More amateur ball players eye career in U.S.

Potential top draft pick Otani likely to lead rush to MLB as Japanese scouts face more restrictions

The Yomiuri Shimbun
More and more high school and other amateur Japanese baseball players are expected to make a pitch for the major leagues after potential top draft pick Shohei Otani said he wanted to pursue a baseball career in the United States.

"I admire both Japanese and American professional baseball, but I have stronger feelings toward the major leagues," Otani, ace pitcher for Hanamaki Higashi High School in Iwate Prefecture, said at a press conference Sunday.

Surrounded by about 60 reporters, Otani, 18, talked in a detached but smooth manner about his decision to seek a career in Major League Baseball. His facial expression suggested the steeliness of his determination.

The 1.93-meter, 86-kilogram right-hander turned plenty of heads when his fastball clocked 160 kph in the Iwate prefectural preliminary for the national championship this summer. His batting is also impressive with 56 homers to his credit during his high school career.

The first potential top draft pick to head across the Pacific was Junichi Tazawa, who was a corporate league player at Nippon Oil Corp., now JX-ENEOS. He joined the Boston Red Sox in 2008.

The following year, pitcher Yusei Kikuchi, three years Otani's senior at Hanamaki Higashi, said he wanted to become an MLB player. After interviews with scouts from 20 Nippon Professional Baseball and MLB teams, Kikuchi stayed in Japan and is now with the Saitama Seibu Lions.

MLB teams sent scouts to watch Otani pitch and have enthusiastically followed his progress since he entered high school.

Otani submitted a document to the Japan High School Baseball Federation last month expressing his intention to become a professional baseball player. At the time, he said he would like to play either in Japan or the United States.

He had interviews with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Texas Rangers and BoSox, in addition to NPB teams.

Several Japanese pro teams reportedly planned to choose him as their first pick in the NPB draft scheduled for Thursday.

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Bigger financial rewards

A major reason for Japanese baseball talent opting for an MLB career is money.

In 2009, the Washington Nationals gave pitcher Stephen Strasburg a major league record four-year contract worth 15.1 million dollars (then about 1.4 billion yen). He was drafted by the Nationals as the first pick in the first round. A new labor deal agreed between MLB owners and the MLB Players Association last year set a cap on signing bonuses according to the order of draft picks in the United States. Teams with financial surpluses are expected to use more money in areas outside the draft's target, including Japan, to acquire players.

In contrast, NPB in 2007 set the cap on a rookie's contract at 100 million yen, with incentives up to 50 percent of the total contract. Some observers have argued that if a major league team offers a contract of more than 100 million yen to a player, Japanese teams should offer, in exceptional cases, contracts exceeding this. However, this idea has not been realized. Others argue that a surge in contract money due to a "money war" between Japan and the United States would lead to players picked in the draft to feel they had been treated unfairly.

There are big differences in how Japanese and American scouts are regulated in Japan. Japanese scouts must be registered with the NPB and contact with players and people close to them is tightly restricted. They are able to talk directly with high school students only after the National High School Baseball Championship, played at Koshien Stadium in August, and university students from Sept. 1.

MLB teams have been improving their overseas scouting networks and many have resident scouts in Japan.

The Texas Rangers watched former Nippon Ham Fighters pitcher Yu Darvish for several years before acquiring him, and many teams frequently send scouts to Japan to check out promising players.

Like NPB teams, they do not have easy access to student players due to Japan Student Baseball Association regulations. However, even if they violate the rules, there is no punishment.

After Tazawa shunned the Japanese draft and joined the Red Sox in 2008, many in professional and amateur circles argued that MLB scouts should be registered with the NPB to regulate their activities. However, the idea has not materialized.

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Rules between Japan, U.S.

What about rules between Japan and the United States about player acquisition?

There is a "gentlemen's agreement" to exercise restraint on amateur players who are subject to each country's draft. However, such an agreement may violate the U.S. Antitrust Law in terms of "unreasonable restraint of trade." As a result, the agreement has not been formally documented.

There is a player contract agreement between Japan and the United States, but it only obliges pro baseball teams to file a request for the status and availability of players.

There are "sanctions" for Japanese players who skip the Japanese draft and join an MLB team. These players will not be allowed to join an NPB team for a certain period of time even if they return to Japan.

