松坂の記事 － ６種類の球

MLB HPより抜粋。
For all the talk about the gyroball, which seems to be more myth than fact, it is far more constructive to look at the pitches that Red Sox right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka actually throws.

A legend in Japan, Dice-K is set to unveil his six-pitch arsenal in the Major Leagues, beginning with his debut in Kansas City on Thursday.

Here is a breakdown of Matsuzaka's impressive repertoire, with considerable help from Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell.

Four-seam fastball: Matsuzaka is able to locate his four-seamer to both sides of the plate, and it ranges from 92-95 mph. This is the pitch that Matsuzaka sometimes leaves up in the zone. He could get away with that in Japan, but it could lead to devastating mistakes in the power-packed American League.

Two-seam fastball: This is the pitch that Matsuzaka worked hardest on refining during Spring Training. This is because he didn't throw it all that much in Japan. Matsuzaka uses the two-seamer quite a bit on right-handers. The pitch whistles in anywhere from 90-92 mph, with tough, downward action.

"I think when you look at his fastball in general, he's got the ability to sink it," Farrell said. "He's got the ability to really carry it through the zone. And his delivery allows for some deception where he's going to get some swings and misses. Not only is the location and velocity there, but the deception adds to the overall effectiveness."

The cutter: What makes Matsuzaka's cutter most effective, according to Farrell, is its tightness. The speed is 87-89 mph.

"It's tight; there's such definition," Farrell said. "He's got the ability to go to both sides of the plate with it. And it's got power and late action. What will come out of all of this is the fact that his ability to manipulate the baseball is tremendous."

The curve: Out of all of Matsuzaka's pitches, this one is the prettiest to watch. Matsuzaka's bender, which Farrell says has an 11-to-7 break, comes in at 75-77 mph.

"He's able to drop it over for a strike, seemingly at will," Farrell said. "The 2-0 curveball has been a pitch for him that has really slowed the bats down and taken some of the aggressiveness out of the hitter. It's a command pitch for him. It's not too big to where it's going to be difficult for him to throw inside a Major League strike zone. Again, it's obviously a very usable pitch for him."

Slider: This nasty pitch is one that Matsuzaka will use quite a bit to put away left-handed hitters. It is a mid-80s pitch for Matsuzaka, ranging anywhere from 83-87 mph.

"Again, to be able to go backdoor to a lefty, on the back foot of a lefty, there's definitely some power to it," Farrell said. "It's a put-away pitch for him and a finishing type of pitch. There's swing-and-miss ability to both lefties and righties."

Changeup: Saving the best for last, this is Matsuzaka's most unhittable offering. This is the one that leaves hitters taking the ugliest of swings and the one that has been confused with the gyroball pitch.

"Actually the pitch he throws that some might think is that pitch is his changeup," Farrell said. "He turns the ball over so it has some screwball action to it, but I think the gyroball is still somewhat of a legend. It is, in fact, his changeup that he turns over. It's somewhat of a circle change where he'll get on the inside of the ball and really coordinate his hand inward and that creates that screwball type of spin."

Matsuzaka throws the pitch between 78-82 mph.

"To me, his changeup is what will really set him apart," Farrell said. "Just the overall arm speed and deception he creates with his changeup is phenomenal."

As for the gyroball, Matsuzaka is obviously having fun keeping the legend alive in hitters' minds.

"Even in my conversations with him, he's very reluctant to reveal anything," Farrell said. "So whether that's part of the mystique or whether in fact it's something that's nonexistent, the fact that it's still something that people will consider or hitters will consider, the fact that that thought is in there, is an advantage for him.

"I think that's part of where his reluctance is to describe it, because I think he sees it as a competitive advantage. "

---
４シーム、２シーム、カッター、カーブ、スライダー、チェンジアップ。
まっすぐとフォークだけの野茂よりも天才。

松坂の記事 － 相手チームは松坂が怖い

MLB HPより抜粋。
He throws five pitches. Or is it six? Or maybe eight? And is the gyroball one of them? Or is that a pitch that lives only in baseball legend and computer animation?
Daisuke Matsuzaka is the only one who knows for sure -- and he's not telling.

Regardless of the number, Major League hitters began to learn this spring that the right-hander can throw all his pitches for strikes. In five Spring Training games, Matsuzaka compiled a 2-1 record with a 2.91 ERA. In 21 2/3 innings, he allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits and 11 walks, striking out 26.

