Cal Ripken Jr Becomes MLB's Iron Man September 6, 1995

On this day in Baseball History September 6, 1995: In front of a sold out crowd at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, MD, Cal Ripken plays in his 2,131st consecutive game breaking Lou Gehrig's Major League Iron Man record of 2,130 games that stood since 1939. Here is footage of Cal Ripken's record breaking moment (19-years later it still gives me goosebumps):

Many baseball sources point to this event as being the catalyst for the healing of the game after the 1994 strike cancelled that season and the 1994 World Series.

Ripken would break the world record for consecutive games played by breaking Sachio Kinagusa's record of 2,215 consecutive games played on June 14, 1996 at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City (Kinagusa passed Gehrig on June 13, 1987). The Royals honored not only Ripken but Kinagusa at that game when Ripken broke Kinagusa's record. Kinagusa played for the Hiroshima Carp of the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB).

Cal Ripken and Sachio Kinugasa at Kauffman Stadium in 1996.

Ripken would play in 2,632 consecutive games before sitting out a September game at Yankee Stadium in 1998. Ripken would retire in 2001 and would be inducted to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007 with 98.5% of the vote (537/545 ballots).

In this age of athletes being bigger, faster stronger will we ever see anyone come close to Cal Ripken's 2,632 consecutive games played record? I personally can't see it happening. Generally players take more time off due to injures and managerial decision then in days before. Players today are an investment by the teams and many times they don't want to risk their investment by having players "play through" injuries. So we'll have to wait and see if we ever see a streak in the range of Gehrig, Kinagusa and Ripken's.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click here to access Cal Ripken Jr's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access the article 15 Years Ago: Cal Ripken Jr. Passes Lou Gehrig by Dean Hybl from the Baltimore Sports Then and Now website dated September 05, 2010
- Click here to access the article Beyond Gehrig, Japanese ironman in world of his own by John Eisenberg from the Baltimore Sun website dated July 23, 1995
- Click here to access Sachio Kinugasa's career NPB statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click here to access the article Man Ripken passed was unlikely hero Kinugasa's U.S. blood made hime target in Japan by Masaru Ikei and John B Holway from the Baltimore Sun website dated June 23, 1996
- Click here to access the article Cal Ripken Jr. expects good things from Royals in second half of season by Pete Grathoff on the Kansas City Star website dated July 18, 2014

Sadaharu Oh Passes Hank Aaron With HR 756 September 3, 1977

Courtesy of
Japanese Baseball Cards

On this day in Baseball History September 3, 1977: With no outs and one runner on in the bottom of the third inning, Sadaharu Oh belts 3-2 pitch over the right field fence by starting pitcher Yasumiro Suzuki of the Yakult Swallows for career home run 756 passing Hank Aaron's record of 755 home runs at Tokyo's Korakuen Stadium.

According to the article Oh Passes Aaron's Homer Mark from the Ocala Star-Banner of September 4, 1977 on Google News, Oh was quoted as saying:

I was relieved when I hit the home run." Oh said "I knew it was a home run the moment I connected. It was a sinker

Hank Aaron, ever the classy gentleman had a video message recorded for Oh that was broadcast on Japanese television:

I would have loved to have been there tonight to put a crown on top of his head because he his quite a gentleman and the people of Japan have a lot to be proud of...I want to wish (Oh) the best luck in the world." said Aaron "I know he's capable of hitting a lot more home runs."

Aaron and Oh were quite familiar with each other from the home run derby against each other during the 1974 Goodwill Series between the New York Mets and the Yomiuri Giants. Aaron won that matchup 10-9.

Oh would retire at the end of the 1980 baseball season with a total of 868 home runs. Here is an interesting infographic on Sadaharu Oh's home runs milestones, compared to major league home run hitters:

For Further Reading:
- Click here for the article Oh Passes Aaron's Homer Mark from the Ocala Star-Banner dated September 4, 1977 from Google News
- Click here for the article Oh Surpasses Aaron With 756th Home Run by Andrew Malcolm of the New York Times dated September 4, 1977
- Click here for the article Hank Aaron swings away again in Japan by Dave Omauer from Stars and Stripes dated July 23, 1984
- Click here for the article Sadaharu Oh by Peter C. Bjarkman from the SABR Baseball Biography Project

Masanori Murakami becomes the first Japanese player in MLB September 1, 1964

On this day in Baseball History September 1, 1964: Relief  pitcher Masanori Murakami becomes the first Japanese baseball player to play in the major leagues. Murakami pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the San Francisco Giants in a 4-1 loss to the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

Murakami contractual rights were owned by the Nankai Hawks of the Nippon Professional League (NPB). The Hawks had established a prospect exchange program with the San Francisco Giants Nankai Hawks in a temporary prospect exchange program. Murakami would start his United States baseball career with the Class A Fresno Giants. He would put up an 11-7 record with a 1.78 ERA in Fresno before being called up to the big leagues.

Murakami’s first year in the majors proved to be successful, with a 1-0 record in nine appearances and a 1.80 ERA and one save. After the 1964 season the Nankai Hawks asked Murakami to return to Japan, but the Giants refused on the grounds they had Murakami under contract causing some ill feelings between the two leagues.

