Japan awaits the first pitch … again
May 3rd, 2007 by Bill Burt
By the time the first pitch was thrown tonight at 7:08, a nation was watching … again.
Daisuke Matsuzaka threw the first pitch to Ichiro Suzuki at 8:08 a.m., Tokyo time.
According to Red Sox media relations department the Japanese media contingent is stil big following last night’s Red Sox starter. But it has fallen off to about one-third of what it was when Matsuzaka threw the his first career pitch at Fenway Park to Ichiro on April 10.
“We have about 50 to 60 credentials for the Japanese media tonight’s game,” said John Blake, Red Sox media relations who recently moved to Danvers. “We had 150 to 180 the first few weeks. This, believe it or not, is manageable.”
According to the Red Sox, the current Japanese contingent is expected to remain here through the end of the season. Very interesting. I will have more on this topic in a couple of weeks.
Some tidbits I noticed around the batting cage before the game:
- David Ortiz was taking grounders before the game for about 10 minutes, probably in preparation of National League games beginning on June 18 (those games are without a DH). I have to admit he looked pretty good. You would think with the Sox trying to get Wily Mo Pena some at bats, Ortiz at first once every few weeks would open up the DH spot.
- Remember the near-fisticuffs the last time the Red Sox and Seattle played in the Fenway opener, after Sox pitcher Brendan Donnelly stared down Jose Guillen before the two were separated? After the game, both players called the other out and so on. Well, before the game during the Sox batting practice, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were hamming it up with Guillen. That would not have happened in the “old” days.
- Just in case you see or hear that Ramirez and Ichiro claim their English is not good enough for an interview, it is bunk. The pair spent about five minutes talking near the batting cage, having a grand old time.
- I realize it is just batting practice, but Manny Ramirez did not look like a man in the slump. He hit one home run to right field, over the fencing above the bullpen.
Before I could finish my pregame blogging observations, Dice-K walked the bases loaded to open the game and Julio Lugo committed a pair of bad errors, leading to five Seattle runs. In fact, Matsuzaka faced Ichiro twice in the first inning.
If anything happens of note, I’ll be back.
