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。

A Confession of Jim Parque

Jim Parque,　former Chicago Whit Sox pitcher, wrote a confession of his use of HGH at Chicago Sun-Times. I respect him for admitting what he has done wrong in the past when he just can deny the allegations. One more thing what I really respect about him is his apology to White Sox GM Ken Williams. It's huge.

元ホワイト・ソックス投手のジム・パーケが自分のHGH使用を認めました。その中で、ホワイト・ソックスGMのケン・ウィリアムスに対し自分の過去の態度を謝罪していました。このご時世で、HGH使用を認めたのも偉いですが、必要もないのにウィリアムスに対しても謝罪を表明するなんて偉いなぁと思いました。

The Wall is High

Tokyo Verdy lost the much against Ventforet Kofe 2-1. Although Masashi Oguro scored a goal, Kofe's defense was really tough. Verdy offense couldn't kick shoots as much as they used to do for past few months. Top 4 teams of division 2 are really tough to beat not because their offense but their defense. It was like they are higher walls than rest of the division 2 teams.

Yukio Tsuchiya, the soul of Verdy defense, got hurt his knee in the first half. After he was pulled the game at the end of the 1st half, Verdy defense got weak. I don't know how bad his knee is at this point; but, I hope he will be back for the next game. Or, we would face a huge problem.

The game itself was pretty good; but, only 5,909 people showed up the Ajinomoto Stadium last night.

壁が高いなぁ。甲府が強いのもあるでしょうが、土屋を怪我で試合途中に失ったヴェルデイはおもしろいように失点を重ねてしまいました。

Verdy will have a match against Ventforet Kofe Tomorrow Night

19:00 tomorrow night at Ajinomoto Stadium, Tokyo Verdy will have a crucial game for them against Ventforet Kofe. Top three teams from the J-League Division 2 of this season will be promoted to Division 1. At this point, Verdy is in the 5th place of the division with 49 points and Kofe is in the 4th place with 53 points. Vegalta Sendai, the 3rd in the division, has just 54 points.

So, we really need to win this much against Kofe tommorow night in order to keep trailing the top three teams of the division.

明日の夜７時、味スタでヴェルデイ対甲府の試合があります。

Tokyo Verdy won against Tokushima Vortis

Last Saturday night at Kokuritsu Kyougijyou(the National Olympic Stadium), Tokyo Verdy defeated Tokushima Vortis 4-0. Masashi Oguro had two goals. Hiroki Kawano and Kazuki Hiramoto had one goal each. Vortis' 19 years old MF Yoichiro Kakitani was the man to watch in this game according to the media; however, another 19 years old Kawano stole the show with a goal.

I was impreseed by the both teams because they had three games in a week with two days rest between those games. It was third game for both teams that night; but, they moved pretty good. It was really fun game. Oguro played really hard and fast, and Tokushima's difence was great even after their defender Kentoku Noborio got ejected at 49 minutes. I was amazed by their motivations to play.

6,923 people showed up for this much, almost 2,000 more than last Verdy's Home game at Ajinomoto. This number tells me something. I believe it is the time for J-League to allow Verdy to call Kokuritsu its permanent home. Ajinomoto is not for Verdy; Kokuritsu is.

国立霞ヶ丘競技場で行われた対徳島戦。知り合いのツテでチケットを頂き見てきました。知り合いによると徳島の１９歳MF柿谷は非常に見る価値のある選手のようで、なるほどその通りだなぁと感じました。しかし、ヴェルデイの１９歳河野がゴールを奪いチームの勝利に貢献しました。