After reviewing the contract that were signed by the league and Murakami, the Japanese baseball commissioner intervened, negotiating a compromise. Murakami spent 1965 with the Giants, going 4-1 with a 3.75 ERA and eight saves in 45 relief appearances with 85 strikeouts to 22 walks. In 1966, he returned to Japan, to pitcher for the Nankai Hawks. He would play for the Hawks (1963/1966-1974), the Hanshin Tigers (1975) and the Nippon Ham Fighters (1976-1982) of the NPB.

For an in-depth biography on Murakami, click on the link Masanori Murakami from the Baseball Reference.com Bullpen page. Here is the boxscore to the September 1, 1964 matchup between the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets from the September 2, 1964 edition of the New York Times:

Here is the MLB Network video Remembering Masanori Murakami:

It would be until 1995, that a Japanese-born player would don a uniform for a Major League team when Hideo Nomo joined the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Recently the San Francisco Giants honored Masanori Murakami before a Giants game. Though his MLB career was short, he helped to build the path that many Japanese baseball players are using today in the MLB. As customary the last few offseasons, we've been watching to see who is the next player to leave the NPB for the MLB. Who will it be this year.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Masanori Murakami's minor league statistics for the 1964 season from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Masanori Murakami's major league statistics for the 1964-1965 seasons from Baseball Almanac
- Click Here to access Masanori Murakami's Nippon Professional Baseball statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Masanori Murakami's complete professional statistics (Japan/US) from JapaneseBallplayers.com
- Click Here to access Growing the Game: The Globalization of Major League Baseball by Alan M. Klein from Google Books
- Click Here to access Remembering Japanese Baseball by Robert K. Fitts from Google Books.
- Click Here to access The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2007-2008
 edited by William M. Simons from Google Books
- Click Here to access 50 Years Ago Today: Masanori Murakami Arrives in Arizona for Spring Training from Bill Staples Jr's blogpage dated March 14, 2014
- Click Here to access the article Japan’s Baseball Trail Blazer (Interview with Masanori Murakami by Matthew Hernon) from Tokyo Weekender dated March 8, 2012

¿Quien Es Leslie Anderson?

Photo Credit
Japanese Baseball Cards

Every year I try to keep an eye on the Latino players that play abroad in the Asian baseball leagues. This year a former Tampa Bay Rays farmhand and former Cuban National Team player Leslie Anderson (Stephes) caught my eye.

During the opening game between the Hanshin Tigers and the Yomiuri Giants, Leslie Anderson hit back-to-back homeruns with Jose Lopez against Tigers reliever Naoto Tsuru. Annoucer Ed Cohen stated that Anderson was a member of the Cuban National Team that represented Cuba in the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic. In the 2006 World Baseball Classic tournament, Anderson went 0-5 with 1 strikeout. In the 2009 World Baseball Classic he performed better going 2-9 with 1 double and 3 strikeouts.

After defecting from Cuba to Mexico in 2009, Anderson would end up signing a four-year, $1.725 million contract with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2010.

Though it seems that Anderson was productive in the minors for Tampa, especially at AAA Durham, he never seemed to be able to catch the break of a call-up. This is where I'm a little confused. Tampa Bay is an amazing organization when it comes to evaluating talent. So looking at Anderson's minor league numbers, it seems that he performed decently enough to at least get a September call-up. Especially at the first base position that has seemed to be a revolving door for the Rays in recent years. Here are Anderson's offensive statistics courtesy of BaseballCube.com:

Anderson shows improvement on a yearly basis especially in AAA when his batting average rises from .277 in 2011 to .309 in 2012. Though it drops from .309 to .292 in 2013, his plate discipline improves in the form of walks. In 2013 he waked 50 times while in 2011 and 2012 combined, he walked 57 times. He remained consistent in the form of strikeouts and was steady in terms of his offensive production especially in the form of doubles and homeruns. Looking at his defensive statistics, you can see that he played first and all three outfield positions and in three seasons playing the majority at time at first he had 10 errors from 2011-2013. That doesn't seem to be too much of a negative issue.

In searching online, I found an article by Cork Gaines entitled Tailgating With The Rays: Why Didn’t The Rays Call Up Leslie Anderson Or Henry Wrigley? from the Rays Index website dated August 31, 2012 that stated the following concerning Anderson:

Leslie Anderson is 3rd in hitting in the IL, and Henry Wrigley would be in the top 15 if he had enough at bats. Clearly the Rays need offense and both can DH or play 1B. So why weren’t they called up along with Reid Brignac and the others?

The simple answer is that they are not on the 40-man roster. But MLB transaction rules are like the tax code, so let me try to explain. For those not familiar: teams have a 25-man roster (the guys we see every night) and a 40-man roster (the 25-man roster plus 15 others that are usually minor leaguers). To be in the big leagues, you have to be on the 40-man roster. There can be up to 15 guys in the minors on the 40-man roster and these guys are kinda like backups. So if somebody on the Rays gets hurt, one of those would be called up to take his place. And in September, anybody on the 40-man can be called up.