However, this is not a decisive way to stop the flow of Japanese players to the United States. "In reality, there are no measures to restrict activities of major league teams in Japan," a source close to the NPB said.

On the MLB side, there are moves to institutionalize a system to acquire rookies from overseas. In December last year, MLB launched the International Talent Committee to study the introduction of an international draft. Currently the MLB draft is limited to the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, but it may be expanded to include East Asia and Latin America. "It is inevitable...When we went to the draft in 1965, it was to create a more level playing field. We've done that, and the same thing will have to happen internationally," MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said.

The panel's agenda includes measures to get to the bargaining table to revise protocol agreements with professional leagues in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan to implement the worldwide draft.

(Oct. 23, 2012)

Japanese teams cry foul over 'unfair' U.S. recruiting

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Junichi Tazawa

U.S. major league teams began full-fledged scouting in Japan in the mid-1990s, following pitcher Hideo Nomo's trailblazing success with the Dodgers.

Scouting Japanese amateur baseball players intensified after pitcher Junichi Tazawa joined the Boston Red Sox in 2008, breaking a gentleman's agreement between teams of both countries. Although parties concerned in both countries consider it important to draw up common rules on amateur scouting, no effective measures have yet to be taken, resulting in a migration of talented players to the United States.

"I believe more and more young players will choose to go to the United States. [Japanese teams] had better seriously start considering making rules," said Keiichi Kojima, the Dodgers' supervisor of scouting in Japan. "This trend will continue."

A scout of another major league team said today's young players have grown up watching Japanese playing in the major leagues, a factor that could encourage them to make the jump sooner than players of previous generations. "I guess they have stronger aspirations to play in the majors," he said.

Scouts for Japanese teams are feeling an increased sense of crisis.

Hard-throwing high school pitcher Shohei Otani indicated Sunday he wants to play in the United States. A senior employee in charge of recruiting for a Japanese pro team, which considered Otani a potential first-round draft pick, said: "It's too risky to choose him against his will, and we can't do it. We'll have to reconsider our strategy--not only for the first round but the whole plan."

A scout from another Japanese team lamented, "It's unfair that U.S. teams can freely scout players and Japanese teams have to go through the draft commission."

(Oct. 23, 2012)

I'll have to say that I had a lot of interest in Tazawa when I read he was ready to cross the ocean in his search for fame and fortune.

Rangers say they're after Otani

Jiji-Daily Yomiuri

NEW YORK--

One day after high school star Shohei Otani said he would forego the Japan pro baseball draft and sign with a major league team, the Texas Rangers threw their hat into the ring.

The Rangers, who have three Japanese pitchers on their roster, said on their official website they are one of the teams interested in Otani, who starred at Iwate Prefecture's Hanamaki Higashi High School.

The 1.93-meter Otani has a fastball clocked at 160 kph.

The Rangers website said the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles were also reportedly interested in Otani.

Texas has been a main player in aggressively pursuing free agent talent. Last year, the Rangers won the bidding for Yu Darvish, who left the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters through the posting system.

The Rangers also have Japanese pitchers Yoshinori Tateyama and Koji Uehara on their active roster.

(Oct. 24, 2012)

Team Cuba will play five games in México

by PL

October 23, 2012

The Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB) revealed today that a pre-team composed by 27 players will dispute five games against Mexican teams from October 24 to 31.

The games will take place in Ciudad del Carmen (October 25, 26 and 27), in Campeche (28) and Yucatan (30).

According to the FCB official statement, "in the first city, they will face a team from the Autonomous University of Ciudad del Carmen reinforced with players of the Mexican Professional League, in the second, they will play against the Pirates of Campeche and in the last game, with the Lions of Yucatan."

After the return of this team to Cuba, another team will be selected for several friendly games in Asia, specifically in Japan and Chinese Taipei.

The announced roster is as follows:

Pitchers (10):

Alexander Rodríguez, Freddy Asiel Álvarez, Ismel Jiménez, Norberto González, Yoannis Year, Darien Núñez, Juan Carlos Viera, Yander Guevara, Miguel Lahera, and Félix Fuentes.

Catchers (2):

Ariel Pestano, and Yosvani Alarcón.

