This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
In Fukuoka, almost as far removed as one can get from the disaster in Japan, the Hawks got back to work on their newly-extended exhibition schedule. Tadashi Settsu got the ball as the starter and out-performed Masanori Ishikawa over six innings, as he and three other Hawks relievers shut out the Yakult Swallows, 4-0.
Most of the offensive output came in the middle innings, as the Hawks scored one run each in the 5th through 7th innings. In the 5th and 7th, the runs were driven in by Seiichi Uchikawa, who also drove in a run in the first for a three-RBI day. The other run came off the bat of Matsunaka, who doubled in a run of his own.
Ishikawa went five innings, giving up two runs on seven hits with two strikeouts. The Yakult relief corps gave up two runs in three innings. Takahiko Oshimoto and Kentaro Kyuko each gave up a run on two hits. Kyuko also gave up a walk and balked once.
Settsu was great over six innings, as he struck out six, walked one, and gave up three hits. His relief corps gave up two hits in three innings as Morifuku struck out two of his three batters, Kanazawa gave up a single, and Mahara gave up a hit but also struck out two.
Before the game, the players collected donations for the relief effort. For those who are reading this and want to donate, the Red Cross is always collecting donations.
Recently, the Pacific League has decided to delay the start of the regular season to April 12th. Also, with blackouts practically imminent, a lot of teams are wondering what to do about night games.
No word from the Hawks on what they plan to do with Yahoo! Dome, but I would expect the Hawks to open the dome a bit more often and play a lot more day games, with the only power used being from the retractable roof.