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And away it goes: The Swallows' Wladimir Balentien watches his 49th home run of the season, a three-run shot in the second inning, sail into the stands at Jingu Stadium on Tuesday against the Dragons. Balentien had two homers in Tokyo Yakult's 10-8 loss to Chunichi. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien blasts 49th, 50th homers of season

Aug 27, 2013

Wladimir Balentien of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows hit his 49th and 50th home runs Tuesday to move within five of tying Japanese baseball’s single-season record.

Balentien hit a three-run homer in the second inning and added a solo shot in the seventh at Jingu Stadium in Tokyo. The Chunichi Dragons won the game 10-8.

Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh holds the record of 55 set in 1964 and matched by former major leaguers Tuffy Rhodes in 2001 and Alex Cabrera in 2002.

Balentien, a native of Curacao, played for the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds before signing with the Swallows in 2011. He hit 31 homers in each of his first two seasons in Japan.

The Swallows have 33 games remaining in the regular season.

For Chunichi, Matt Clark keyed a five-run second inning with a two-run home run, and Hirokazu Ibata went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, including a leadoff homer in the fourth.

Closer Hitoki Iwase pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 30th save.

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Players eligible for the Dominican Winter League 1st Year Player Baseball Draft to be Held on Sept 12

Fan favorite: Eagles hurler Masahiro Tanaka salutes the crowd after winning his NPB record 23rd consecutive decision on Friday at Yafuoku Dome. Tohoku Rakuten beat Fukuoka Softbank 11-6. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Eagles’ Tanaka improves to 19-0 on season, wins 23rd straight decision

Aug 30, 2013

FUKUOKA –

Masahiro Tanaka allowed three runs in seven innings on Friday to win his 23rd consecutive decision as the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles defeated the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 11-6.

Tanaka (19-0) surrendered seven hits and issued two walks, while striking out six. He went into the bottom of the sixth with a 9-0 lead, when the Hawks broke up the shutout.

“My form wasn’t good at all tonight, so I have my teammates to thank,” Tanaka said. “I had a tough time out there, so it’s a good thing we won.”

The Pacific League-leading Eagles opened the scoring in the top of the first against Hawks lefty Kazuyuki Hoashi (7-7). For the second straight day, Andruw Jones broke the ice with a first-inning RBI single. Casey McGehee’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0 and Shintaro Masuda capped the three-run inning with an RBI double.

The 24-year-old Tanaka, who allowed an unearned run in the seventh, extended his record for consecutive winning decisions, while winning his 12th straight start.

The Eagles suffered some tense moments in the late innings as the Hawks staged a three-run rally against the bullpen in the eighth and threatened to score in the ninth.

Increased attention: Tokyo Yakult Swallows star Wladimir Balentien has dealt with a rapid rise in fan and media attention this season. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien maintains poise, perspective as he chases single-season HR record

by Jason Coskrey

Staff Writer

Aug 31, 2013

Wladimir Balentien flips on the television and takes in a rare moment of relaxation. Instead of his Tokyo Yakult Swallows uniform, which will be worn later, he’s clad simply in a red T-shirt commemorating his back-to-back home run titles and yellow shorts from a past NPB All-Star Series.

Here in the relative peace of this small, air-conditioned room near the team’s clubhouse it’s quiet, and the space offers a brief respite from both the unrelenting heat of a Tokyo summer and the glare of an ever-brightening spotlight.

“Everywhere you go, people are talking about you,” Balentien tells the Japan Times. “When you go to a restaurant, everywhere I go right now, it’s a lot of talk going on. It’s hard to not pay attention to it. I just want to focus and try to do my best and at least get to where my goal is right now.”

The goal he refers to is the single-season home run record of 55, held by Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera and among Japanese baseball’s most hallowed marks.

That wasn’t the goal when Balentien began the season two weeks late due to a groin injury — back then, he just hoped to be in the top three and at least in the vicinity of the Yokohama BayStars’ Tony Blanco in the home run race — but the year has taken a far different course than even he could’ve imagined.

Fans and media began to take notice as Balentien hit home runs at a rapid pace to start his season, and the spotlight grew brighter once he left Blanco in his wake and could make out Oh, Rhodes, and Cabrera on the horizon. He hit his 52nd of the year Friday night, and attention is at a fevered pitch with 55 now just three homers away.

Hitting three home runs is only half the battle. There’s also a mountain of pressure that must be overcome.

