松坂ＵＰＤＡＴＥ － MLB HP - 仕上がりは順調

When fans arrive at the Red Sox's Minor League complex on Edison Avenue, they will see the first visible marketing presence brought on by the Daisuke Matsuzaka signing. The Funai Media Tent, located at the driveway entrance, is up and ready for the dozens of Japanese media members who wait for the pitcher to arrive each day.
The Red Sox announced a new partnership with Funai Electric Company on Wednesday. The Japanese company will not only have a major media presence at the club's Spring Training facilities in Fort Myers but also at Fenway Park. Financial details of the deal were not announced.

Funai, which makes and sells televisions, DVD players and recorders, cameras and other electronic equipment in North America, Europe and Japan, will have its logo on all the banners and curtains in the room at Fenway Park where the media will convene to interview Matsuzaka and reliever Hideki Okajima. Banners and curtains with the Funai logo will also be visible at interview locations when the Red Sox are on the road.

Red Sox vice president for media relations John Blake came to Boston from Texas, where he worked with the media covering Alex Rodriguez. Even with one of the game's biggest stars in Texas, Blake didn't have the 270 Spring Training credential requests like he does this year, approximately 130 of which are from Japanese media outlets.

To help brace for the sheer numbers, Blake spoke with the Mariners to see how they dealt with the Ichiro Suzuki craze before he made his American debut in 2001.

"The interest is kind of unprecedented," Blake said. "Seattle is more comparable [than Hideki Matsui in New York] since Ichiro was more of a new phenomenon at the time. That's why I sought them out. We're in much better shape. They had only 25 seats, where we have a full [Spring Training] press box and working area, along with a dining area. Space is not nearly as much of a problem as it was in Peoria [,Ariz]."

---
船井と組んだのか。

日本４１位に浮上 １位はイタリア

スポニチより抜粋。
国際サッカー連盟（ＦＩＦＡ）は１４日、２月の世界ランキングを発表し、日本は１月より五つ上げて４１位となった。ブラジルが４年７カ月守ってきた首位の座を明け渡し、昨年のワールドカップ（Ｗ杯）を制したイタリアが２位から１位に上がった。

　３位アルゼンチン、４位フランスは変動なし。アジア連盟加盟ではイランが３２位、オーストラリアが３９位、韓国が４４位だった。

---
１位　イタリア
２位　ブラジル
３位　アルゼンチン
４位　フランス

アジア
３２位　イラン
３９位　オーストラリア
４１位　日本
４４位　韓国

サッカーには全く疎遠になった。早く中村、小野の黄金コンビの復活を待つ。

やはりバレンタインデーはチョコなし

妻はバレンタインに興味がない。過去にもあげたことがあるとは思えない。以前はスナックに行き、良く貰っていたが、行く元気もない。風邪をひいているので、長女と仲良く９時に寝る。

今日は晴れ

昨日は雨だったが、ずっと傘を使わずにいた。仕事から帰り、最後の駅でついに傘を使わざるを得なかった。運悪く大雨で、ズボンがぐちゃぐちゃになってしまった。今度はくときは、アイロンをかけなければならない。線をずらさないか心配だ。

ヤンキースの投手陣も悪くない

ESPNより抜粋。
レッドソックスの投手陣のコラムの一番下にある。

Yankees: Like the Red Sox, this rotation has great potential. Chien-Ming Wang is a stud, Mike Mussina should have another good year left in him and Andy Pettitte will be an excellent replacement for Randy Johnson. Kei Igawa, signed this offseason out of Japan, is no Matsuzaka, but he should be a solid major league starter. The Yankees say Carl Pavano is primed for a comeback; time will tell about that. And like the Red Sox, the Yankees hope to add Clemens to their rotation.

---
井川は４番目。松坂ほどではないが、そこそこやるだろう、というのが大方の評価。松坂が最低１５勝、２０勝も可能なら、井川は２桁勝利目標というところだ。

レッドソックスの先発投手陣は期待大

ESPNより抜粋。本当に抜粋。
...
The team we've chosen has as many questions -- six -- as it has starting pitchers: a rookie from Japan, a guy with a 5.01 ERA last year, a 40-year-old who only recently decided that 2007 won't be his last season, a closer turned starter, a lefty with cancer in remission and a 40-year-old knuckleballer. But, if everything falls right, the Red Sox could have the best rotation in baseball with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield. And there's a chance that Roger Clemens could pitch for the Red Sox this summer.

"The Red Sox's rotation has everything you want to see,'' said Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi. "The question is whether they can stay healthy, which is the same question every team has. But I can't fault that [choice]. The Red Sox's rotation is very good.''

It begins with Matsuzaka, 26, for whom the Red Sox spent $103.1 million. How good is he? "If he was pitching [in] a vacuum, he would be as good as there is,'' said Bobby Valentine, who managed against Matsuzaka in Japan. "But Boston is not a vacuum. MLB is not a vacuum, so his surroundings will affect him like they affect everyone. The most important thing will be his relationship with his catcher. Pitchers don't shake off very much in Japan. They rely on pregame preparation, then execute in the game. If the catcher and pitching coach make him comfortable with pitch and location, he'll be real good.''

That's because his stuff is real good. "He throws five breaking balls,'' Valentine said. "His changeup is like Mike Marshall's screwball, and that was one of only two pitches Mike threw. [Matsuzaka] will leave his fastball up. He will overthrow his fastball. He throws four fastballs for every six breaking balls. If he keeps that ratio, he'll be OK. But if they make him throw too many fastballs, who knows? But he understands what it takes to be successful.''

---
捕手次第？

クライスラー、１３０００人のリストラ

New York Timesより抜粋。
DaimlerChrysler said today that it was leaving all options open for the future of its struggling Chrysler Group, which announced a plan to close all or part of four plants and eliminate 13,000 jobs in North America.

The announcements came as DaimlerChrysler said it earned nearly $7.3 billion last year, despite a loss of nearly $1.5 billion for Chrysler. The Chrysler loss compared with a profit of just more than $2 billion in 2005.

“It was a strong year at three of our divisions, but it’s been a difficult and disappointing one here at the Chrysler Group,” Dieter Zetsche, the chief executive of the German parent, said this morning.

The restructuring plan marked a dramatic swing for a company that had seemed to avoid the same declines as its Detroit rivals.

Chrysler said it would close its Newark, Del., assembly plant in 2009, as well as a parts distribution center in Cleveland.

It also will eliminate one shift of workers at truck plants in Warren, Mich., and St. Louis.

In all, Chrysler said 13,000 employees, or 16 percent of its work force, would lose their jobs by the end of 2009, including 11,000 hourly workers.

Of those hourly workers, 9,000 will lose their jobs in the United States and 2,000 in Canada. Another 2,000 white-collar workers will see their jobs eliminated over the next two years.

---
人間を数字でしかみないという米国の悪い手法を、日本が見習い、赤字＝リストラで再建、と馬鹿な方程式ができた。