So Far , So Good

The 2000 Japanese Professional Baseball season is but two brisk weeks
old, but so far the Seibu Lions have shown to possess as much roar as any
team in the Pacific League. And a nice bite to go with it.

As of April 12th, the team stood atop the league with a sharp start
of seven wins, two losses. The bad news -- that is, bad for the rest of
the league -- is that Seibu has not been winning with the razor keen pitching
the team is renowned for. The pitching has not been terrible; it just hasn't
yet approached the suffocating precision expected of the Seibu staff. Still,
the mound work has been good enough.

For the hitting has been outstanding.

Hitting is exactly what the 1999 Lions edition seemed to forget. The
team batting average was anemic, team power totals embarrassing and overall
run production downright snoozy. Whenever Seibu scored a run, the pitchers
had to fight tooth and nail to protect it. Pretty sure they weren't going
to get any more.

But an early check on the 2000 team shows this:

Seibu scored in the first inning of six of its first nine games, winning
all six.

Both foreign imports, Tony Fernandez and Reggie Jefferson, were thumping
at around a .300 clip. Last year's American additions spent April approximately
a hundred points lower. In fact, pick any month you want. The four foreign 
bodies counted on to pack punch into last year's line-up hit little better
than a combined .200 for the season.

Furthermore, Fernandez, batting third, has struck out but one time in
the team's first nine contests. Last season's foreign players went down
swinging more than once in every single game.

In each of those same first nine games, Fernandez has also recorded
at least one base hit. Ken Suzuki, the Lions 1st baseman, did the same
for the first eight games. Suzuki's lackluster 1999 production has been
well cited as another reason the Lions failed to defend their league crown.
Yet, he has barreled into 2000 like the Ken Suzuki of old, spanking the
ball especially well in the clutch. With Fernandez and Jefferson on base
in front of him, Suzuki might well make a run at 100 RBIs.

Manager Osamu Higashio's main line-up change over last season has also
worked like a charm. Riding the bench has been 1998 Rookie of the Year,
Tatsuya Ozeki, a slick fielding, peck and scratch hitter, who tapped but
one homer in 1999. Starting in his place has been 1999 platoon outfielder,
Tetsuya Kakiuchi. Kakiuchi has struggled to overcome various injuries since
the 1996 season when he slugged 28 homers. He is a lumbering outfielder
and only a .250-type hitter, yet the switch from Ozeki lightning to Kakiuchi
thunder has been explosive. Each of Kakiuchi's three early season homers
has been pivotal. His continued power comeback makes the rejuvenated Lions
batting order look scarier yet.

All this with the best hitter in the line-up, all-star shortstop Kazuo
Matsui, off to a slow start. Asked to hit second, Matsui has been puttering
in the low .200's. Yet, with Fernandez sizzling behind him, Matsui is sure
to see better pitches and it is hard to imagine him not rising to his usual
.300 level.

Also, slumping has been left fielder Taisei Takagi, converted from 1st
base to make room for Ken Suzuki, who surrendered his 3rd base spot to
Fernandez. While Takagi average is shy of .200, he too is hitting in game
situations, winning the season opener virtually single-handed with four
RBIs against the Nippon Ham Fighters.

The potential of all this new found juice flashed brightest in the Lions
April 9th contest against Orix. Seibu tore up Blue Wave pitchers for 15
runs, the kind of scoring last season's team could never dream of. The
outburst raised eyebrows around the league.

Yet, perhaps more people took note of the April 12th game against defending 
Champion Daiei. In that game the Lions scored but three runs -- which proved
more than enough as right-hander Takashi Ishii dialed a six hit shut-out.

For that is what the league is fearful of. When Seibu hurlers start
to mow people down, a team with this kind of offense might be unstoppable.

Oh what a difference a year makes.