Balentien was popular before, but he’s never dealt with this type of attention, and does his best to block out distractions and remain pointed in the right direction.

“It’s hard,” he says. “It’s hard not to focus on that stuff. But I try to do the best I can to just focus on the game and focus on doing my job and just worry about what I can handle right now and don’t try to even think about stuff that I can’t handle.”

Media requests roll in at a rapid pace, and Yakult’s PR department is taking steps to ensure Balentien isn’t stretched too thin.

“It’s probably six-times busier,” says Balentien’s interpreter, Koji Kondo. “Normally, we do a little press conference or meeting about once a week. Now, maybe six times a week. But he’s earned it. He’s coming up on a great record.”

From the time he arrives at the ballpark until his goes home, Balentien operates in a fishbowl. Reporters trail him everywhere, peppering him with questions about the same thing in various ways, and at Jingu Stadium fans mob him during the short walk from the stadium exit to the clubhouse.

So far, Balentien hasn’t let it get to him. His loud, deep, bellowing laugh rings out just as often, and he’s as happy-go-lucky as usual. The only difference is how much more he cherishes the slivers of peace and quiet he gets.

“The good thing is, I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself,” Balentien said. “I’m always relaxed, I joke around. I take my time alone now, so I can play some video games, watch a movie, do something so I can get a little bit of this stuff out of my mind.”

It’s understandable that the spotlight is trained on him.

Balentien is having one of the most special individual seasons NPB has ever seen, while his team, ravaged by injuries, is suffering through a rough campaign.

The Swallows are mired in last place in the Central League, meaning everyone’s sole focus has shifted to “Coco,” and he hasn’t disappointed.

“It’s unreal,” said the BayStars’ Nyjer Morgan. “I hope he breaks it. It’s good for the game.”

Balentien has 52 home runs with 29 games remaining. He hit Nos. 49 and 50 in Yakult’s 111th game to joining Cabrera (117 games in 2002) as the only players with 50 homers before their teams’ 120th game.

“It’s impressive,” Hanshin Tigers outfielder Matt Murton said recently. “How many players currently in this league will hit 40 home runs? There’s only a select group of guys who will do that.

“In fact, two, three players maybe. When you start talking about two or three guys out of an entire league, and then you’re going to put yourself in a conversation with only three other men who have ever hit 55 home runs, I think it kind of speaks for itself.”

Balentien also leads the CL with a .342 average and his 110 RBIs are second only to Blanco’s 120. He’s worked to improve his discipline at the plate, and has become a nightmare for opposing teams.

“You just try and keep him in the yard,” said Yomiuri Giants pitcher D.J. Houlton. “Hopefully just pop him up somehow. He swings a lot too, so he’s dangerous. He’s an aggressive hitter, he doesn’t really take too many. He’s up there swinging and he’s trying to hit a home run. I really think that’s what’s most amazing about it, he’s a really good hitter.”

Despite the noise and distractions present, Balentien won’t let himself stray from the path. He finds moments of levity in the clubhouse with his teammates, who he says are pulling for him to break the record, but aren’t putting any pressure on him, and telephone conversations with his stepfather, Rudney Leonora, in his native Curacao.

“He’s a big baseball fan and sometimes we’ll be talking and he’s like, ‘you don’t know what you’re doing, You don’t even realize what you’ve been up to,’” Balentien says. “I just laugh and don’t try to get into it too much because we still have a long way to go.”

Balentien hopes to be able to look back one day and really let the events of the season — many of which have yet to be written — wash over him.

“Probably I don’t even realize it yet, because I’m just in it and I really don’t have the time to sit back and think about what I’m doing,” he says. “I probably would love to do it at the end of the season when I know I don’t have to go up there anymore, so I can sit back and think about it like ‘really, that’s what I was doing?’ “

Friday, September 06, 2013

Japan, USA reach Gold Medal Game at XXVI 18U Baseball World Cup

Japan shuts out Cuba – USA rallies against Chinese Taipei – Championship Game on Sunday

TAICHUNG.

Defending champion USA and Japan will play in the Gold Medal Game at the XXVI 18U Baseball World Cup in Taichung. Japan demonstrated their power in an impressive victory over Cuba. The United States then completed a dramatic comeback in the eighth to edge out Chinese Taipei.

Both teams improved to 4-0 in the semi-final round robin and already have secured one of the first two spots in the standings. On Saturday evening they will meet in the last semi-final game in a finals preview, which will decide home field advantage for Sunday.

