Ichiro

Ichiro Suzuki. Great ballplayer. Had he played his entire career in the Majors, he would have put up some unbelieveable stats. He's approaching the 3,000 hit plateau for his career(s). Fortunately or unfortunately, J.D. Drew has put together his best season and he will be a mainstay out there in right field beside Jacoby Ellsbury and 'what's his name' for the time being. The Mariner's could be moving Ichiro, but I doubt it. If JD had a dismal season, they we would now be looking for a right fielder and we would not have depended on a PawSox call-up. Gosh, could you imagine a lineup like Ellsbury (batting 9th), Suzuki, Pedroia, Papi, Manny, Youk, etc. I think that Ichiro would have really fired up this club and it would have been a cakewalk through the World Serious. But nonetheless, our lineup is pretty darn good right now with a couple glaring holes....shortstop and a non-hitting, waiting to come around Jason Vari-technical difficulties. Oh, cripes, I've got to stop 'Bermanizing' peoples names.

But tell me something people...haven't you noticed that Ichiro pretty much 'accentuates' every catch, jump, dive out there in the outfield and also while batting. Kind of like, 'hey, I'm cool' and trying to put on a show everytime the cameras are on him. He's not 'hi-fiving' fans out there like somebody we know, but he always throws in that extra, un-needed twist, jump, turn after catching the ball to make fans think was more of a sensational catch. It guess it's all about showtime and being entertaining. You don't see JD doing that crap and Ellsbury just does what comes natural. And the other guy....well, every time he goes for the ball, you move to the edge of your seat, because he could end up diving, rolling around and then laying on the ball.

Japanese Baseball Teams use corporate names

Remember when the Sox played the Yomiuri Giants? I think that a lot of people wondered where Yomiuri actually was and probably some still wonder. Japanese names are corporate owned and use the names of their owners. Instead of being called the Tokyo Giants, they are called Yomiuri.

Other teams are with their locations in parenthesis;
Central League:
Chunichi Dragons (Nagoya)
Hanshin Tigers (Nishinomiya)
Hiroshima Toyo Carp (Hiroshima)
Tokyo Yakult Swallows (Tokyo)
Yokohama Bay Stars (Yokohama).

Pacific League:
Chiba Lotte Marines (Chiba)
Fukuoka Softbank Hawks (Fukuoka)
Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (Sapparo & Hokkaido)
Orix Buffaloes (Osaka and Kobe)
Saitama Seibu Lions (Tokorozawa)
Tohoko Rakuten Golden Eagles (Sendai, Miyagi)

Each Thursday, I expect to give out more interesting information regarding Japanese baseball.