Anybody in the minors can be added to the 40-man roster. BUT, if there is already 40 guys, somebody must be taken off. And to do that, that player must be placed on waivers. This is where it gets complicated for guys like Anderson and Wrigley who are not on the 40-man roster. Calling up guys like Brignac is easy. He is already on the 40-man roster, so in September, just promote him. But for Anderson or Wrigley, the Rays would have to risk losing a player to waivers. So it is more like making a trade. And the Rays hate losing pieces if they don’t have to. So at this point, it looks like the Rays have decided that there is nobody already on the 40-man roster that is worth losing for what might end up being 50 at bats from either Anderson or Wrigley. Is that the right decision? I don’t know. But that does appear to be the decision they have made…A NUMBERS GAME AND THEY LOST

I understand that placing a player on waivers, losing them and having the call-up not perform can be a tremendous blow to an organization with limited financial resources like the Rays. But that really sucks for a prospect to feel as if they are performing adequately and won't ever get the chance at the big leagues. But so is the life of a minor league baseball player. Regardless, the Rays granted Anderson his release after the 2013 season so that he could pursue career options abroad.

On December 28, 2013, the Yakyubaka.com website posted that: 

The Yomiuri Giants announced that they finalized a deal with Leslie Anderson (31).  He has been assigned the number forty-two.  He is scheduled to arrive in Japan in late-January...According to Nikkan Sports, the two sides agreed to a one-year deal worth an estimated total sixty million yen.   

Hopefully Anderson can find success in Japan that he couldn't seem to find here in the minors. I'll look back at him a few months from now.

Until Then Play Ball
Baseball Sisco

Four Players to Play for the New York Yankees and Yomiuri Giants

I was watching the opening day game between the fabled Japanese league rivals Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants on One World Sports (@ONEWorldSports) when the announcer Ed Cohen (@edcohensports) mentioned that Giants legend Hideki Matsui was in the announcers booth at the Tokyo Dome. Cohen would talk about Matsui's career in Japan as well as his career with the New York Yankees (2003-2009). Cohen would mention that there have been four players to play for both the New York Yankees and the Tokyo/Yomiuri Giants.

1. Roy White

Photo Credit Japanese Baseball Cards

Roy White played his entire career with the New York Yankees (1965-1979) with a quiet style that contrasted to the legendary "Bronx Zoo" Yankees teams of the mid to late 1970's before making the trip over the Pacific to play for the Giants.

White played three seasons in Japan starting in 1980 (1980-1983) and would play alongside Japanese leagues legend Sadaharu Oh. White would make history when he hit three homers in the same game. One was a game tying homer and the last a game winning homer. White, being a switch hitter homered from both sides of the plate. Here is a video showing his homeruns.


White would help the Giants win Central League pennant and the Japan Series in 1981 and would retire from professional baseball after the 1982 season in Japan. Here are White's Japanese statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.com

2. Jesse Barfield

Photo Credit Japanese Baseball Cards

Barfield was a player with a cannon for an right arm while forming a dominant duo with George Bell on the Toronto Blue Jays teams in the mid-1980's. Barfield would be traded to New York in what seemed to be an unending series of trades that had the Yankees trading young prospects for veteran players. On April 30, 1989, Barfield was traded to the Yankees for pitcher Al Leiter and played in New York until 1992. Barfield would sign to play in Japan for the 1993 season.

According to the Random Jays Stuff tumblr post Jesse Barfield Yomiuri Giants 1993 BBM card:

the Yomiuri Giants gave him a chance in 1993, and signed him for a reported $1.7 million for the season. Jesse hit a two-run HR in his debut to help the Giants to victory, but by the All Star break he was only hitting .185. He wound up with a .215 average in 104 games, missing a month with a relapse of the wrist injury. He did manage to hit 26 HR (6th in the Central League) and his cannon arm still impressed, but had only 53 RBI and led the league in strikeouts with 127.

Still, the crosstown (Tokyo) rival and Central League pennant-winning Yakult Swallows offered Jesse a contract for the 1994 season, thinking they detected and could correct a big flaw in his swing, and he verbally agreed to a deal.

However Barfield was living in Houston in those days and when the Astros invited him to spring training for 1994 he took the risk (the Swallows offer was guaranteed, the Astros’ was not) and accepted the Houston offer instead. This displeased the Swallows’ management greatly, but Jesse ended up writing the team president a letter of apology. Jesse was projected to be the Astros’ opening day RF by some (James Mouton ended up playing the most games in RF that year), but again injuries held him back and he retired before the season began.

Interesting note on the 1993 Giants: Jesse’s teammates included Lloyd Moseby and a 19 year old Hideki Matsui.

Here are Jesse Barfield's statistics from his one season in Japan courtesy of Baseball Reference.com:

3. Mariano Duncan

Duncan was the man who was quoted as saying "We play today, we win today. That's it." while playing second base for the 1996 Yankees. Duncan has spent his entire career in the National League with the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies before signing as a free agent with the Yankees for the 1996 season. After he got into a public issue with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner during the 1997, Duncan would be traded to the Toronto Blue Jays (after a voided trade with Kenny Rogers to the San Diego Padres for slugger Greg Vaughn). Duncan would end up signing with the Tokyo Giants for the 1998 season. His contract was deemed to be between $1.5-million and $2.0-million dollars. Duncan did not have a very successful season in a limited role with the Giants.