In the third semi-final round robin game on Friday afternoon Korea had shut out Venezuela. On Sunday Korea will take on Chinese Taipei with the winner going to the Bronze Medal Game. Venezuela squares off with Cuba, which already has been qualified for the Game for Third Place.

Semi Final Round Robin

Venezuela 1 – Korea 11

Korea got its first win in the semi-final round robin with an 11-1 rout over Venezuela, keeping their bronze medal game chances alive. They scored nine of their eleven runs between the third and the fifth, highlighted by a two-run home run of Byeong Wuk Lim, who drove in three runs overall. Four players of Korea scored twice. Venezuela’s lone run came in the seventh thanks to a RBI triple off the wall by Abdallah Aris.

Japan 10 – Cuba 0

Japan crushed Cuba 10-0 in a mercy-rule shortened evening game at Taichung City Stadium, already securing a spot in the Gold Medal Game. Tomohiro Anraku shut down the Cuban offense with eight scoreless six-hit innings, striking out ten. Ryo Watanabe hit a two-run home run. Satoshi Sonobe and Seiji Uebayashi had big two-run extra base hits during a six-run eighth inning. Cuba dropped to 2-2 in the semi-final round robin with the loss.

USA 7 – Chinese Taipei 5

The United States rallied from a 2-5 deficit with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to beat Chinese Taipei 7-5 en route to the championship game. Michael Rivera initiated the comeback with his two-run home run. Jackson Reetz’s RBI double tied the game. Bryson Brigman drove Reetz in with a triple a few moments later. Chinese Taipei, which had erased an early 0-2 hole by themselves, didn’t had an answer left.

Standings

1) Japan 4-0
1) USA 4-0
3) Cuba 2-2
4) Chinese Taipei 1-3
4) Korea 1-3
6) Venezuela 0-4

Schedule

Saturday, September 7, 2013

•12:30 Cuba – Venezuela (Taichung)
•12:30 Chinese Taipei – Korea (Intercontinental)
•18:00 Japan – USA (Intercontinental)
(all times local)

Local hero: Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles ace Masahiro Tanaka greets fans after winning his 24th straight decision on Friday in a 3-2 victory over the visiting Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters at Kleenex Stadium. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Tanaka tosses complete-game victory, raises record to 20-0

The Rakuten right-hander has won 24 consecutive decisions

Sep 6, 2013

OSAKA –

Masahiro Tanaka equaled the mark for Japan’s longest winning streak within a single season as he improved to 20-0 on Friday in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ 3-2 win over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.

The 24-year-old Eagles ace has won 24 consecutive decisions dating back to Aug. 26, 2012. Although Tanaka (20-0) went the distance, he needed a little help from his friends to nail down this one after surrendering two runs over the first four innings.

“I didn’t help much tonight, so I’ll try to do a competent job in my next game,” said Tanaka, who allowed just three base runners after the fourth inning. “The team had to score three runs to come back because of me, and after we did, I managed to do some good at the end.”

The Eagles, who saw their Pacific League lead increase to six games over the Chiba Lotte Marines, were stymied through four innings by marquee Fighters rookie Shohei Otani, who allowed two runs in five innings.

Rakuten got to the rookie in the fifth, when Kazuya Fujita’s two-run single tied it.

“I’d made an easy out in my previous at-bat, and when I got back to the bench, Masahiro shot me this look that said, ‘Not again?’ ” Fujita said. “So when I came up (in the fifth), I was going to do anything to avoid getting that look.”

Eagles captain Kazuo Matsui, who threw out a Fighters runner at the plate in the fourth inning, broke up the tie in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer off reliever Toshiya Yanuki (2-2).

Tanaka, who won his 13th consecutive start, allowed seven hits and two walks, while striking out 11 in a 128-pitch effort. With 20 straight wins in a single season, he matched the mark of Hall of Famer Kazuhisa Inao, who won 20 straight in 1957 en route to a 35-6 season for the Nishitetsu Lions.

Squaring off against Otani for the first time, Tanaka retired the visitors in order in the first before surrendering a leadoff homer in the second to cleanup hitter Michel Abreu.

Tanaka misplaced a 2-0 slider up and over the plate that found the fat part of Abreu’s bat. It sailed over the wall in center for the Cuban’s 28th home run, tying him with injured teammate Sho Nakata for the PL lead.