Infielders (10):

José Dariel Abreu, Alexander Malleta, Yordanis Samón, Dayan García, José Miguel Fernández, Yulieski Gourriel, Michel Enríquez, Luís Yander La O, Yordan Manduley, and Roberto Carlos Ramírez.

Outfielders (5):

Frederich Cepeda, Alfredo Despaigne, Guillermo Heredia, Yasmani Tomás, and Ariel Sánchez.

Victor Mesa will manage the Cuban Team during the five games series and it will have Jorge Fuentes as Technical Chief.

The Cuban Team will return to Havana on October 31st.

Lots'a good players on that list. That's one heck of an outfield.

The team played a series of 5 split squad games in Havana this past week, the Red Team and the Blue Team, in preparation for those games in Mexico and Asia. They'll trim the roster down to the best available for the Classic. I'm guessing the Cubans will be the odds on favorites to win in 2013.

Venezuela cheers for record nine World Series players

AP, CARACAS, Venezuela
Marco Scutaro of the San Francisco Giants holds up his Most Valuable Player trophy after the Giants defeated the St Louis Cardinals 9-0 in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Monday in San Francisco, California.
Photo: AFP

Venezuelans are celebrating their homegrown baseball heroes as a record contingent of players from the country heads into the World Series with the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants.

Nine Venezuelans, including five with the Giants, are to feature in the series starting yesterday, the most ever.

“It’s the first time, but it had to happen one day. All the time, there are more and better Venezuelan players in the major leagues,” said Alberto Mendoza, who was among dozens of fans at a restaurant in Caracas celebrating the Giants’ clinching win over the St Louis Cardinals in the National League Championship Series on Monday night. “Venezuela is a power in baseball.”

Fans in Caracas cheered the Giants with shouts and toasting glasses of beer, in large part because the game’s star was one of their own, Marco Scutaro, the veteran second baseman who was named the most valuable player of the series.

While the Giants embraced and jumped for joy on the rain-drenched infield, a Venezuelan flag was unfurled and held up by Scutaro’s wife as he received his trophy. Photographs of Scutaro celebrating in the downpour were published on the front pages of Venezuelan newspapers. The sports daily Meridiano ran the headline “Venezuela Grows Giant.”

Venezuelans playing for the Tigers are led by Triple Crown-winner Miguel Cabrera.

“It’s a great year for Venezuela. Our flag is flying high, 2012 is a historic year,” said Jose Manuel Blanco, a university student who was wearing a jersey for the Navegantes del Magallanes, the Venezuelan team where Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval plays in the off-season.

He said that this season Venezuelans have achieved various baseball feats. In addition to Cabrera’s stellar batting record, Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game for the Seattle Mariners and the New York Mets’ Johan Santana pitched a no-hitter.

Scutaro is the third Venezuelan to win the most valuable player in a major league championship series, following Jesus “Manny” Trillo of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1980 and Eduardo Perez of the Braves in 1999.

Julio Venegas, a woodworker in Caracas, said his favorite team has always been the Yankees, but he enjoys watching any major league team when Venezuelans are playing.

“I’d like the Tigers to win,” Venegas said, adding that Cabrera deserves to be named the most valuable player of the year.

Many of Venezuela’s players in the major leagues dedicate off-season time to their teams in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Cabrera plays for the Aragua Tigers, Scutaro for the Caracas Lions and Giants’ outfielder Gregor Blanco for the La Guaira Sharks. Baseball has long been the most popular sport in Venezuela, sharing that passion with other Caribbean countries, such as the Dominican Republic and Cuba. While the Dominican Republic boasts the most foreign players in US Major League Baseball, the number of Venezuelan players has doubled since 2000 and this season reached 95, the highest in history.

Rivalries are also strong in the Venezuelan league, with games pitting the Navegantes against the Lions often drawing especially large crowds. Games feature firework displays, Venezuelan snacks such as arepas — corn cakes filled with meat, chicken or cheese — and plenty of beer and whisky. As for the World Series, Venezuelans appear divided, with many simply proud to have so many of their own headlining the series.

The Venezuelans playing for the Tigers and the Giants came up through a well-organized system of youth leagues in the country, where major league scouts often identify standouts as soon as they hit their teens.