In the article Mariano's Journey to the Far East Not Far Enough to Forget Boss by Rafael Hermoso from the New York Daily News website dated February 25, 1999, describes the difficulties Duncan had adjusting to the Japanese game:

Duncan's attempt to forget the Boss took him to Japan last season, a decision he now regrets and blames on his now being a non-roster invitee. "I wanted to go to Japan because I wanted to get my mind straight, I wanted to clear my mind of all the problems I went through in New York," Duncan said. "To tell you the truth, I think I made the wrong decision. For me, going to Japan almost cost my career.

" Duncan asked to be traded and was, twice. First he went to the Padres in the aborted Greg Vaughn deal, then to the Blue Jays for outfielder Angel Ramirez. Duncan's problems followed him to the Yomiuri Giants, where hit .232 with 10 home runs in 207 at-bats last season, saying he never adjusted to the Giants' strict management style. "Those guys are very difficult to play for," Duncan said. "They don't communicate with you. I only talked to the manager one time in seven months and that's not right. I wanted to know what was going on and nobody would tell me anything.

" "The politics of baseball," is what Bobby Valentine, who managed in Japan in 1995, called it. "They make it difficult.

Duncan would be a non-roster invitee with the New York Mets for the 1999 season and would not make the team and retired. Here are Mariano Duncan's Japanese statistics courtesy of Baseball Reference.com:

4. Hideki Matsui

Photo Credit Japanese Baseball Cards

Matsui came over from the Yomiuri Giants in 2003 with a legendary reputation as a major home run hitter and major superstar in Japan. Matsui was a three-time Central League MVP award winner (1996, 2000, 2002) with nine all-star appearances in Japan and three Japan Series championship with MVP awards honors in the 2000 Japan Series. Here are Hideki Matsui's Japanese statistics from Baseball Reference.com:

During the exhibition series in Japan following the 2002 season, Matsui and Barry Bonds locked up in a homerun hitting contest with Bonds winning the event eight homers to Matsui's five. Here is the newspaper article Bonds beats Matsui in home run hitting contest from the Ludington Daily News from November 15, 2002 from the Google News Website:

The Yankees signed Matsui to a three-year $21-million dollar deal on December 19, 2002.  contract on December 19, 2002. Instead of the slugger the Yankees expected to sign, they received a complete player who never complained and let his bat and abilities in the field speak for him. They would later sign/extend him to a four-year $56 million dollar deal on November 15, 2005. According to Tyler Kepner in his article Matsui Signs With Yankees Just Before Deadline from the New York Times website dated November 16, 2005:

Matsui's previous contract stipulated that the Yankees had to release him and allow him to become a free agent if they did not sign him by Nov. 15. They would have then lost their rights to re-sign Matsui for six months...In signing before last night's deadline, Matsui forfeited his chance to test the free-agent market; he would have been among the best players available.

Matsui was a two-time All-Star (2003-2004), runner up for the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year award (which he should have won) and would end up winning the 2009 World Series MVP award in his last season with the Yankees. He would play for three more seasons before signing a one day contract with the Yankees and retiring as a Yankee in 2013.

(***AUTHOR'S NOTE I originally posted that the Yankees signed Matui to a six-year $73 million dollar contract in 2002. I was thankfully corrected by +Patrick Newman of the blogsite NPBTracker.com. He is also a regular contributor to the website JapaneseBaseball.com. Feel free to check out both sites to keep up with news and points of view on the world of Japanese Yakyū.)

If I happen to miss any other players to don the New York Yankees and Yomiuri Giants uniforms, please feel free to let me know. Happy Opening Day!!!!!

Until Then Play Ball
Baseball Sisco

What A Crazy Week In Baseball

My, oh my the flurry of moves this week has been dizzying. Free agent signings and trades galore headlined the week in Baseball and the Winter Meetings where many trades and signings happen loom on the horizon.

You have Billy Beane weaving his magic wand and making trades for numerous players improving the two time American League Champion Oakland A's. You have the Miami Marlins picking up catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and former All-Star shortstop Rafael Furcal. The Los Angeles Dodgers brought back reliever Brian Wilson, who was pretty much lights out for them down the stretch last season. The Houston Astros picked up solid center fielder Dexter Fowler from the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies added Justin Morneau to hopefully fill the hole left with the retirement of Todd Helton.

The White Sox brought back team Captain Paul Konerko in what might be his final season on the South Side of Chicago. The Tampa Bay Rays and their GM Andrew Friedman once again wheel and deal by acquiring reliever Heath Bell and catcher Ryan Hanigan in a three team deal with the Diamondbacks and Reds. The Detroit Tigers believe they have solved their closer issues with the signing of Joe Nathan.

The news from Japan speculate that the Rakutan Golden Eagles might not post their star pitcher Masahiro Tanaka due to the proposed $20 million dollar cap on posting fees that seems to be a part of the new posting contract between the MLB and the NPB. Since they figure that they won't get as much for Tanaka in a posting fee that they would have under the old agreement, they are better off keeping him following this season which was capped by winning the Japan Series against the Yomiuri Giants. This move would put a kink in the plans of many a team in the majors who were looking forward to trying to add Tanaka to their starting rotations.