Poor location forced Tanaka to pitch out of a two-on, one-out jam in the third. But the Fighters put a run on the board in the fourth on a single by Eiichi Koyano, a double by Shogo Akada and an RBI single by Kenji Sato. The damage could have been worse, but Matsui’s relay nailed Koyano easily at the plate for the second out.

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18U: USA wins World Cup championship

18U National Team wins its second consecutive World Cup title, beating Japan, 3-2

TAICHUNG, Taiwan --

The 2013 USA Baseball 18U National Team beat Japan, 3-2, on Sunday evening to win the 2013 IBAF 'AAA'/18U World Cup in Taichung, Taiwan. The U.S. won its first world title since 1999 last year, and has now won back-to-back championships.

"I'm not sure I can totally describe this feeling," 18U National Team manager Rob Cooper, said. "What I do want to say is how proud I am to be associated with these 20 young men, what they've gone through, how they came together and how they stayed together. In this tournament, you saw 20 guys come together for something far more important than themselves and play for the letters on their chest."

Cooper handed the ball to Brady Aiken (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) with the World Cup championship on the line, and the left-hander delivered. He fired seven innings, spreading out five hits and one run while walking two and striking out 10 to earn the victory.

"To have the coaches any my teammates have the faith in me to go out and start this game means everything," Aiken said. "It was such an honor. Winning this championship means everything."

Aiken found himself locked in a pitchers' duel with Japanese southpaw Yuki Matsui. Matsui worked into the seventh inning, allowing just five hits and two runs while striking out nine and walking a pair. He threw 106 pitches in the losing effort.

Down by a run in the bottom of the fifth inning, Cole Tucker (Phoenix, Ariz.) got the offense started with a single -- the first hit for the U.S. on the night. Two batters later, Michael Rivera (Venice, Fla.) singled to put runners on the corners for Adam Haseley (Windermere, Fla.). Haseley hit a ground ball, but hustled down the line to beat the double-play attempt and score Tucker from third to tie the game.

An inning later, the offense went back to work. With two outs, Jakson Reetz (Hickman, Neb.) doubled down the left-field line and was driven in on a single from Bryson Brigman (San Jose, Calif.) to give the U.S. the lead.

With Aiken working in the seventh inning, he got an assist from his backstop, Rivera. After a strikeout on a missed two-strike bunt attempt, Rivera fired to first to pick off Ryuma Mori. Aiken punched out the next hitter to end the frame and hold the 2-1 U.S. lead.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Red, White and Blue grinded out a run in a third consecutive frame. Trace Loehr (Milwaukie, Ore.) hit the inning's first pitch for a single, forcing a Japan pitching change. Reliever Taisuke Yamaoka's first pitch was wild, allowing Loehr to advance to second. After Rivera sacrificed him over, Keaton McKinney (Ankeny, Iowa) singled through the right side to push the lead to 3-2.

Cooper wasted no time with the two-run lead, electing to go to closer Luis Ortiz (Sanger, Calif.) to start the eighth inning. With a runner on first, catcher Tomoya Mori skied a ball into foul territory just into the seats, but Haseley leaped, making an incredible catch.

Japan would strike for one in the inning on a two-out single to cut the lead to 3-2, but Ortiz would silence the Japanese bats in the ninth inning to seal the victory and initiate a wild dog-pile celebration on the field.

"To be a part of this is something I never even dreamed of," 18U National Team assistant coach Kevin Wilson said. "When I got this opportunity, this was my goal. When the game ended, I had to ask (Mike) Maack how we got the last out; I was just so overwhelmed."

During the closing ceremony, Ortiz was named the tournament's MVP after going 1-0 with three saves in five appearances. Ortiz allowed just two earned runs in 8 1/3 innings pitched while striking out 12.

Adam Haseley was honored as one of three "Best Outfielders" and for leading the tournament in batting average (.452). Michael Rivera was named "Best Third Baseman."

Players and staff will return home to the United States on Monday via Los Angeles International Airport.

Closing in: Wladimir Balentien watches as his 53rd home run sails into the distance. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien, Ogawa star in Swallows’ win over Dragons

Kyodo

Sep 8, 2013

NAGOYA –

Wladimir Balentien got back into the chase for Japan’s single-season home run record and rookie Yasuhiro Ogawa (13-4) took over the Central League lead in wins as the Yakult Swallows defeated the Chunichi Dragons 5-1.

