Yakult Swallows - Gillette World Sport

- What could be said to be the major concerns of the Swallows as they prepare to defend their Japan Series title?

One key to Yakult's success is Furuta being healthy. With the exception of last season, those seasons that Furuta played in every game, the Swallows won the pennent: 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1997. While they did win the pennant with Furuta sitting out for a while last season (2001), Japan's premire catcher played in pain for a while as the Swallows seemed to have lost their self confidence while he was out.

Besides, ball players tend to be superstitious, and having Furuta play the whole season is viewed as a good omen to the birds of Jingu.

- What issues do you think a 5-minute television feature on the Swallows and their pre-season preparations should focus on?

The loss of ace left hander Ishii to the Dodgers has been weighing down on the club. But with young lefty Fujii getting off to a great start this spring, some of their worries have been alieviated.

- If you had to interview 5 players, which players would you interview and why?

Furuta would be number one on my list. Not only is he a great ball player, but he's very smart, is the head of the Players' Association, and the real team leader. He's the man who can answer the above questions much better than I can.

Next I would talk with ace closer Takatsu. If anyone has a chance at catching up with Sasaki's save records, it's Takatsu.

The manager, Wakamatsu, is a must interviewee in that he is best qualified to answer your questions on strategy in defending the pennant.

Two time home run king and last year's MVP and RBI king Petagine is most definatly a key player.

After that, veterans Ikeyama and/or Iida would also make for interesting interviews, I think.

- And what can you tell me about the Swallows coaching staff? Do they have any interesting training methods or approaches to the game of baseball that would be interesting to investigate?

I'm not sure about that one. I guess you'll just have to watch and see if they do anything out of the ordinary.

- Another feature we'll be producing is a feature on the Japanese Women's Softball Team. Information about this team is not so readily available on the internet.

Other than occasionally reading an article about the team in the newspaper, I'm afraid I can't be of much help with this one. You might want to try the Japan Ameteur Sports Association for more information.

I hope this helps you prepare for your trip. And may it be a good one.

I noticed from the response that Alex Ramirez was not mentioned as one of the five players to consider for an interview, here is a player who came from the US for the first time last year and finished with 29 hr, 88 rbi's and 280 average. This is not great but it's worth mentioning since this is the first time Ramirez played in Japan and faced pitcher's with such great changeups' and a variety of pitching.

What's so big about Ramirez's season? It was just slightly above average, Small home stadium and he only did well against two teams (carp, tigers)he's not as good as you think! All the Japanese pitchers owned him, his numbers are based on facing AAA foreigners! You should interview him if you want to know anything about being a guess hitter! You should interview some of the foreign players though, it would be interesting to get a pitchers prospective from both countries.

I would agree with the necessity of interviewing Furuta. You should definitely ask him his opinion about
limiting the number of foreign players in Japan. But
otherwise, he is basically the club's onfield leader
and he is still playing with a bad knee this spring.

The Ishii issue is also salutary and they are hoping that their first round draft choice, Ishikawa, a slider and screwball guy, can step in and take up some of the slack left by Ishii.

But look at it this way, too: the Swallows lost their
number two starter, Kenjiro Kawasaki, to free agency and the Chunichi Dragons (after rejecting a three year,
$3 million a year offer from the Boston Red Sox) before the 2001 season and Fujii emerged to take Kawasaki's place. Moreover, last season's number one pick, Manabu Hiramoto, had problems throwing strikes and it is looking increasingly doubtful that he will be able to make a viable career for himself. In other words, the Swallows muddled through. They got Kevin Hodges in mid-season from Seattle and while he isn't the next Greg Maddux, he did give them a string of quality starts to stabilize the back end of that rotation.

One twist you HAVE to ask Yakult's management about is
their attempt to import the flamethrowing (101mph)
hurler Maels Rodriguez from Cuba. They are also looking at getting Jose Ariel Contreras, the Cuban National Team's #1 starter, and there will be further talks in May with the Cuban Sports Ministry about Rodriguez and
Contreras.

You should also talk about the fact that Yakult's ballpark is one of the few of the old style baseball stadiums left as more domed stadiums are being built
(with a domed stadium project in the planning stages in Yokohama, for example). I love Jingu's atmosphere.

There is also an interesting story about the Brazilian kid, Tsugio Satoh, who might become the first Brazilian-born position player in Japanese history if he makes the big club out of spring training (which it looks like will happen).

I think Takatsu needs 36 saves to break Sasaki's record. If Yakult has another season like 2001 that should be in the bag. Atsunori Inaba, who had a career year last season, and Petagine, the CL MVP, are injured
right now and Petagine may not comeback in time for opening day.

Yomiuri's Hideki Matsui will want to make a good impression on the legions of MLB scouts that are following him around right now (including six alone from the Braves) in preparation for his becoming a free agent at the end of the season, so I expect him to have an amazing year. The key for Yakult's pitching staff will be containing Matsui as much as possible. This season will be a dogfight if Yomiuri gets a healthy Kimiyasu Kudoh. Their middle relief sure looks a lot better than in 2001. Should be exciting.

Quick response to Ramirez. At the beginning of last season, I couldn't believe Yakult was wasting so many at bats on him. As the season progressed, he started getting really hot, and was ideal in the 6-8 spot to clean up whomever was left on bases.

Keep in mind this was Ramirez's first year in Japan, and most foreign players here go through an adjustment period to learn to hit breaking stuff that they don't see in the US like the "shuuto". See Mr. Baseball for Hollywood's case in point.

Also, Ramirez's "kyara," or personable character was a huge lift for normally subdued Japanese team benches. Everyone needs a laugh to make baseball fun, and Ramirez provided that with his practical jokes and Antonio Inoki impersonations.

Thanks to all those who gave me some feedback on the Swallows. I can tell you that the feature will be shown on J-Sky Sports and ESPN in Japan from around 12th April for the following 8-9 days.

I was hoping someone could point me in the direction of a site that lists all the Central and Pacific League pennant winners, as well as J-Series champions, going back 10-20 years.

Thank you very much and enjoy the show,

Matt Walker
Producer Gillette World Sport

> Thanks to all those who gave me some feedback on the
> Swallows. I can tell you that the feature will be
> shown on J-Sky Sports and ESPN in Japan from around
> 12th April for the following 8-9 days.

Will this be aired on a network in the US at all?

> I was hoping someone could point me in the direction
> of a site that lists all the Central and Pacific
> League pennant winners, as well as J-Series
> champions, going back 10-20 years.

Check out http://ww1.baywell.ne.jp/fpweb/drlatham/index.htm. This has all the pennant and Series winners through 1999. (and in case you don't know, in 2000 the Giants beat the Hawks and in 2001 the Swallows beat the Buffaloes.)

So did anyone hear back from Walker-san as to whether this will air in the US or not?

Your best bet would be to check your local TV Guide to see if Gillette World Sport is shown on any of your local (or cable) channels.

Alas, that was the first thing I did, Westbay-san (to no avail). I guess I was sorta grasping at straws.

I would like to get in touch with someone who is responsible for negotiating the distribution rights for Gilette World Sports. I am based in Hong Kong and distribute to cable operators and movie theatres throughout Asia. Please e-mail me at pbrillson at h2hprods d0t com or call me at +852 2243 0005

Thank you.

Paula Brillson

Matt,

Can't help you with the Swallows, but I'm interseted in Gillette World Sport. Where are you based? What is the production company producing the show? Does Gillete World Sport have a web site? I haven't found it.