The big contingent from Venezuela will give young players a motivational boost, said Manuel Suniaga, who played decades ago as a teenager and now sells hot sandwiches from a stand in downtown Caracas. He said Scutaro’s hitting streak has been especially thrilling because it shows that a player who might not have Cabrera’s slugging numbers can still pull off a superior performance if he pours in enough spirit.

“The Giants are inspired. In the end, that can give them a better chance,” said Suniaga, adding that he will not miss a single game.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Baseball thriving in Uganda

by Abdu Wasike, Daily Monitor

Kampala.

Baseball, not widely known in Uganda let alone Africa, looks poised to find a launch pad at long last. This has not only come with so many challenges; it has also changed some people’s lives.

A group of children, aged U-12, from Lugazi - most of them having never boarded a plane - will live to tell the tale. They won their first game in Pennsylvania, USA despite learning the game in barely a year.
Lugazi, Uganda won for the first time by defeating Gresham, Ore., 3-2, in a consolation game in South Williamsport, Pa. Ramon Ballina hit a three-run homer and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, stayed alive with a 6-2 victory over Willemstad, Curaçao.

One of those is Job Echon, a member of the Mehta Lugazi team. “I learnt a lot of things during the one week we were in America.”

His colleague, Fred Ojerku, equates it to “an experience he will never forget.” They broke from the norm as soccer, or rather football - by far the most popular sport in Africa.

To these young boys, the sport is baseball not because it’s that new. Baseball and its ‘close cousin’ Softball were introduced in Uganda in 1989.

Unlimited Potential Incorporation (UPI), a Christian organization based in the US, delivered it. Their main objective was to preach the gospel and serving Christ through sports.

They carried out several baseball and softball clinics in different parts of the country and whenever they travelled home and back, they returned with baseball equipments like balls, bats and gloves. In the late 90s, a governing body, Uganda Baseball and Softball Association (Ubasa), headed by Sheila Agonzibwe and Barnabas Mwesigye, was formed.


The Lugazi Little League team qualified for the finals in Williamsport, Pa., by beating Dubai and Qatar and Kuwait, twice, in a regional tournament last month in Poland. They lost one game to Saudi Arabia but gave up just five runs in all five games.

Many of those teams are made up of North American children whose parents work in the Middle East. Uganda’s players are all native Africans.

The team is under no illusion about the challenge ahead, said head coach Henry Odong, 35.

Baseball in Uganda lacks structure and resources. Organized games are spaced widely apart, and there are no backstops or cages in the country, limiting exposure for batting practice.

To compensate, Mr. Odong and his 11 players, who are all 11-year-olds, start batting practice at 6 a.m. — a full two hours before the other 15 teams start practice in Williamsport, the home of the Little League World Series since 1947.

By the end of the day, the children will have hit more than 600 balls each and run through a host of baseball practice drills.

Whatever the outcome Friday, Uganda’s showing will increase baseball’s profile in the landlocked East African country, which perhaps is known most in the West for producing the dictator Idi Amin and the warlord Joseph Kony. About 700 boys and girls play baseball in Uganda.

The program ironically got a huge boost last summer when a Ugandan team was disqualified from the 2011 World Series because several players’ birth certificates were inaccurate, possibly forged. Organizers suspected that some of the children were older than 13, the top age for the tournament.

The discrepancy was seen as no fault of the players, and international donations poured in — more than $130,000 and mountains of new gloves, balls, shoes, helmets and bats. In January, major-league stars, including Jimmy Rollins of the Philadelphia Phillies, paid a visit to Uganda and contributed to the cause of building baseball in that country.

“Man, they can play,” Mr. Rollins said at the time.

But as the year rolled on, Uganda baseball suffered from a nasty strain of internal politicking between organizers and allegations of misappropriation and mismanagement.

Construction of a ball field that was to have been completed by now in a Kampala slum has been postponed indefinitely. Equipment supplies have dwindled, with one team’s storage facility reduced to one bat, two gloves and a single ball. The government has failed to make baseball a top sporting priority.

Richard Stanley, a part-owner of the New York Yankees AA-affiliate the Trenton Thunder, who started Little League in Uganda in 2002, said Uganda’s entry into the World Series opens the door to new possibilities.

“The government can’t deny this exists now,” said the retired chemical engineer from Staten Island, who is on hand in Williamsport to help with coaching.

