allows tie games, so their records were not identical. Both Yomiuri and Shonan had 59-46-2 records for a .562 winning percentage, while Shonan was 60-47-0 to stand 3rd at .561. You might wonder how that is: all 3 teams are 13 games over .500 and have played 107 games - their percentages should be the same, right? Nope, ties are ignored in the calculation. So Shonan is punished for not tying two games. Imagine if a team went 1-0-107, tying all but one game. Their percentage would be 1.000 - a perfect season! Another way of looking at it is that 0-0-2 is considered better than 1-1-0. Coming from a hockey background, where ties count 1 point and wins 2, I find this rather silly and unfair. Ties should be included in percentage calculations as 1/2 a win.

Anyway, Lotte and Yomiuri played each other today at Giants Stadium. The winner would notch the championship, while idle Shonan (who close out the season tomorrow against Yakult) could only watch. Interestingly, if Yomiuri and Lotte tied their game today, then Shonan would have a chance for the pennant tomorrow. But sadly it was not to be. The Giants defeated Lotte 9-5 to clinch the title; their 23rd. And with the big-league Giants also winning the Central League, it marks the 15th Kyodai V (brothers victory) in their history. Ugh. I didn't realize the junior team had the same obnoxious attitude as their much-hated CL counterparts, but next season, I'll be rooting for everybody else to put them in their place. Preferably last place.

Sadly, I was otherwise occupied today so couldn't go to the game, but I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed watching the baby Giants celebrate. The Giants will now play the Western League champion Chunichi Dragons next Saturday in Toyama, which is rather far from Tokyo. So I won't be going there either.

I also missed the Big 6 university games on Saturday due to a sudden visit from an old friend, so I'll try to go in the next couple of weeks. I also found out about another college league that plays weekday games, so I might see some of those should I find time this week. Finally, there's also a women's tennis tournament in town this week, so I'm going to try to catch at least one day of action. So it should be a busy week as I return to sports-watching mode. Check back mid-week for updates and some photos.

Best,

Sean

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Rakuten Golden Eagles 7 at Yomiuri Giants 12 (Eastern League) - September 22, 2009

The minor league season is drawing to a close here in Japan, and I wanted to visit Giants Stadium one more time as it is the best place to watch a game for me. My friend Hiroshi, a Giants fan who had never seen a minor league game, joined me.

I've described the stadium previously, but there was one small difference today: there was a shuttle bus from the station to the stadium. The bus only runs on weekends and holidays though, but we're in the middle of a 5-day long weekend, so it was available. It runs every 20 minutes from 11:00 to 12:40 for the 1:00 game, and saves you the 10-minute walk up 283 stairs.

The shuttle bus

Due to the holiday I was expecting a large crowd and wasn't disappointed. There were 1,823 people there, compared to an average weekday crowd of around 400. By the time the game started, nearly every seat was taken and the atmosphere was comparable to a minor league game in the States. We were able to get two seats behind the plate, but they were relatively far away as all the front row seats were filled. So there aren't many pics from this game.

The Giants were hosting Rakuten, who I had seen two weeks earlier in Lotte. In that game, they made 4 errors and only had two hits while being shut out. In today's game their offense was hitting on all cylinders as they took a 6-0 lead in the 5th inning. Unfortunately their defense was abysmal yet again: 2 errors in the 5th allowed the Giants to score 5 runs (4 unearned) and 2 more miscues in the 6th led to 2 more runs. Rakuten had managed to score a run in between, so we were tied at 7 after 7 innings.

The Giants then brought in ex-Blue Jay Micheal Nakamura (pictured below) who pitched a perfect 8th inning. In the bottom half, Rakuten veteran pitcher Hiroki Yamamura threw away a sacrifice bunt 9their 5th error!) and Yomiuri capitalized, scoring 5 runs, highlighted by a monster 3-run homer from Seung-Yeop Lee. Nakamura pitched a quick ninth and the Giants had overcome a 6-run defecit to win 12-7.

Another ugly game from Rakuten who knocked out 16 hits but allowed 8 unearned runs. There's a reason they are in last place. The Giants meanwhile took over the lead in the Eastern League, a half-game in front of Lotte and Shonan. The Giants have a home-and-home with the Marines this weekend which should settle the pennant. I'll let you know who wins next week.

Thoughts on the Japanese minors

I was planning to see a Futures game today down in Yokosuka, but I'm not feeling all that well, so I'll skip it. Which means that my minor league schedule is finished for the year. Overall, I really enjoyed going to all these games - high-quality baseball, often for free. Sure, some of the stadiums are terrible, but it beats the big leagues here. I often wonder why the NPB doesn't upgrade their minor-league system as they could easily draw decent crowds with night games in decent stadiums, but I'm not complaining. I feel like I happened upon a secret and I'm happy if it stays that way. Next year I'll either be working or out of Japan and won't make any weekday games, which is rather depressing. But if I'm still here, I do hope to make it down to Kansai for some Western League games - there's still 5 parks I've yet to see. As always, check back here for updates.

Best,

Sean

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Rakuten Golden Eagles 0 at Chiba Lotte Marines 5 (Eastern League) - September 9, 2009

Lotte Urawa Field was the first minor league park that I had seen this season, and I had arrived rather late not realizing how few seats are available. I ended up at the end of a very uncomfortable bench that did not provide a good view of the action. I wanted to see this place once more from a different perspective, so I got out to Musashi Urawa station early enough to grab a seat right by the fence on the 3rd base side. Unfortunately, I was still pretty far from home plate; it looks like the real fans are there about 90 minutes before game time to take the best spots. Even then, the closest seats are halfway down the baseline, there are no seats next to home plate like at Yakult Toda Field.