Three of the 11 hits were home runs, to Baltimore's Jason Dubois and Jon Knotts, and the Phillies' Pat Burrell.

In his first Grapefruit League outing, March 6 against Florida, Matsuzaka left several Marlins convinced they had seen the mythical pitch among his offerings in three innings of work.

"I saw the gyroball," Jason Stokes, the former Marlins infielder who was one of three Matsuzaka strikeout victims, told the Palm Beach Post.

"It's like a split-finger, downward angle, maybe runs in a little bit," said Stokes, who took the pitch for a 3-2 count before striking out on a slider.

"I'm glad he's in the American League," said Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who grounded out and lined back to Matsuzaka.

Ramirez was the first Major League batter Matsuzaka faced. In the third inning, Ramirez smoked a hard liner up the middle, but Matsuzaka reached his glove up and snagged it.

"I told him, 'Come on, man? You come here from Japan and you're stealing my hits,'" Ramirez said jokingly. "He's good. His slider is good."

Dan Uggla had the first hit off Matsuzaka this spring, lining a single to right field in the first inning.

"I thought his fastball was sneaky quick," Uggla said. "This [was] his first time out. I imagine he is only going to get better."


Catcher Miguel Olivo noted that Matsuzaka had a deliberate full windup, pausing slightly, and that from the stretch he speeds everything up.

"His slider is nasty," said Olivo, who claimed it broke in two directions -- down and over. "With men on, he works faster."

Matsuzaka was tagged with the loss in his next outing, as the Sox fell to the O's, 5-3, on March 11.

"He's got good stuff," O's second baseman Brian Roberts told The Baltimore Sun after going 0-for-2 against the Japanese sensation. "Shoot, you don't give guys $50 million for nothing. He threw everything for strikes at different times in the count. He mixed it up. He's here for a reason."

"I don't know what I hit," shortstop Miguel Tejada told the Sun, after going 1-for-2 against Matsuzaka. "I just know that ball moves. I don't know if it's the gyroball or a slider he threw me. He's pretty good."

Until Burrell homered off Matsuzaka on Saturday, a pair of O's Minor Leaguers were the only opponents who took Matsuzaka deep this spring. Dubois downplayed his roundtripper, taking a fastball over the left-center-field fence at City of Palms Park in Fort Myers, Fla., breaking a 2-2 tie.

"I put a pretty good swing on it and made contact," Dubois told the Sun. "That's all I was trying to do. He's got a pretty good slider. He's a pretty tough pitcher. We just got to him in that one inning."

Knott homered an inning earlier, his first hit of the spring.

"It was the last thing on my mind," Knott said in the Sun. "I [had] been pressing a little bit the last couple days. I was just trying to get a knock."

With his next scheduled start washed out by a deluge in Vero Beach on March 16, Matsuzaka had 10 days to prepare for his next outing, when he stifled the Pirates in Bradenton, Fla., to pick up his first Grapefruit League win. Over 5 2/3 innings, he allowed one run on one hit and one walk, striking out seven, before leaving to a standing ovation from the Sox partisans in the stands at McKechnie Field.

"He's not the least bit shy about throwing any pitch in any given count, which suggests how much confidence that he has in throwing all of his pitches for strikes," said Pirates manager Jim Tracy. "If you have the capability to do that, you're going to keep hitters off balance for a very long time."

After giving up an RBI single to Adam LaRoche in the first, Matsuzaka retired 11 in a row, from the last batter of the first inning through the first batter of fifth, with three consecutive strikeouts to wrap up that skein. He also struck out the final batter he faced, shortstop Don Kelly, in a 12-pitch duel. Kelly fouled off several Matsuzaka offerings before whiffing on a fastball.

"I was impressed," said LaRoche, the only Pirate to record a hit off Matsuzaka. "He had pretty good command with all his pitches. Obviously, he had a very good changeup, a slider. He must have a dozen pitches. I was asking [Sox catcher Jason] Varitek how many, and he said, 'I don't know, but I have to use both hands to give signs.'"

"He's worth every penny," Pirates leadoff hitter Chris Duffy, who scored on LaRoche's first-inning single after being hit by Matsuzaka to open the game, told the Boston Herald. "He throws every pitch imaginable and throws them all for strikes. With most pitchers, when you get in a hole against them, you at least have an idea what pitch they are going to throw to try to finish you off. With this guy, there is no sense sitting on a particular pitch because he throws everything."