The Mehta Group, which owns many of the sugar plantations around Lugazi, has tentatively agreed to build a playing field for the Lugazi team after it returns from the World Series. Uganda has just three playing fields built exclusively for baseball — all built and funded by Mr. Stanley 20 miles west of the capital, Kampala.

Timothy Magala Semakula of the National Council of Sports said Ugandan baseball needs more than donor and corporate support. The sport must have better strategic planning, responsible budgeting, more grass-roots support and fundraising projects.

Otherwise, “we’ll leave no trail of tangible results behind,” he predicted.

For now, coach Odong said, his team is the envy of the players’ peers back home.

“Some thought it was a joke when we told them we made it. Now all the kids [not just baseball players] want to play ball,” he said.

When the Lugazi team defeated Kuwait 5-2 in Poland to qualify for the tournament, some of the Kuwaiti players started crying, Mr. Odong said.

“We didn’t really understand that. Losing happens,” he said.

After the team reached the Little League World Series, he understood why the Kuwaiti players cried.

“Now we see,” he said. “Missing out on this is a reason to cry.”

Henry pushes Aguilas past Cardenales

Tigers farmhand drives in four runs as Zulia runs win streak to four

10/25/12 2:12 AM ET
Venezuelan Winter League

Zulia 8, Lara 7

Tigers outfield prospect Justin Henry drove in four runs as the Aguilas earned their fourth straight win. Henry singled in two runs, had an RBI groundout and added a sacrifice fly. Rodriguez (Reds) scored three times and Braves prospect Evan Gattis doubled home his 13th run of the season for Zulia. Luis Valbuena (Cubs) had two hits and two RBIs for the Cardenales.

Margarita 3, Caracas 2

Royals Minor Leaguer Max Ramirez was 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Bravos. Former Cardinals farmhand Javier Brito hit a pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning to give Margarita the lead and Phillies prospect Cesar Hernandez scored twice. Jhoulys Chacin (Rockies) didn't factor into the decision after allowing two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings for the Leones.

Aragua 8, Anzoategui 1

Former Tigers prospect Ramon Castro was 4-for-4 with a pair of homers and drove in three runs as the Tigres snapped their two-game losing streak. Former Major Leaguer Seth Etherton fanned five and allowed a run on five hits over five innings while Ty Wright (Cubs) tripled and scored a run for Aragua. Marlins outfielder Gorkys Hernandez hit a solo homer in the loss for the Caribes.

Magallanes 5, La Guaira 2 (11 innings)

Cubs prospect Darwin Perez slugged a walk-off three-run homer for the Navegantes. Angels prospect Matt Shoemaker allowed a run on one hit and struck out five over 5 2/3 innings but did not figure into the decision and Royals prospect Mario Lisson had two hits and scored once. C.J. Retherford (Dodgers) was 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Tiburones.

Dominican Winter League

Cibaneas 4, Este 3

Hector Luna (Pirates) slugged a three-run homer, his first longball of the winter, to pace the Aguilas. Oscar Taveras, the Cardinals' top prospect, collected two hits to raise his average to .364 and former Major Leaguer Luis Vizcaino tossed a hitless ninth inning to earn his first win. Pirates' No. 4 prospect Alen Henson stole a base and scored a run for the Toros.

Gigantes at Licey, postponed

Mexican Pacific League

Navojoa 5, Mazatlan 3

Former Rangers prospect Wes Bankston was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Mayos. Javier Martinez struck out five and allowed five hits over five shutout innings while Rolando Acosta plated a pair of runs for Navojoa. Cubs prospect Greg Rohan collected his second straight multi-hit game, singling three times for the Venados.

Obregon 10, Los Mochis 7

Former Braves prospect Barbaro Canizares slugged a three-run homer to help the Yaquis snap their three-game losing streak. Major League veteran Alfredo Amezaga was 4-for-5 with two runs scored and Cubs prospect Christian Villanueva went yard. Phillies' No. 7 prospect Sebastian Valle doubled and scored a run for the Caneros.

Culiacan 5, Hermosillo 3

Yankees prospect Ronnier Mustelier hit a two-run homer to help the Tomateros run their win streak to 10 games. Former Tigers draftee Maxwell Leon was 2-for-3 with an RBI while Ramiro Pena (Yankees) walked twice and scored twice for first-place Culiacan. Trent Oeltjen, who spent the 2012 season in the Dodgers organization, scored a run for the Naranjeros.

