Yadel Marti pitches in the 2006 WCB
Photo: Icon SMI

Right-hander Yadel Marti, Cuba's best pitcher in the first World Baseball Classic in 2006, and outfielder Yasser Gomez left the island and are in an unknown location before attempting to reach the Dominican Republic to seek an MLB career, sources told ESPNdeportes.com.

Players' relatives and friends in Cuba confirmed their departure, without disclosing details of the planned route.

Gomez was left off both the 2006 WBC team and the 2008 Olympic team, leading me to believe the Cubans thought he was a flight risk. We'll see where they land and how much they can help a major league team.

I believe the answer is no, but Bud may force you to blog about the Pirates.

Tony Massarotti reports the Red Sox and Junichi Tazawa agreed to a three-year, $3 million contract.

Though Tazawa was courted by several teams and offered more money by at least one - the Texas Rangers - the pitcher reportedly was interested in pitching for the Sox. Team officials have been scouting Tazawa for more than a year after having made major inroads in the Japan talent pool with the signings of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima during the 2006-07 offseason.

Despite his having no professional experience in Japan, Tazawa's deal is a major league contract, meaning he will occupy a spot on Boston's 40-man roster. Nonetheless, Tazawa is expected to begin his career in the minor leagues, though his ascension to the majors could come rapidly.

That bell you hear ringing is the death-knell of the Japanese Major Leagues. I wonder if the Japanese will change the way they run things, scraping their draft and going after amateur free agents all over the world. I'd like to see them sign a highly ranked US player before he's drafted just to force the issue.

It looks like Boston won the Junichi Tazawa sweepstakes.

Boston already has veteran Japanese pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima on its roster, and Tazawa reportedly has expressed a desire to be a teammate of Matsuzaka. The two attended different high schools in Yokohama.

Will this open the floodgates? If Tazawa becomes a successful major league pitcher, MLB teams will step up their wooing of Japanese amateur free agents. I hope some agreement is reached that prevents this from causing the downfall of the Japanese major leagues.

There are conflicting reports about the Rangers interest in Junichi Tazawa.

The Red Sox and Braves reportedly made offers to Japanese pitcher Junichi Tazawa, the young man who asked Japanese professional teams not to draft him.

Junichi Tazawa is causing problems between the North American and Japanese major leagues:

Many Japanese baseball officials are outraged that United States teams are courting Tazawa, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, because they insist it is long-established practice for amateurs like him to be strictly off limits to major league clubs. Even some American general managers, including the Yankees' Brian Cashman, agree.

Major League Baseball officials maintain that the letter of their protocol agreement with their Japanese counterparts, Nippon Professional Baseball, does not forbid either league from courting amateur talent from the other's nation. When one Japanese representative characterized the rule as a gentleman's agreement during a meeting in New York, he was angrily rebutted by a Major League Baseball official, according to two attendees.

The Tazawa dispute extends beyond one pitching phenom and an interpretation of honor. The Japanese major leagues have already seen established stars leave for American clubs, and amateurs following Tazawa's path away from those leagues could further hurt the leagues' long-term viability.

The answer, of course, is to make all amateurs free agents and encourage teams all over the world to bid on them. Bring the Japanese into direct competition with North America, and when the two leagues come into parity, we can hold a true World Series.

Cal Ripken continues his work for the State Department with a trip to Nicaragua. He'll be blogging for MASN during his visit:

Cal Ripken Jr. will travel to Nicaragua on behalf of the State Department from November 13-18 to bring the Ripken Baseball brand of instruction to over 500 Nicaraguan children and 100 youth coaches. Throughout the trip, Ripken will be blogging on MASNSports.com about his experience. Cal's blog will contain trip updates, stories about the children he meets, reflections about the country's baseball culture and photographs from his travels.

During the five day trip, Ripken will visit the cities of Managua, Leon and Granada. He will be joined by Hall of Famer, former teammate and Nicaraguan native Dennis Martinez. The 23-year Major League veteran and 4-time All Star finished his playing career in 1998 with 245 victories and a 3.70 ERA. The duo will be joined by two instructors from Ripken Baseball.

The Pirates signed an 18-year-old shortstop from South Africa, Mpho Ngoepe:

Ngoepe, 18, is a switch-hitting shortstop who signed with the Pirates about a month ago, then made a cameo appearance in the Instructional League in Bradenton, Fla.

"We need to find talent wherever it is," general manager Neal Huntington said. "It will be a great story if he makes it to the big leagues."

It also will be historic.

No player from South Africa has played in the major leagues.

This appears to be a signing in which the Pirates saw the potential for talent, rather than actual results. We'll get a taste for what he can do in the World Baseball Classic in the spring.

I found this interesting:

Junichi Tazawa, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher who wants to play in the major leagues, was passed over by Japan's 12 professional teams in Thursday's amateur draft.