The Game

There's no need to describe how to get here or the park itself; I've done that before. I'll just mention some of the game highlights.

Satoru Komiyama started for Lotte - you might remember him from his one season with the Mets back in 2002, (although you probably don't, he didn't do much). Komiyama has had a long career in Japanese baseball, first pitching for the Marines back in 1990. From what I can gather, he was sent down earlier this year as he posted an ERA over 10 in just 11 innings with the big club. But he's only pitched in 13 innings for the minor league team, which suggests he's been hurt for most of the season. When his named was announced as the starter, the Lotte fans murmured appreciatively. He's one of Japan's most famous pitchers, and to see him here was a nice surprise. He's warming up in the picture below.

Rakuten sent En-Yu Lin to the hill. He's a Taiwanese prospect with only 4 innings in the minors this year, which leads me to believe the injury that caused him to miss the Olympic qualification last year was quite serious.

It looked like a good pitching matchup, and it was. For 2 innings. Komiyama faced 6 batters over 2 frames, walking one but getting him on a double play. I guess it's was a rehab start since he was replaced by Yoshihide Kanda, a 7-year veteran whose never been good enough to stick for a whole season with the top team.

Meanwhile, Lin pitched 3 scoreless innings himself before being replaced by Hiroshi Katayama, a young pitcher who has struggled this year in the minors. That's when the pitching duel ended.

Kanda maintained the pace set by Komiyama, going 6 strong innings, yielding only a single and a hit batsman.

Katayama was not nearly as effective, loading the bases with nobody out in the fourth, only to escape on a pop out and double play. In the 5th, he loaded the bases again with nobody out. This time, he was not so lucky as DH Akira Otsuka, a Lotte veteran, doubled to center for 2 runs. The throw to third got away (the first of 4 Eagle errors) and another run scored as Otsuka moved to third. He came home on a groundout to make it 4-0 Marines.

Naotaka Takehara on second after a double

They added another unearned run in the 6th and really, with Kanda pitching so well, the game was over then. Tomohiso Nemoto pitched a quick 9th to end the game as the Marines rewarded their faithful fans with a 5-0 victory. The Eagles had only 2 hits and those 4 errors, which is not a recipe for success.

The game took only 2:22, which was great as rain was threatening near the end. Certainly the story was Kanda, who was pitching with confidence and baffling the Rakuten hitters. I should note that Lotte leads the Eastern League while Rakuten is in last place; this game certainly made that clear.

Chase Lambin

Before the game, I was sitting next to the field with my friend Joe as Chase Lambin, a one-time Marlins farmhand, walked by. He noticed our two pasty white faces and was surprised - not many foreigners make it out to these games. He asked "What language are you guys speaking?" - clearly not used to hearing English around Musashi Urawa.

After the game, we were just hanging out next to the park, where the players have to walk past to get to the clubhouse. I was taking pictures of Komiyama as he signed autographs. I saw Lambin walking and Joe went up to congratulate him. Lambin, who displayed a great sense of humour, said "For what?" Joe, who knows little about baseball, said "Ummm, for having a good game". As Lambin was 0-4 with an error, I think he knew that Joe had no idea what he was talking about and said, "Oh, cuz we won". Pretty funny.

After that, Lambin chatted with us for a few minutes while signing autographs for other fans. I was interested in his routine playing for the minor league team. Turns out he lives near Chiba Marine Stadium where the big team plays and has to take an hour and a half train out to Musashi Urawa, leaving at 7 am. They start stretching at 9:30 for a 1 pm game, and he said he doesn't get home till 6 or 7 most nights, so it's really a full-time job. Just like a Japanese salaryman I thought. Anyway, it was fun chatting with him and his wife Sara and their interpreter and I thank Chase for giving us some time. He's wearing #43 below.

I did a little research after I got home and found out that he played in Albuquerque last season, hitting .300 with 14 homers. Not sure why those numbers weren't good enough for a September call-up or a look-see with another team. But when he had a chance to try out for a Japanese team, he jumped at the chance, winning a spot with the Marines. Unfortunately, he was only hitting .192 here with the big club in limited at bats so they sent him down. He's hitting around .220 in the minors, so it looks like he's having trouble adjusting to the Japanese game, but he seems to have a very positive attitude so here's hoping he's back here next season.

What is most interesting about Chase is that he has his own blog. He's articulate and funny, and it's fascinating reading about his experiences in Japan, especially his thoughts on playing in the games. There's some great non-game stuff on there that most athletes would be loath to make public, including a video of him dancing on a table at a bar in Sapporo. I encourage you to have a look if you have time; it's definitely one of the better ballplayer blogs you'll see.

Thanking the Fans

Today was the last game of the season at Lotte Urawa. After the game, the players all formed along the 3rd-base line to thank their fans for their support, as you can see below. It was a nice touch and the fans all stood and applauded. I think this is true fan appreciation and something that could be done elsewhere.

Lining Up for Autographs

Finally, I mentioned that Komiyama is a very famous pitcher in Japan. After the game, he was singing autographs on the road that leads to the clubhouse. In the States, I would expect a mob of people to surround him, pushing and shoving to get an autograph. But here everybody lined up and waited their turn; one-by-one Komiyama signed their memorabilia until there was nobody left. It was nice to see the respect the fans have for each other as well as the players.

Break Time

I'm off to Hawaii in 2 days, and won't be updating the blog much while I am gone as there's not much to see in terms of live sports. I'm back on the 21st and will see two minor league games and then a college/major tripleheader to finish off the regular baseball season. Check back in two weeks for updates.

Best,

Sean

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