Matsuzaka struck out Duffy, swinging at a changeup, in the third.

"I was saying, 'Wow!' as I was swinging," Duffy said.

Matsuzaka left several Reds talking to themselves, after throwing five scoreless, yet unbalanced, innings March 26, striking out six, walking five, throwing 104 pitches, 59 for strikes, often working behind in the count.

"We didn't get any hits, so obviously he did something," Reds right fielder Ken Griffey said. "It's a matter of seeing him a couple of times and reacting. The first time that you see anybody, he has the advantage over you. But he's a guy who thinks his way through the order and knows what he wants to do."

"I don't think he had his best stuff today," said left fielder Adam Dunn, before catching himself. "What am I saying? I've never seen the guy before in my life. But from what I saw today, it was as advertised. He didn't have very good location today. It probably made it a little easier on us. But he still got away with no runs and no hits. He did what he had to do."

"Daisuke was funky, for one thing," manager Jerry Narron said. "He throws a lot of different speeds. He throws a lot of different pitches at different speeds. He's got pretty good command."

In Saturday's spring finale against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, Matsuzaka got the win, despite struggling with his control -- the third consecutive game he's cited control issues. He surrendered three runs on just two hits, including a two-run homer by Burrell. Matsuzaka struck out seven and walked four in four innings, throwing 82 pitches, 51 for strikes.

It now falls to the Royals to try to solve Matsuzaka, as they open the season against the Sox at Kaufmann Stadium and face the Japanese phenom Thursday.

"I don't know much about him," said Royals manager Buddy Bell. "I've seen him on video. I've seen that he has great stuff with great command. We're hoping he doesn't have that great stuff and great command. If he does, it is going to be tough, as it is with every pitcher."

---
賞賛の嵐。

松坂の記事 － イチローから松坂へ

MLB HPより抜粋。
When the Mariners introduced a new right fielder to Safeco Field six years ago, one-third of the massive press box was filled with journalists from Japan. The scribes were excited about chronicling every move Ichiro Suzuki made during the previously unheard-of graduation of a position player from Japanese baseball to the Major Leagues.

Every move.

Among trailblazers, Ichiro was the man, and nothing he did went unnoticed or uncovered.

An icon in his native country, where he won seven consecutive Pacific League batting championships with the Orix Blue Wave, Ichiro was more mystery than anything to the American writers who were more interested in exactly how the Mariners were going to replace shortstop Alex Rodriguez than how the latest import from Japan would perform.

The Mariners were coming off a playoff season in 2000 and already were the talk of the town heading into Opening Night against the Athletics.

Most of Mariner Nation never even heard of the Orix Blue Wave until Nov. 18, 2000 -- the day Ichiro signed with Seattle -- and the organization already had introduced Japanese baseball products with pitchers Mac Suzuki (no relation) and Kaz Sasaki.

But this would be different.

Almost four months after he signed a three-year contract, Ichiro walked through the double doors at the Mariners' Spring Training complex and into view of what must have been at least 150 cameras and notebook-toting journalists, who proceeded to track his progress -- pitch-by-pitch.

And that was first time he took batting practice.

It was all Ichiro from the time the sun came up to the time the sun went down.

"I'm used to the media," he said after one of his daily media　sessions, "but it's still very hard."

Every pitcher who faced Ichiro would be asked afterwards to give his impression of the left-handed hitter who sprayed balls left and right and occasionally hit one over the right-field fence. Cameras clicked. Writers looked up, saw a pitch, and made note of the type of pitch, where it was thrown and where the ball went after making contact with Ichiro's bat.

One of the first impressions was how Ichiro would take the time every single day to discuss with the Japanese media his workout on that day.


The Mariners' first Spring Training game was televised live in Japan on NHK-TV and every newspaper in the country that sent a reporter to Mariners camp trumpeted the event. Before Ichiro swung a bat in a regular-season game, he had been interviewed by ESPN, The Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Time and Newsweek, among others.

NHK, Japan's national public TV network, had followed Ichiro's progress all spring and televised all of the Mariners home games, along with between 30 and 40 road games that season. There were 55 press box media credentials issued to Japan-based publications for Opening Night and as many as 25 media members covered all Mariners home and away games that season.

When Ichiro stepped into history on Opening Night, an estimated 12 million people in Japan were watching. That is the figure Yuji Kato, the field producer for NHK Television, said would be tuned in at the time in Japan.