The World Champion Red Sox took a hit by losing the aforementioned Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury but signed Edward Mujica to replace the non-tendered Andrew Bailey in the bullpen. Speaking of Ellsbury, he signed with the division rival New York Yankees who also signed Hiroki Kuroda but lost their best homegrown everyday player (since Derek Jeter) to the Seattle Mariners who signed Robinson Cano to a reported 10-year $240-million dollar contract.

Wow, that was a mouthful. And the Winter Meetings start on Monday. Who knows what surprises we'll have sprung on us from then to now. We'll just have to wait and see.

Sisco Kid.

Ichiro Suzuki Reaches The 4,000 Career Hit Plateau (U.S. Japan Combined)

Photo Courtesy of MLB.com

In his first at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ichiro Suzuki hit a single to reach the 4,000 hit plateau. In doing so, Ichiro hit a total of 1,278 hits in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) and 2,722 In Major League Baseball (MLB). 

Now some have downplayed the mention of this milestone since many consider the NPB to be a minor league compared to the MLB. This post is not for the purpose of proving or disproving that (for the record I consider the NPB to be somewhere in between the MLB and AAA). And for the record, here in the U.S. his hit total is 2,722 for 59th all-time behind Roberto Alomar who has 2,724. 

For this post, all I want to do is to lay out all of the personal achievements of Ichiro both in MLB and the NPB. This compilation comes from the press bulletin dated August 21, 2013 entitled SABR Asian Baseball Research Committee Salutes Ichiro on Career Hit 4,000 by the SABR Asian Baseball Research Committee. His impressive career includes the following achievements:

Major League Baseball (MLB):

·         - 10× MLB All-Star (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

·         - 10× Gold Glove Award (2001–2010)

·         - 3× Silver Slugger Award (2001, 2007, 2009)

·         - 2× AL batting champion (2001, 2004)

·         - AL MVP (2001)

·         - AL Rookie of the Year (2001)

·         - Highest Batting Average for ROY Winner (.350, appearing in 100+ games)

·         - AL stolen base leader (2001)

·         - Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award (2005)

·         - MLB All-Star Game MVP (2007)

·         - MLB Record: 262 hits, single season

·         - MLB Record: 225 singles, single season

·         - MLB Record: Most hits in 10 seasons (2,244)

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB):

·         - 7× NPB All-Star (1994–2000)

·         - 3× PL MVP (1994–1996)

·         - 7× Golden Glove Award (1994–2000)

·         - 7× Best Nine Award (1994–2000)

·         - 3× Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1994–1995, 2004)

·         - 3× Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (1994–1995, 2001)

·         - 7× PL Batting Champion (1994–2000)

·         - 5× PL Safe Hit Champion (1994–1998)

·         - 5× PL On-base Champion (1994–1996, 1999–2000)

·         - 1995 PL Stolen Base Champion

·         - 1995 PL RBI Champion

·         - Japan Series Champion (1996)

World Baseball Classic (WBC):

·         - 2x Champion (2006, 2009)

Regardless of what position you hold on the Ichiro Suzuki statistics/achievements stance, there's no doubt that he is an impressive Baseball player that has been able to be successful on both sides of the Pacific.

Sisco Kid

Alfonso Soriano Has 2000 Worldwide Hits

Suzyn Waldman made it known during the Yankees post game show that the Japanese media was surrounding Alfonso Soriano. When she approached Ichiro Suzuki, she was told that Soriano with his 2-3 performance today places him at 1,999 hits in the MLB. In addition, Soriano had two hits during his brief stint in Japan which has him at 2,001 hits. Why is this important?

In order to be eligible for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame a player must start his Professional career in Japan AND must have a total of 2,000 hits (including hits in MLB). So Alfonso Soriano is now eligible to be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

In case you didn't know, Soriano started his career with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the NPB Central League. He played the 1996 season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's farm team and was promoted to the main team where he went 2-17 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, 4 Ks and 2 walks. In a move similar to Hideo Nomo's, Soriano hired agent Don Nomura to negotiate his free agency from Japan. He retired in Japan exploiting the "voluntary retirement" loophole as Nomo did a year earlier and signed a contract with the New York Yankees in 1998 against the protests of the NPB. This, Nomo's departure and the situation with Hideki Irabu would lead the NPB to enact the posting system that is in place between the MLB and the NPB.

Two interesting articles that go deeper into this are Robert Whiting's Irabu's impact on MLB-NPB relations profound (Oct 16, 2011) and Contract loophole opened door for Nomo's jump (Oct 10, 2010)

Congratulations to Alfonso Soriano on his international achievement. As with his return to the New York Yankees this season, he might be able to go home again this time to Japan if he is ever inducted into their Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sisco Kid

Where Is Andruw Jones

Since I'm thoroughly tired of the Biogenesis drama and the eventual announcement of suspensions that are believed to be coming on Monday will only add to the drama, I want to get as far away as I can by taking a trip to the Land of the Rising Sun to check in on former Major Leaguer Andruw Jones. Remember him?