Mexicali 8, Guasave 2

Former Yankees prospect Jon Weber was 2-for-2 with a double and two runs scored for the Aguilas. Edgar Osuna (Royals) earned his first win after allowing two runs on four hits over five innings and Robert Saucedo homered and drove in two runs. Former Arizona Draft pick Jesus Cota homered for the Algodoneros.

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Dominican Winter League

•Tim Fedroff (LF, Aguilas Cibaenas): 1-for-5, CS, PO. Fedroff has now recorded a hit in all 6 games he has played this offseason. He had a baserunning boo-boo in the 3rd inning as he was picked off first base and thrown out at second base. He also had a bunt pop out in the 5th inning.

Venezuela Winter League

•Vidal Nuno (RP, Aguilas del Zulia): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. It is nice from time to time to check in on some past friends of the IPI, and boy has Nuno really pitched well since being released by the Indians at the end of spring training in 2011. He opened the 2011 season in Indy ball and then got picked up by the Yankees and pitched for their short season Single-A NY-Penn League team Staten Island and their South Atlantic League team (Low-A) and went 7-1 with a 1.38 ERA in 15 appearances (65.0 IP). He came back this season and in 31 combined appearances at High-A and Double-A he went 10-6 with a 2.54 ERA with a 2.1 BB/9 and 8.2 K/9. He is a soft-tosser from the left side, but perhaps the Indians were a little quick on the trigger finger to release him?

•Jesus Aguilar (1B, Leones del Caracas): 0-for-2, K. Things have not gotten off on the right foot for Aguilar this offseason. Last season he had a memorable showing in the Arizona Fall League and Venezuela Winter League, but in 10 games this year he is just 7-for-33 (.212) with an amazing 17 strikeouts. Things are so bad he was lifted for a pinch hitter in the 7th inning of a tie game.

•Gregorio Petit (SS, Leones del Caracas): 1-for-3. Petit has yet to really do much in Venezuela as he is just 3-for-19 in 6 games and has yet to have a multi-hit game.

Samsung Lions beat SK Wyverns to take 2-0 lead

DAEGU (Yonhap News) --

The Samsung Lions defeated the SK Wyverns 8-3 here Thursday to take the 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven South Korean professional baseball final.

In Game 2 of the Korean Series at Daegu Baseball Stadium, Choi Hyung-woo hit a grand slam in the Lions' six-run third inning and starter Jang Won-sam pitched six strong innings, as the defending Korea Baseball Organization champs got a step closer to their second straight crown.
Samsung Lions players celebrate after beating SK Wyverns 8-3 to take the 2-0 series lead in the Korean Series at Daegu Baseball Stadium on Thursday. (Yonhap News)

The Lions and the Wyverns also squared off in the past two Korean Series, with Samsung winning last year and SK prevailing in 2010. The Lions are seeking their sixth title overall, while the Wyverns are chasing their fourth championship.

The series will shift to SK's home, Munhak Stadium, in Incheon, just west of Seoul, for Games 3 and 4 on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend games will start at 2 p.m.

The Lions batted around in the bottom third, scoring six times off SK starter Mario Santiago to blow open the scoreless affair.

Bae Young-seob put the Lions up 2-0 with a one-out double.

Santiago then struck out Jung Hyeong-sik but walked the next two batters to load the bases.

Choi then drove a high changeup over the right-center field wall to make it 6-0. It was only the third grand slam ever hit in the Korean Series in the KBO's 30-year history.

Samsung's starter Jang Won-sam got out of a two-out, bases-loaded jam in the top first, and then retired 15 of the next 16 batters before handing things over to the bullpen.

SK's leadoff man Jeong Keun-woo hit a solo home run in the sixth but the Lions put the game further out of reach with two more runs in the seventh.

The Wyverns scored twice in the eighth on a wild pitch and a groundout but couldn't get any closer on this night.

Jang struck out seven over six innings while giving up only two hits and a run for the win. Santiago took the loss after lasting only 2 2/3 innings, allowing six runs on four hits and two walks.