"This is big and I'm sure a lot of people will be taking early lunches," said Kato before the game. "There would be more people watching if it was in prime time, but that [11 a.m.] is a busy time."

Besides the large Japanese media brigade that recorded everything Ichiro did that night -- from the time he arrived at the stadium to the time he departed -- there was a special guest sitting in Mariners' CEO Howard Lincoln's luxury suite. Ichiro's father, Nobuyuki, flew in from Japan to watch his son make history.

Ichiro was 0-for-3 when he came to bat in the seventh inning, and with a record crowd of 45,911 egging him on, he singled up the middle off T.J. Mathews, igniting a game-tying two-run rally. An inning later, Ichiro bunted for a hit in the Mariners' 5-4 victory -- the first of 116 wins that season.

Throughout Spring Training, the always kind and courteous Japanese media would approach American writers and ask their impressions of Ichiro. On several occasions, they asked if a certain writer believed that Ichiro would hit at least .300 in his rookie season.

Who could have envisioned him batting .350 and becoming the second player in MLB history to capture the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player Award in the same season -- joining Fred Lynn (Red Sox) in that exclusive club?

As it was, eyebrows were raised whenever anyone suggested that Ichiro would bat less than .300 -- something he hadn't done since 1993.

"I honestly have no idea what I'll hit," Ichiro told American reporters when asked the same question. "I don't have any track record and I don't understand where they come up with numbers like that. I don't know what they base it on. I'd love to know what the logic is. Or are they just pulling it out of thin air?"

Six years and 1,354 hits later, the media attention from his homeland has diminished a little, although more than a dozen Japan-based media spent more than 30 minutes with Ichiro almost an hour after the Mariners' pre-Opening Day workout at Safeco Field was finished on Sunday.

There is no doubt that his place in Japanese baseball lore is forever etched in stone as the first position player in that country's history to make it big in the big leagues.

His debut was something to see in person and to reflect on later -- such as now, as the influx of Japanese players, pitchers and position players, continues to grow with the likes of Daisuke Matsuzaka.

---
分かり易い文章だ。

日本人選手 ２００７年 年俸

USA TODAY Salary Databaseより抜粋。
数字の単位はドル。( )は2006年の年俸。

13,000,000 松井秀喜　（13,000,000)
12,500,000 イチロー　(12,500,000)
6,333,333 松坂
5,933,333 城島　(5,433,333)
4,000,000 井川
3,250,000 井口　(2,400,000)
3,000,000 大塚　(1,750,000)
1,800,000 岩村
1,500,000 松井稼頭央　（8,033,333)
1,500,000 大家　(4,530,000)
1,225,000 岡島
1,000,000 斉藤
925,000 田口　(825,000)

---
斉藤と田口の年俸が低い。来年のイチローの年俸は１５００万ドル？

MLB 2007 年俸トップ２５

USA TODAYより抜粋。
１位　23,428,571 Jason Giambi, Yankees (５番打者）
２位　22,708,525 Alex Rodriquez, Yankees（４番打者）
３位　21,600,000 Derek Jeter, Yankees（２番打者）
４位　17,016,381 Manny Ramirez, Red Sox
５位　16,600,000 Todd Helton, Rockies
６位　16,000,000 Bartolo Colon, Angels
７位　16,000,000 Andy Pettitte, Yankees（先発投手）
８位　15,703,946 Jason Schmidt, Dodgers
９位　15,533,970 Barry Bonds, Giants
10位　15,500,000 Richie Sexson, Mariners
11位　15,500,000 Bobby Abreu, Yankees（３番打者）

14位　14,500,000 Carlos Delado, Mets
17位　14,002,234 Pedro Martinez, Mets
18位　14,000,000 J.D. Drew, Red Sox
22位　13,571,429 Carlos Beltran, Mets
25位　13,250,000 David Ortiz, Red Sox

---
ロドリゲスではなく、ジアンビが１位になっている。上位２５人のうち、ヤンキース５人、レッドソックス３人、メッツ３人。これで１１人。この３チームがワールドチャンピオン争いとみる。

今日は早く家に帰ろう

普通は、夜の７時半までに帰宅するのだが、今週は珍しく３日間とも、帰りが９時前になった。晩御飯を食べてから、子供を風呂に入れるのを日課にしているのに、帰りが９時では、食事をしても、早くても９時半からになってしまう。妻が入れてくればいいのだが、普段入れていないので、やろうとしない。困ったことだが、これも自分がやっていたから良くないのかもしれない。