What He Used to Be

Fumiya Nishiguchi warming up in the pen
Fumiya Nishiguchi's six scoreless innings and Hisashi Takayama's two home runs gave Lions a win against Buffaloes 6 - 1 last night.

The first start since July 1st, Nishiguchi (2-2) gave up just three base runners. His slider was so sharp that he fanned seven. In the second inning he struck out three Buffaloes he faced. The best thing about him last night was that his rythm. His tempo was really fast that the speed of the game was comfortable for everyone. It looked like his ace type form was returned to him.

Before the game, I didn't expect much from him. I liked his career. I wished he would pitch a good game; but, I just thought it wouldn't happen. He was the ace of the Lions from the mid 90's to mid 2000's; however, his struggles for last few years made funs and the organization to lose confidence in him. He is 37 years old now. I hoped I was wrong; yet, it seemd like he would be near to the end of his brilliant career. But the last night, he pitched like what he used to be. That's great feeling.

WOW!! Did You See That!?

Hula & Kazuyuki Hoashi (the pitcher in the bullpen)
I've never seen such a big foul ball, which was hit by Buffaloes' Alex Cabrera off Kazuyuki Hoashi in the 2nd inning. When he hit one, entire ballpark became silent. He hit it out of the Seibu Dome. Because it went to so far away and so hi, many people don't realize what was going on. Cabrera believed it was homerun, Lions players thought it was foul ball. The funny thing was the umps weren't sure what it was. After they watched the video, they decided that it was foul ball. To decide whether homerun or not, they took almost 10 minutes (at least that's what I felt).

This delay cost Hoashi's rythm of the pitching. Even though he gave up only 2 runs(one earned) and fanned six, he threw 115 pitches and lasted only for 6 innings.

As always, fans in the dome went to crasy when Kimiyasu Kudoh went to the pitching mound from the bullpen. Even though he gave up two base runners, he finished the night with the three strike outs. By the way the Lions defeated the Buffaloes 8 -3.

Tomotaka Sakaguchi, Buffaloes' center fielder, is worth to watch. His hitting, running, and defense are just amazing (I'm not sure about his throwing arm 'cause I've never had a chance to see it). Especially his speed for baserunning and defense is the first class. I could see that last night. His hustle, I mean his mental side of the game is as great as his physical ability.

Fumiya Nishiguchi will start for Saitama tonight agianst Buffaloes' Shogo Yamamoto.

"Is This Love?" By Bonnie Pink

I love airports. I love anykinds of them. I love spending time there. I can have fan all the time there. I can eat great foods there. I can shop there. I just love there.

I went to Hokkaido last weekend. While I was waiting my flight at Haneda, I watched some Japanese music TV. That was the first time I listened "Is This Love?" by Bonnie Pink. I like it. I downloaded it through iTunes. I don't know why they have only released it through degital format at this moment; however, it is good song. One problem I have now is that I cannot get lyrics of this song in any way.

先週末北海道に行ってきました。羽田のゲートでフライトを待っている時に音楽専門チャンネルのランキングをやってたので見てました。Bonnie PinkのIs This Love?という曲をこの時初めて聞いて気にいったので、東京に戻ってから早速iTunesからダウンロードしました。現在この曲はデジタル配信のみだそうですが、きちんとした歌詞がネットで探しても見つからないのが残念でなりません。けど、素敵な曲ですよ。

Swallows 1-0 BayStars

At the Jingu Stadium with the little attendance of 8,982, tonight's pitching match up between Tony Barnette of the Swallows and Hayato Terahara of the BayStars was really great. Alaska born Barnette got his first win in Japan with 7 shutout innings. He fanned 11 while giving up 3 hits and walking 3. In the 7th inning, he struck out two hitters in a row when one out and the bases a loaded situation. His running was also impressive, when he hit the routine ground ball to second. Terahara gave up just 1 run in 6 strong innings; but, he got the loss. Ryouji Aikawa's RBI double in the 3rd inning was the only run of the game. Tonight's outfielders of the BayStars was not that good defensively. That run could have been avoided. The drama of the 9th inning, what I meant by is the throwing error by Aikawa, made this game more exciting. This game was just 2 hours 38 minutes.

今夜のたった８，９８２人しか入らなかった神宮球場におけるスワローズ対横浜の試合は見応えのある投手戦になりました。スワローズの先発はアラスカ生まれのバーネット。横浜は寺原でした。バーネットは７回を投げ３被安打、３四球、１１奪三振で無失点の力投で来日初勝利。７回表の１死満塁からの２者連続三振は圧巻でした。また、２回裏の打席では平凡なセカンドゴロを打つと一塁まで全力疾走。一方の寺原も６回１失点と好投したものの、味方が零封されたので１－０で負け投手になりました。３回に飛び出した相川の２塁打で１点を取り勝ったものの、横浜の外野の守備がもう少し良ければ一塁ランナーが本塁に帰ってくる事はなかったですね。９回の相川の送球エラーはこの試合の最大の見せ場の一つでした。この試合は色々なドラマがあったもののわずか２時間３８分で終わりました。

Sprained my Left Ankle

I will run for the 2nd Shimanto-gawa(Shimanto River) Sakura (cherryblossom) Marathon in Kubokawa(Shimanto Town) of Kochi Prefecture on April 4th. When I tried to move from the sidewalkt to the road way to run for just few meters while I was running, I failed to land my foot on the road. As a result, I sprained my left ankle. One of my colleague told me to just cold my left ankle with ice; so, I did it. It feels much better now.

４月４日に高知県窪川町（現：四万十町）である第２回四万十川桜マラソンに参加する為に調整中ですが、車道でホンの数メートル走ろうと歩道から移った時に着地に失敗し足首を痛めました。同僚にとにかく患部を冷やすように言われたので、その通りにしてみたらかなり痛みが引いてきました。