Bae Young-seob, a second-year leadoff man for Samsung, went

2-for-3 with two doubles, two runs scored and three runs batted in. For SK, Jeong Keun-woo had two hits and scored twice in the losing effort.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Australian Baseball League starts into new Season on November 1

Press Release Australian Baseball League

Some of the world's best professional baseball players will showcase their skills on Australian soil this summer when the Major League Baseball backed Australian Baseball League (ABL) returns for its third season on 1st November.

The ABL’s six clubs - the Sydney Blue Sox, Melbourne Aces, Brisbane Bandits, Perth Heat, Adelaide Bite, and Canberra Cavalry will compete in a 46 game, 14 week regular season, with a designated ‘game of the week’ to be televised nationally for the first time.

The ABL will once again feature our nation’s best home-grown baseball talent, including members of the Australian National Baseball Team, competing alongside highly-touted international prospects sent to play in the ABL by teams from Major League Baseball, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korean Baseball Organisation. 40% of players in the ABL are affiliated with these organisations.

The Australian Baseball League is owned and supported by Major League Baseball, the world’s largest pro sports league, and MLB will maintain an active presence in Australia this ABL season.

26 out of 30 MLB organisations are sending prospects to the ABL this season, including world famous teams like the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, and it is expected that as many as 11 current and former ‘Major Leaguers’ will take the field for an ABL club this year.

Otani drafted in Japan, can't sign in Majors until April

High school pitcher must wait for deadline to pass before making jump to U.S.

Kyodo

Jiji-Daily Yomiuri
Japanese high school right-hander Shohei Otani, who has made his plans of coming to the Major Leagues known, was chosen in the first round of the Japanese baseball amateur draft on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.

Otani, 18, was chosen by the Nippon Ham Fighters, the club that also had Rangers right-hander Yu Darvish. By being drafted by Nippon Ham, Otani cannot sign with a Major League club until April 2013. The Fighters have until March to sign Otani, who said he still plans to play in the U.S.

"My feelings haven't changed," Otani told the AP. "I'm grateful that they appreciate me, but it doesn't change my desire to play in America."

The 6-foot-4 Otani has had his fastball clocked from 99-100 mph, and has been scouted by several Major League teams.

Wait over as Sugano goes to Yomiuri

There was no drama for the Giants at the Japan Pro Baseball draft in Tokyo on Thursday as Yomiuri was the only team to go after hard-throwing Tomoyuki Sugano.

The Giants selected the Tokai University right-hander last year, but the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters picked the lucky envelop in a draw for the rights to negotiate with him.

Sugano later declined to join Nippon Ham, opting to sit out a year for the chance this year to join the Giants and play under uncle and skipper Tatsunori Hara.

The drama this year came early on when the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Saitama Seibu Lions and Yokohama DeNA BayStars all selected college hurler Nao Higashihama. But it was SoftBank chairman Sadaharu Oh who selected the lucky envelope.

Next was Shintaro Fujinami, who was selected by four teams: the Hanshin Tigers, the Orix Buffaloes, the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Hanshin skipper Yutaka Wada came away with envelope that gave his team the rights to the pitcher.

Nippon Ham took a gamble on hard-throwing Shohei Otani, the Iwate Prefecture hurler who recently said he plans to try and make his way to the big leagues by starting his career in the United States.

The Fighters selected Otani with their opening pick, the only team to risk its first-round pick on the pitcher.

The Hiroshima Carp and Tohoku Rakuten both selected lefty Yudai Mori, but the Eagles won the drawing for his rights.

(Oct. 26, 2012)

Guerrero debuts 4 Nov

Written by Luis M. Tejada

Wednesday October 24, 2012 10:25

SANTO DOMINGO -

In the spirit of a prospect, Vladimir Guerrero practiced Tuesday where he expects to suit up for the Licey Tigers and will debut on November 4.

In batting practice, the ball bounced off the bat and over the wall over and over again. Guerrero was one of the greatest hitters of his generation in the big leagues.

"I'm ready to start playing. I'll debut on November 4 and I'll go through all of the stages (regular season, post season, and possibly the Series) so that the children of the Dominican can see me play," said the fearsome righty .318 batting average with 449 homers and 1,496 RBIs in 16 seasons in the majors.

"I am with Licey the remainder of season. Yeah, I'll try to return to organized baseball," said Guerrero.

They are really having a terrible time getting games in down Dominican Republic way. All three games rained out tonight. Blame it all on Sandy !