Shinjyo optioned to minor league

Despite his defensive ability, if he can't hit .200, he can't stay in the Major Leagues.

I am a Shinjyo fan. I hope that Shinjyo can return to the Mets when he gets good results in the minor league! Shinjyo plays solid in defensive this year, but his batting has been so "unlucky" this year!

Wow, I would like to see him come back to Hanshin. Does he has a chance in the outfield of Tigers?

Well, he'd have to be performing spectacularly. At present, all three of our outfielders (Hiyama, RF; Akahoshi, CF; Kanemoto, LF) are hitting comfortably over .300. Akahoshi is Japan's top base stealer for the third season in a row, and Kanemoto is in the Ce League top 10 for stealing. Not to mention Hamanaka (RF) who's out injured at the moment, but who is also averaging .300 or so.

That, coupled with Shinjo's penchant for striking out (when he was with the Hanshin Tigers, at least) would make it quite hard for him.

Word in New York is that he will return to Japan after the season's over and try to be a movie star.

While a solid defensive player, he couldn't hit once pitchers figured him out. He was only an average hitter in Japan, I understand.

But Shinjyo now plays solid in the Minor League.

Shinjo was 4-ban for Hanshin. He should go home to replace Hamanaka now.

Hiyama's taking a few days off, too, to get over last night's back strain, so that's two 4-bans out for the Tigers.

Having said that, however, I'd say Shinjo would have a hard time getting back into the Tigers' line-up. I mean, we Tiger fans loved him and all, but we're doing just fine, thanks (at the moment, anyway. Who knows what's gonna happen in the remainder of the season).

I am a Shinjo fan. I know he still can regain his power!

Regain his power? Kind of late for that. He better try a new career - Movie Star. Most of his fans seem to be women who like his looks, not his ability to hit the ball.

But he has been playing profesional baseball for 13 years now, and he is already 32. So I don't think that he can change careers to be a movie star.

I am not sure about Japan, but in the U.S. several atheletes have become actors after their sports career ended. Jim Brown (greatest running back in football) is one, and OJ Simpson is another.

Well, if he can't become a movie star, then maybe he can run for Governor of California!

Just because Shinjo went to the MLB and had a good, not great, year before fleeing, people seem to think he was the Babe Ruth of Japan before he left.

He was a mediocre hitter who played great defense. Plain and simple. His OPS was in the mid-.700s and his OBP was around .300 every year, except in 2000, when he had a OPS of .810-ish. Sure, he played half his games in Koshien, which is more of a pitcher's park, but that doesn't change the fact that he couldn't get on base at even a .300 clip consistently.

If Shinjyo ever makes it back here, I hope it's not to Hanshin. If he ends up in the clean-up for Hanshin I may have to light myself on fire.

I met Shinjo a few weeks ago when Norfolk came to town. Yes, every Japanese fan (about 100 of them, young, old, male, female, etc.) treated him like a superstar. You wouldn't believe how hard I had to try just to get through for an autograph.

Because Shinjo is really very famous in Japan and they call him "Prince of Baseball."

Well, his future in MLB is almost a zero. Most likely he will end up back in Japan like Irabu.

Here's how the Prince of Baseball is doing as of today with the Norfolk Tides (Mets AAA Farm Team):

Player  G AB  R  H  2B  3B  HR  RBI  BB  SO  SB  CS  AVG
Shinjo 24 77  9 25   4   2   2   4    7  11   0   1 .325

Very good numbers, but don't I know if he will be back with the Mets next season. The roster expands in a few weeks and maybe he'll be called up, but I think the Mets will want to give some of their youngsters a look.

Floyd goes down for surgery in a couple of weeks, so maybe The Price will get the nod.

He will need a strong spring training to stick IMHO.

Slightly off topic.

Kobe-based Sun TV often shows old Hanshin games to fill in dead air time. Last night it was a 1994 game between the Tigers and the Swallows. The Swallows were leading in the 12th, but who should come to the plate and save the day with a sayonara grand-slam? Good-old Shinjo. We sure loved him back in his pre-MLB days.

It was an interesting program to watch: it sort of reminded me that Hanshin has drawn far and wide to find good players and staff (esp. this season). In this game, Nomura-kantoku was the opposition's manager, and Yakult's catcher was current Hanshin no. 27, Noguchi (with a sort of Kim Jong-Il coiffeure). Tom O'Malley was playing, rather than coaching, for the Tigers, and Hiroshi "God of Pinch Hitters" Yagi and Yutaka Wada (now a Hanshin batting coach) looked like spring chickens.

Very interesting to watch; hope you'll excuse my digression.

ERRATA: That was from the NY Daily News.

Yesaterday's New York Daily News indicated that Shinjo-san was likely done with the Mets and might not be called up. His agent said that Shinjo-san was fine with that and that he expected to play in MLB somewhere else next year.

Shinjo-san was painted as a prince by saying that the Mets should give the youngsters in the farm system a chance to play in September for the Mets. He says he completely understands.

Shinjo-san needs to play regularly if he is to put up decent numbers. I'm sure he can find a spot if he wants. He might be better off back in Japan, to see if his MLB experience added anything to his game, plus the chance to play regularly in more familiar surroundings. Doesn't he have a wife in Japan who is a newscaster?

Doesn't he have a wife in Japan who is a newscaster?

Nope. Ichiro and Ishii have the newscaster wives. Shinjo's wife was a model/commercial actress.

- Nope. Ichiro and Ishii have the newscaster wives. Shinjo's wife was a model/commercial actress.

Did their wifes accompany with them there? How about Daimajin, Matsui? Nomo? Is Hasegawa married to an American?

Hey, Shinjo-san and his wife can be the next Tracy/Hepburn, Affleck and J. Lo!

Shinjo-san's wife stayed in Japan. I don't know about the other guys'. In MLB, often the players families live far away from their current team, so it's not frequent that the wives travel with their husbands. In the case of the Japanese players, the distance is just greater and the time less frequent, especially if their spouses have high profile jobs.

Shinjo's wife has been over to the States during the season. I don't know if those were long-term stays or visits.

Sasaki's wife (aren't they divorced yet?) Kaori stays in Japan. There had been reports when he first came to the Mariners that he wanted to live here after his career was over, but he still spends most of his off-season time in Japan. Haseagwa was recently quoted as hinting that Sasaki will live in Japan after he retires.

Hasegawa and his wife live in the U.S full time. Ichiro and wife (whose name slips my mind at the moment) split their time between their condo here and Japan. Kazuhisa Ishii's wife lives in Japan full time. Her and son Kanta come over for occasional visits.

Incidentally, in case anyone was wondering, there is a rumor that Kazuo Matsui's wife, Mio, has been taking English lessons. They have a small daughter, Haruna.