Balentien singled in the opening run in the fourth inning and hit his 53rd home run, a solo shot to lead off the sixth. He is now two away from Japan’s record of 55 with 24 games left to play. Balentien went 3-for-5 to raise his CL-leading batting average to .341. He is second in the league with 114 RBIs.

After hitting a record 18 home runs in August, the blast was Balentien’s first in five games this month.

Ogawa went the distance, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out three. He started the day tied with Hiroshima Carp ace Kenta Maeda for the league lead in wins.

“This is not the finish line,” said Ogawa, whose last win came on Aug. 3. “At the end I want to be in the thick of the fight for the wins title.”

Yasushi Iihara iced the game for the last-place Swallows with a three-run triple in the seventh.

Dodgers near deal with Cuban infielder Guerrero

By Jesse Sanchez / MLB.com | 9/9/2013 2:08 P.M. ET

Cuban infield prospect Alexander Guerrero is closing in a multi-year deal worth $32 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers, according to industry sources.

The pact is expected to be between five and seven years. An official announcement is expected this week.

The 5-foot-11, 205-pound Guerrero is a veteran of Serie Nacional, the island's top league, and was an All-Star in 2010 and '11 with Las Tunas. He defected from Cuba earlier this year, established residency in Haiti and had been training in the Dominican Republic. Guerrero was granted free agency by Major League Baseball in July, but did not secure an unblocking license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which would allow him to sign with a Major League team, until last Friday.

Guerrero participated in a series of showcases in front of scouts at the Dodgers' complex in the Dominican Republic in July, where Los Angeles eventually emerged as the favorite. Known for his powerful bat and speed on the bases, Guerrero felt slighted when he was left off the Cuban team roster for the 2013 World Baseball Classic and risked his life in search of his big league dreams.

Scouting Report

Offense: Physically strong, right-handed hitter at 5’10”, 205 pounds; employs a crouched stance with a wide base and starts with hands at eye level; toe-tap load allows him to utilize strong lower half; quiet stride; hits off a firm front side; above-average-to-plus bat speed thanks to strong wrists and forearms; easy, raw pop, especially to the pull side; gets the barrel to the ball and generates impressive extension after contact; tendency to wrap his bat and dip on the backside at times; has quick feet and moves well but won’t be a base stealer.

Defense:

Average athleticism; still moves well despite thicker lower half; may lose a step as he ages; versatile and instinctual defender with quick hands and flashy glove; fast transfer and release; decent body control; actions are too stiff for clean projection at shortstop; average range and arm strength suggests a future at second base.

Chasing history: In the first inning, the Swallows' Wladimir Balentien drives a 151-kph fastball into the left-center field stands for his 54th home run of the season against the Carp on Tuesday at Jingu Stadium. Hiroshima defeated Tokyo Yakult 9-3. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien belts 54th home run in loss to Carp

Swallows slugger now one blast from tying NPB's single-season record

by Jason Coskrey

Staff Writer

Sep 10, 2013

Wladimir Balentien moved one step closer to history, and the Hiroshima Carp remained on track for a long-awaited trip to the postseason.

In a way, everyone went home happy about something.

Balentien connected on his 54th home run of the year, a two-run shot off Carp ace Kenta Maeda in the first inning, but Yoshiyuki Ishihara’s three-run shot in the third helped jumpstart Hiroshima’s 9-3 rout of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Tuesday at Jingu Stadium.

Balentien had to go upstairs to get his bat around a high 151-kph fastball but still muscled it into the stands in left-center for home run No. 54. He said he had mixed emotions after hitting the home run given the way the game ended up.

Only Yomiuri Giants legend Sadaharu Oh, former Kintetsu Buffaloes star Tuffy Rhodes, and ex-Seibu Lions slugger Alex Cabrera, who share the single-season mark of 55, have hit more home runs in one year. Balentien matched the total of Hanshin Tigers great Randy Bass, who hit 54 in 1985, to become the fifth player with at least 54 homers in a season.

After the game, Balentien was asked if he would like Oh to be in attendance once he reached the record and began swinging for No. 56 to break it.

“It has to come from his side,” Balentien said. “If he thinks I have a shot to do it and he feels like he wants to be there to watch it, it’s an honor for me because he’s the greatest home run hitter ever.”

For now, Balentien remains within one fateful swing of equaling the mark.

“I’m a little nervous every time I go up there,” Balentien joked. “I’ve just gotten to the point where now with one swing I can be in history. I can be at the top of the all-time home run list for a single season in Japan.