Jones recently passed the 2,000 hit mark (MLB/NPB combined) with a single in the 8th inning in a game for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles against the Nippon Ham Fighters. Jones, a 16-year MLB veteran who many believed to be a future Hall of Famer, signed with the Golden Eagles this past offseason for approximately $3.5 million dollars/¥300 million yen including signing bonus, base salary and performance bonuses.

Jones followed the news of the signing with a productive performance for the Dutch team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic with a trip to the semifinals and a loss to the eventual champion Dominican Republic. Jones batted 9-for-27 (.333) with 2 RBI and 3 runs scored  while drawing five walks in a leadership role for the young Dutch team.

So far this season for the Golden Eagles, Jones has put up the following numbers:

Those aren't the best of numbers for the 10x Gold Glover but at the age of 35 and coming off of a numbers of years as a platoon player for The New York Yankees, I believe he is making the best of his opportunity in Japan.

Jones is currently second on the team in homers with 17 and 51 RBI (behind another former Yankees platoon player Casey Mcgehee who has 20 homers and 58 RBI) and  was one of the five representative for the Golden Eagles in the All-Star Game series (the Central and Pacific League All-Stars play three games against each other) batting 1-6 in the three games in which he played. Jones is also one of the reasons why the Golden Eagles are in first place in the Pacific League, seven games ahead of the second place Seibu Lions.

It would remain to be seen whether Jones returns to MLB for the 2014 season or if he decides to continue playing in the NPB. Either way, Jones seems to be doing well for himself and is quite comfortable playing for the Golden Eagles.

I'll pop back to Japan to see how he's doing a little later in the NPB season.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Andruw Jones' career MLB statistics from Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access Andruw Jones' career NPB statistics from the English language version of the NPB website
- Click Here to access the article from NikkanSports.com announcing the Andruw Jones signing by the Golden Eagles dated December 8, 2012
- Click Here to access Jason Coskrey's article Eagles slugger Jones gets his first taste of NPB All-Star Series from the Japan Times dated July 21, 2013

Brazilians In The Major Leagues

Brazilians and Baseball seem to make strange bedfellows. When one thinks of Brazilians and sports you would think about Futbol, Basketball, Mixed Martial Arts and even Rodeo. Baseball doesn't even seem to come up in the conversation. But it seems that there has been some inroads which have translated in two major leaguers.

Cleveland first baseman-catcher
Yan Gomes. (Rich Pilling/Getty Images)

The first Brazilian born major leaguer is the catcher for the Cleveland Indians Yan Gomes. Gomes was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 10th round of the 2009 draft playing out of the University of Tennessee. After making his way through the Blue Jays minor league system, Gomes made history on May 17, 2012. Against the Yankees, Gomes got his first hit for a Brazilian born player on the day of his debut.

Gomes was born on July 19, 1987 in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. After his family moved to the United States, Gomes went to High School in Miami and was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 39th round of the 2008 Major League Baseball but decided to not sign. As I stated above he eventually was drafted in 2009 with the Blue Jays in the 2009 draft.

In his only season with the Blue Jays:

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Yan Gomes		43	98	9	20	4	0	4	13		6	32	0	0	.264	.367	.204	.631

On November 3, 2012 , Gomes was traded with Mike Aviles to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Esmil Rogers. Gomes has seen limited duty this season backing up Carlos Santana. So far this season:

Player		G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI		BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	AVG	OPS
Yan Gomes		43	145	23	41	8	2	7	23		8	29	2	0	.314	.510	.283	.824

Up to today's date, Gomes was the only Brazilian born major leaguer until Andre Rienzo made his debut for the Chicago White Sox against Gomes' Cleveland Indians marking the first time that two (the only two) players born in Brazil faced each other on a Major League field. Rienzo is the first Brazilian-born pitcher in the Major Leagues. 

Rienzo was born on June 5, 1988 in São Paulo, Brazil. Similar to Gomes, Rienzo's family emigrated to the United States. Rienzo would sign as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago White Sox in 2009 and started in the minors. Rienzo would find himself in some controversy when he failed a drug test in 2012, testing positive for metabolites of Stanozolol which is a performance-enhancing drug. While Rienzo stated that he he unknowingly ingested the PED via a supplement that he bought in Brazil, he decided to take responsibility and served his 50-game suspension. He came back and kept working hard. His hard work would be duly rewarded.

It was announced yesterday that Chicago starter Jake Peavy would not be able to make his start in Tuesday night's game against the Indians and that Rienzo would be brought up. In his debut against the Indians, Rienzo became the first White Sox rookie since Jack McDowell in 1987 to throw seven innings in his major league debut without allowing an earned run. In total Rienzo gave up five hits giving up three unearned runs with six strikeouts and three walks in the no-decision. How did Rienzo do against his countryman Gomes?

Gomes had the upperhand against Rienzo by getting a single in the third inning and a bases loaded walk in the fifth. Rienzo would end up striking out Gomes in the seventh. 

With the impressive showing of the Barry Larkin managed Team Brazil in the 2013 World Baseball Classic with three competitive games against Pool A teams Japan, Cuba and China it seems that the future is bright. I believe that the next Brazilian major leaguer might be Tampa Bay Single-A prospect Leonardo Reginatto who seemed to me to shine in the three games that he played in the WBC. Also impressive for Brazil was Rafael Fernandes who plays in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. 