“After I hit that one today, every at-bat, it was a little nervous.”

Maeda took the fight to Balentien in the first, all but daring him to swing for the fences with a pair of pitches right down the middle to start the at-bat. Balentien fouled off Maeda’s third pitch and laid off a 134-kph slider to make the count 1-2. He connected on the fifth pitch of the at-bat. The homer was Balentien’s second off Maeda this season.

“He threw me all fastballs, only one off-speed pitch,” Balentien said. “I was looking fastball. It was high, but I put good barrel on it.”

The pitch was far out of the strike zone, but Balentien offered at it anyway, and it paid off.

“Sometimes you can put good contact on it, sometimes you can’t,” Balentien said. “Once and awhile you can make contact on those kinds of pitches.”

The Carp hurler still finished with the win and improved to 13-5. Maeda allowed three runs on nine hits and struck out four over six innings.

“He’s one of the best pitchers,” Balentien said. “At some point, you can be lucky enough to hit one off him. This is just one of those days.”

The Carp aren’t chasing history, but rather their first trip to the Central League Climax Series. The Giants and Tigers have all but claimed the top two spots, but Hiroshima began Tuesday with a two-game lead over the Chunichi Dragons for the third and final place.

Don't stop: Wladimir Balentien watches his Japanese baseball record-tying 55th home run of the season clear the wall in right field during Tokyo Yakult's 6-2 loss to the Carp on Wednesday night. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien ties single-season home run record

by Jason Coskrey

Staff Writer

Sep 11, 2013

Before facing the Hiroshima Carp, Wladimir Balentien and teammate Ryoji Aikawa decided they were going to go with a high-sock look, or as Balentien put it, “old-school, Sadaharu Oh-style.”

He really resembled the Yomiuri Giants legend when he stroked a history-making home run into the right-field seats.

Balentien sent a fastball deep to right in the sixth for his 55th home run of the season which tied the NPB single-season record held by Oh, Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera during the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ 6-2 loss to the Carp on Wednesday at Jingu Stadium.

“It’s a great feeling,” Balentien said. “It’s something that was a long time coming. To get it done at this point, with a chance to get some more with so many games left and to hit at Jingu, to hit it to right field where the fans are, I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.”

Balentien moved into rarefied air, joining Japanese baseball great Oh, who first set the current record in 1964, Rhodes (2001) and Cabrera (2002) as the only players to hit 55 home runs in a single season.

“It’s a special feeling,” Balentien said. “I never imagined myself in that situation with all those great players, legendary players. To get my name on that list, only 29 years old, that’s something very special.”

Balentien is far ahead of the pace of his predecessors and has 22 games left to hit one more and take sole possession of the single-season record.

His 55th homer came at an opportune time, as he was expecting his mother to be in attendance for Thursday’s game. Now he’ll only need one good swing to make history with her watching.

“That was good planning,” he joked. “I planned that well.”

After grounding out in his first two at-bats, Balentien took a ball and a strike from Carp starter Kan Otake before latching onto a 147-kph fastball.

“I was a little nervous, but I was looking for a ball over the plate,” Balentien said. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy, so I was trying to be patient, because in my first two ABs, I swung at the first two pitches I saw. So I was just trying to be a little more patient and see if I can get something better.”

The homer was Balentien’s fourth off Otake this season.

“It was a good pitch,” Otake said. “The location was good, it was just a little high. That was my mistake.”

Balentien extended his fist in triumph as the ball went into the stands and slowed to a walk as he touched home plate, clapping his hands and pointing to the sky. He was given flowers near the Yakult dugout, exchanged high fives with his teammates and shared hugs with beloved Swallows veteran Shinya Miyamoto and team mascot Tsubakuro.

Still, he kept the celebration somewhat reserved as the Birds were trailing 6-1 at the time.

“I was happy inside, but we were losing,” Balentien said. “It was 6-1. I just gotta show a little respect to my teammates. Just don’t show them I’m a selfish player. Probably, they were happy too, but in that situation, I can’t just show everyone that I’m so happy. We’re still losing the game.”

In a total reversal from the contentious environment that surrounded previous attempts to break the record, which has been tainted somewhat by claims of cheating and xenophobia in earlier years, Balentien received a round of applause from the visiting fans when he took his position in the field to start the seventh.

“When I hit the 55th, when I went into left field, the whole Carp (cheering section) they stood up and gave me a standing ovation. That’s amazing. I was surprised. I just want to thank them.”

Balentien was known for his power during his time as a top prospect in the Seattle Mariners’ system. He spent parts of three years in the majors — with the Mariners and Cincinnati Reds.

He joined the Swallows in 2011 and hit 31 homers in each of his first two seasons to win back-to-back Central League home run titles, leading all of Japan in 2012.

Balentien missed Yakult’s first 12 games this season with a groin injury, suffered while playing for the Netherlands in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, but hit the ground running and started racking up homers at a torrid pace.

“First of all, I have to say thank you to the Yakult Swallows for this opportunity they’ve given me,” Balentien said. “They gave me a second chance in my life so I can be in this situation right now. Secondly, I just want to thank all my teammates, coaches, translators. Without those guys, none of this can be possible.”

Balentien said getting to 55 was the hard part and is relaxed as he attempts to claim the single-season record for himself.

“I’m happy I did this,” he said. “From now on, I’ll be more relaxed.”

Despite giving up the home run, Otake went home a winner in the game to improve to 8-9. Masanori Ishikawa (4-8) was charged with the loss.

Brad Eldred homered and drove in two runs to lead the Carp.

Even so, all eyes were on Balentien afterward, and the spotlight will follow him as he chases No. 56.

“Today was a good day for me,” Balentien said. “Now I’m tied. When I hit 56, I will be alone. It will be a way different feeling to pass all those (great) players that have been standing at No. 55.”

Jesus Aguilar is focused on the Lions

Posted on 10/09/2013 Caracas Lions Press / By César Augusto Marquez

The slugger believes he learned to recognize good pitches in AA

Jesus Aguilar believes that the 2013-2014 edition of the Leones del Caracas, has enough material to win title #21 in franchise history.

The slugger is in Caracas and with very high expectations about the season start on October 10.

"I think we have a great team, very solid. The first goal is to qualify for the round robin and then be champions, "said Aguilar.

Jesus had a great season in the minors, to the point that culminated with 105 RBIs for the Akron, double-A Cleveland Indians, representing a record for the franchise.

"I really am pretty happy with what I did in the minors this year. For me it was very important because everything that happened was work product. I set a goal to focus on having a good season and thank God I could finish pretty well. "

Despite his 105 rbi's, Aguilar did not received a call by the Cleveland Indians. I still do not want to think anything about where to start next season. "Those are things you do not control. This year proved that he was able to have a good season. "

This summer season in Double-A left Aguilar learning. "I learned to recognize many pitches, I was pretty good in that league, where pitchers throw many curves, but I think the key was that I always had confidence in myself"

Break it down: This composite photo shows Tohoku Rakuten's Masahiro Tanaka deliver a pitch during the Golden Eagles' 6-2 win over the Buffaloes on Friday. Tanaka set a new Japanese professional baseball record for consecutive victories in one season with 21. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Tanaka sets new record with 21 consecutive wins

AP

Sep 13, 2013

Pitcher Masahiro Tanaka won his 21st straight game to set a new Japanese professional baseball record for consecutive victories in one season on Friday.

Tanaka improved to 21-0 after giving up two runs in a complete game in the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles’ 6-2 win over the Orix Buffaloes. The previous record of 20 was set in 1957 by Kazuhisa Inao.

The last time Tanaka lost a game was Aug. 19, 2012. Since then, the 24-year-old right-hander has won 25 straight, one more than the Major League Baseball mark set by Carl Hubbell of the New York Giants from 1936-37.

Many in Japan are suggesting that Tanaka will pursue a career in MLB after this season, a move that would make him the most sought-after Japanese export since Yu Darvish.

Mission accomplished: Tokyo Yakult's Wladimir Balentien sets a new record for home runs in a single season with his 56th of the year in the first inning of the Swallows' 9-0 win over the Tigers on Sunday. | KYODO
Brotherly love: Wladimir Balentien is congratulated by teammates Shinya Miyamoto and Yasuhiro Ogawa after breaking the single-season home run record on Sunday. | KYODO
One more for luck: Wladimir Balentien extends his newly minted single-season home run record with his 57th of the year at Jingu Stadium on Sunday. | KYODO

Baseball / Japanese Baseball

Balentien sets new Japan single-season home run record

by Jason Coskrey

Staff Writer

Sep 15, 2013

As soon as Wladimir Balentien’s bat made contact with Daiki Enokida’s fastball there was no doubt: Japan had just crowned a new home run king.