We'll have to see how that plays out. Either way its good to see the sport continually grow in markets and countries where the sport is not the main sport. 

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading

- Click Here to access Yan Gomes' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Click Here to access Andre Rienzo's career statistics from Baseball Cube.com

- Click Here to access Leonardo Reginatto's career statistics from Baseball Cube.com

- Click Here to access Rafael Fernandes' career statistics from Baseball Cube.com

- Click Here to access Scott Powers' article Two minor leaguers suspended from ESPN Chicago's website dated April 26, 2012

- Click Here to access Mark Gonzales' article entitled Rienzo impressive in major league debut for Sox from the Chicago Tribune website dated July 30, 2013
- Click Here to access the box score for the July 30th game against the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians

再見...Manny Ramirez says Zhai Gen aka Adios to Taiwan

Photo Courtesy of AP

Ay-yay-yay. So the Manny Ramirez era in Taiwan has come to an end with his opting out of his contract with the EDA Rhinos of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). Ramirez states that his reasons for leaving have to do with his being homesick. This might very well be true but I really think that Manny wants to make a return to the MLB but the question remains does any team in MLB want the traveling drama show that is Manny Ramirez. Has he fully burned all his bridges in MLB or is there a team that is actually willing to give him a chance.

Rumors have it that the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) is serious in their intent to want to sign Ramirez. Lotte is currently in first place of the Pacific League and I'm sure they see Ramirez as a power bat and a potential draw. If he was indeed homesick in Taiwan, he'll surely be homesick in Japan. But I think its a masterful move. If he joins the NPB, the competition will be stronger there than in the CPBL and if he can put up similar numbers there then I would think he would seriously get better interest from an MLB team.

In 49 games with the Rhinos, Ramirez hit .352 with 8 homers and 43 RBI. His slash line was .352/.422 OBP/.555 SLG.

We'll have to see where Manny lands next. I do have to say that I'll miss the homerun calls that the Taiwanese announcers would bellow when ManRam would go deep. This ball is long gone. Just like an ex-girlfriend who will never return...Awesome

FH

Yu Darvish or Haven't They Learned Their Lesson Yet

I've been thinking about this one for a while and I wanted to elaborate on what the title mean. First off, in case you don't know, Yu Darvish is currently the best starting pitcher in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). The 25-year old pitcher for the Nippon Ham Fighters is currently one of the heavily scouted players by MLB teams in Japan. Why? Well, according to Jason Coskrey and Kaz Nagatsuka in their MLB scouts doing due diligence on Fighters' Darvish from the Japan Times dated September 5, 2011:

In his seventh year as a professional, Darvish is 91-36 with a 2.04 ERA and 0.99 WHIP. So far this season, Darvish is 16-4 with a 1.54 ERA. Through 21 starts, he has 206 strikeouts, marking his fourth season with at least 200.

So on paper Darvish seems to be a jewel of a find for any MLB team that would be open to post for him. A quick and concise explanation on how the posting process works can be found here at the page Posting System on BaseballReference.com. This is where things can get complicated. First off, Darvish is not a free agent at the end of the year. In the NPB the rules concerning how free agency is attained are stricter than how free agency is attained for players in MLB. According to Ryan Webber in his article Japanese Free Agency from Sportsagentblog.com dated November 13, 2009:

Starting in 2009, there are two classes of free agents: international and domestic. Domestic free agents can only sign with other NPB teams while international free agents are free to try their luck overseas as well as sign domestically...In order to qualify as an international free agent, players must play nine seasons in the NPB. To qualify as a domestic free agent, players drafted before 2007 must wait eight seasons. Players drafted after 2007 are only required to wait seven seasons before being declared domestic free agents. This is a much longer period than in MLB.

Also, in contrast to MLB regulations, players must be on the team’s top roster for 145 days in order for it to count as a “year” for free agency purposes. Time spent injured or in the minors does not count. Therefore, it can take much longer than eight or nine years for a player to be eligible for free agency in Japan.

So in Darvish's case he can become a domestic free agent during next season and an international free agent during the 2014 season. It is believed that Darvish will asked to be posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters. If approved by Nippon Ham and the league then there will be a mad dash on MLB teams to try and put together the highest posting fee and hope their's gets picked. There are at least 10 teams scouting Darvish among them being the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. Herein lies the meaning of the second part of the title to this post.

I was telling a couple of friends of mine who are Yankees fans of the Yankees' attempts to scout Darvish and after a couple of perplexing looks from them, they both almost voiced the same statement in unison: Haven't they learned their lesson yet? In case you don't know, the Yankees have been burned when it comes to Japanese pitching in the form of Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Theoretically you can say that every MLB team has been burned by Japanese starting pitching not living up to their expectations though Daisuke Matsuzaka did put up a 33-15 record with a 3.72 ERA in 61 games (61 starts) with 355 stikeouts and 155 walks his first two seasons with the Red Sox before injuries and ineffectiveness have limited him to a 16-15 record with a 5.03 in 45 games (44 starts) with 213 strikeouts and 127 walks. Perhaps if the Red Sox hadn't shelled out a whopping $51,111,111.11 posting fee on top of a six-year, $52 million dollar contract the ineffectiveness would be felt less by the Red Sox Nation. Position players such as Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and to a certain degree Akinori Iwamura lived up to the expectations. No Japanese starting pitcher since Hideo Nomo has been able to meet up to the same kind of expectatios. But back to Darvish.

In the Coskrey and Nagatsuka article, they say that MLB scouts view Darvish favorably when compared to current MLB starters. How can a team looking to stay competitive such as the Yankees and the Red Sox who play in Baseball's most competitive division ignore a potential ace such as Darvish. As with any player who is scouted, it can be a crap shoot. Look at Jose Bautista, who could have predicted two years ago that he'd be such a dominant player. On the flip side, look at Jason Heyward who had an impressive rookie season and is struggling this season. The scouting is never guaranteed to bring success. Teams just have to sometimes take a chance on a player and hope for the best which is what teams hope to do with Yu Darvish. This whole thing can be made moot if Darvish does not ask to be posted or if he does ask to be posted and the team decides not to. Until then we'll just have to wait and see.

*** Photo Credit goes to the Japanese Baseball Card Blog Page

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Yu Darvish's career statistics from the NPB website

Looking at Venezuelan Enyelbert Soto of the Chunichi Dragons

I try to profile Latino players that are currently playing in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) to bring awareness to players who may not have reached their potential while playing in MLB. Last season I profiled Venezuelan outfielder Alex “Rami-chan” Ramirez of the Yomiuri Giants. This season I’ve decided to profile another Venezuelan, pitcher Enyelbert Soto of the Chunichi Dragons.

Soto was originally signed by the Houston Astros as an undrafted free agent in 1999 and seemed to retire voluntarily in 2002 (Why? I can’t seem to find out. When I do I’ll update the post). Soto made his return with the Astros organization in January of 2003 and started pitching for the Greenville Astros of the Rookie Appalachian League in 2004. In 24 games, Soto went 1-1 with a 1.03 ERA with 13 saves in 35.0 innings pitched. Soto struck out 47 while walking only 2 while giving up 30 hits and 10 runs for a WHIP of 0.91. His performance at Greenville led to his promotion to Class A- Tri-City Valley Cats of the New York-Penn League.

In parts of two seasons at Tri-City (2004-2005), Soto went 0-1 with a 3.75 ERA in 10 games with 12.0 innings pitched. He struck out 15 while walking 4 while giving up 11 hits and 6 runs for a WHIP of 1.250. Soto spent the remainder of the 2005 season with the Lexington Legends of the Class A South Atlantic League. In 16 games, Soto went 2-1 with a 4.44 ERA with 2 saves in 26.1 innings pitched. He struck out 16 and walked 2 while giving up 36 hits and 14 runs for a WHIP of 1.443. The next stop for Soto was with the Salem Avalanche of the Class Advanced A Carolina League.

In parts of two seasons with Salem (2006-2007), Soto posted a 5-5 record with a 2.14 ERA with 2 saves in 92.2 innings pitched. He struck out 67 while walking 32 while giving up 92 hits and 32 runs for a WHIP of 1.338. Soto would finish the remainder of the 2007 season with the Corpus Christi Hooks of the Class AA Texas League. In 6 games at Corpus Christi Soto compiled a 1-0 record with a 10.00 ERA in 9 innings pitched. Unlike his other stops in the minors, Soto seemed to have a difficulty with the batters in AA. Soto struck out 9 while walking 13 and giving up 16 hits and 12 runs for a WHIP of 3.222. That’s where Soto’s minor league experience ends and he seems to just disappear from organized baseball.

Then I notice that Patrick Newman of NPBTracker.com posted the following in his article Chunichi Notes: Chen, Soto dated January 24, 2011:

the Dragons will look at another lefty this spring. 28 year-old Venezuelan Enyelbert Soto will participate in Chunichi’s camp on a trial basis. Soto has minor league experience in the Astros organization and played in Italy last season.

Soto made the team and as of today he has been exceptionally productive for the Dragons. In 12 games, he is 1-0 with a 1.04 ERA 17.1 innings pitched. His strikeout to walk ratio seems to have normalized with his striking out 11 with only 2 walks and giving up 16 hits and only 4 runs for a WHIP of 1.052. His last appearance on July 19th was his first start in Japan in which he pitched 5 innings of 1-run ball allowing 4 hits and striking out 2 while not walking a batter.

So what does this mean for Soto? Has the change of scenery worked to his benefit? Are the hitters that he is facing in the NPB of lesser quality than those he had trouble with in AA? I don’t know. Maybe there isn’t a specific reason for his initial success in his first season in Japan. All I can tell is that he is doing his job coming out of the bullpen and now starting for the second place Chunichi Dragons. I will take a look at his progress during the second half of the NPB season. Sayonara and Adios.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Enyelbert Soto's career minor league statistics from Baseball-Reference.com
- Click Here for Enyelbert Soto's career minor league statistics from TheBaseballCube.com
- Click Here for Enyelbert Soto's page from the NPB.org website
- Click Here for the article Soto solid as Dragons rout Giants from the Japan Times Online dated July 19, 2011