And the new king’s first decree was that his record total wasn’t high enough yet.

Balentien set the NPB single-season record with his 56th home run of year in the first inning, then hit No. 57 in his next at-bat of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows’ 9-0 win over the Hanshin Tigers on Sunday night at Jingu Stadium.

“I feel so relieved right now,” Balentien said. “Lot of emotions. Just to get this is something unbelievable. This is (something) that nobody was able to do for 49 years. For me to do it, I can’t even explain what I’m feeling right now.”

The 29-year-old Curacao native broke a four-way tie with Japanese baseball legend Sadaharu Oh, Tuffy Rhodes, and Alex Cabrera, who all have 55, to stand alone as the new record holder.

“It’s amazing that he’s homered at a pace of about once every two games,” Oh said in a statement. “This is far beyond a new NPB record and an overwhelming number. I want to enjoy how far he can take it over the next 18 games with the fans.”

Balentien received hugs from each of his teammates after returning to the dugout and held up a cardboard placard to commemorate home run No. 56. The Swallows, knowing their slugger well, already had a No. 57 placard ready when Balentien went deep in the third.

What made the night even sweeter was that Balentien was able to set the record at home in front of a Yakult fan base that has watched its team struggle this season.

“It’s a lot of history for me already in the park,” Balentien said. “I just feel like I want to share this special moment with the fans.”

Hanshin fans stood and cheered after Balentien’s first homer, a far cry from the environment that met previous challengers to the record. Those players, Randy Bass, who hit 54 in 1985, Rhodes and Cabrera, faced resistance by those who didn’t want a foreign player to break one of Japanese baseball’s hallowed marks.

After hitting No. 56, Balentien blew a kiss into the stands where his mother, Astrid, who arrived in Japan on Thursday, was celebrating. Afterward, she clutched the 57th home run ball as she watched him during the postgame hero interview, and later joined him on the podium.

“I am the happiest mother,” she said later. “I’m so happy that God gave me an amazing son like Coco.”

Balentien came to the plate on Sunday with a runner on second in the first inning and worked the count to 2-1. He ripped the next pitch into the stands in left-center, thrusting his arms into the air as soon as he got his bat around Enokida’s 137-kph offering.

“I was trying to get the run in,” Balentien said. “I been trying too much to hit a home run the last couple of days, so today, my first AB (at-bat), I said I’m gonna relax.”

Once the history-making 56th was out of the way, the pressure was off and Balentien immediately sent a 3-0 slider from Enokida down the left field line for his 57th home run of the year in the third inning.

“When I hit that 56th, it was like, I just got a heavy weight off my back,” he said. “From that moment, to the next AB, to the next one, to the next one, I just felt like it’s a brand new season. It’s just (like) my first couple of ABs of the year.”

Balentien’s first-inning swing not only brought an end to Oh’s claim to the record, but also closed the book on the controversy that has surrounded the mark for more than two decades.

Oh, a former Yomiuri Giants star and legendary figure in Japan, set the previous record in the 140th game of the 1964 season.

Bass hit 54 homers with two games left in the 1985 season, which was 130 games, and was pitched around by the Yomiuri Giants, who were managed by Oh, so that the record could not be matched or broken, with the Yomiuri catcher even saying ‘gomennasai’ as Bass was intentionally walked four times in the finale.

Rhodes tied the mark late in the 2001 season and received similar treatment from the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, who, as fate would have it, were managed by Oh. A Hawks coach later admitted to not wanting to see the record fall into foreign hands. The same happened to Cabrera when he hit his 55th in 2002. Oh, Rhodes and Cabrera all competed in 140-game seasons.

Seasons last for 144 games now, but Balentien reached 57 in the Swallows’ 126th contest. It actually was the 113th for Balentien, who missed the start of the season with a groin injury suffered while playing for the Netherlands in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Sunday was Balentien’s 11th multihomer game of the season. It was fitting his record-setting night came in support of rookie pitcher Yasuhiro “Ryan” Ogawa, who tossed a shutout.

Balentien is hitting .479 with 16 home runs and 34 RBIs in games Ogawa (14-4) has started.

Balentien tied the record on Wednesday night against Hiroshima Carp pitcher Kan Otake and went to the plate 13 times before finally breaking through on Sunday against Enokida, who he was facing for the first time this season.