Tazawa, whose fastball reaches 97 mph, had asked Japanese teams not to select him so that he could pursue a career in the United States.

"I'm very relieved," Tazawa said. "I was very nervous right up until the end of the draft."

What's in it for the Japanese teams? If someone drafts him, and he turns out to be good, they can post him to the US and reap the rewards. Were the Japanese teams just being nice? Imagine a US high school star asking not to be drafted by major league teams so he could sign with one as a free agent!

Randy Newsom blogs from Venezuela as he plays winter ball. Today he lists things you'll never see at a big league park:

Beers being sold for under a dollar (using the exchange rate).

Those same beers being thrown high into the air by fans when the wave comes around to their section.

Those same beers being thrown at the opposing team after they hit a three-run homer to break the game open in the eighth inning.

According to my father, he was at a game at Yankee Stadium in the early 1940s when the fans threw their beer bottles onto the field after a bad call by an umpire. It was after that incident that teams started selling beer in paper cups. (I can't confirm this story, but my dad has a very good memory.)

Newsom was also not watching the ALCS:

Four pitching changes in one half of an inning. (I actually saw this in Mexico last year, and I am sure it has happened at least once some where in the extended history of the Major Leagues.) I would love to know what the record for that is.

Joe Maddon did that in the eighth inning of game seven against the Red Sox.

Baseball is a growing sport in New Zealand.

If this is Olympic Baseball, I'm glad I'm not watching:

Oh, and by the way: The new Extra Innings Rule had to be used for the first time, and the Americans pretty much hate it. Terry Tiffee, the Dodgers Triple-A first baseman probably headed for The Show shortly, called it "bogus."

Miquel Castillo alerted me to the rule:

I was checking on the Olympics reports (not only beach volley...) and found out about a new extra innings rule in international baseball. Apparently, from the 11th on, every inning starts with men on 1st and 2nd and no outs.

If they're going to write silly rules like this, then it's best baseball isn't a part of these games.

More Cubans baseball players defect.

"Rumors were swirling around a couple of days ago. There were denials everywhere. Both players ate the pre-game meal, then went back to their rooms at the university and got dressed to go on the bus, and they didn't get on the bus," said Hayter.

Hayter there's also talk that two more players might have defected.

"Unfortunately we can't really get involved in these problems and it's up to the team's managers," said Hayter. "The international body is discouraged by all of this. We, as an organizing committee, don't want it to happen because it weakens their team."

Good luck to those players with their new won freedom. I feel really bad that the Cuban team got weaker.

Bob Watson doesn't want Roger Clemens on the US Olympic team. What about Barry Bonds?

A high school team in Japan scored sixty-six runs while using just four outs before the trailing team quit:

The coach of Kawamoto technical high school threw in the towel to spare his pitcher's arm with his team losing 66-0 with just one batter out in the bottom of the second.

The hapless hurler had already sent down over 250 pitches, allowing 26 runs in the first inning and 40 in the second before Kawamoto asked for mercy.

"At that pace the pitcher would have thrown around 500 pitches in four innings," Kawamoto's coach was quoted as saying. "There was a danger he could get injured."

It's good to know they have a 250 pitch limit for high school pitchers in Japan. Cole Hamels would have been out after 30 runs!

Thanks to Charles Hamm for the link.

The number of foreign born players dropped this year, but I found this interesting:

The New York Mets (15) had the most foreign-born players for the third straight year and were followed by Seattle (14), and the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland, Detroit and the New York Yankees (11 each).

Those are all very good franchises. It looks like it pays to invest internationally.

The Athletics aren't very happy with their status on this trip:

Officially, the A's are the home team, wearing the home uniforms and batting last. But somehow, the Sox were given the home dugout and the home clubhouse, which is significantly roomier with additional trainer's rooms.

...

But the playing of "Sweet Caroline,'' the Red Sox' unofficial them song, in the middle of the eighth inning may have sent the A's completely over the edge

Winning and hiring Japanese stars has its advantages.

Kevin Youkilis like Matsuzaka better than Kobe.

Last night, I ate Matsuzaka beef for dinner. It's actually better than Kobe beef. It's the best beef you can have. I guess Matsuzaka is a city or a region in Japan. No, the beef is not named after Dice-K! But it was very tasty.

Here's the MLB side of the story:

According to the source, in the past, the coaches' compensation has come from the players' portion of the pool. This time around the coaches were eliminated from that pool. Did someone not tell the players? That'll be the interesting question to Sox player reps after the game.

The source said that coaches, and managers as well as the training staff will all be compensated and the final amount is expected to exceed $40,000 per man.

The major league source was miffed that they are being portrayed as the ones who backed out of an agreement.

Update: Here's Youkilis on the agreement.

"The conference call (in October) was tough in and of itself. There were six or seven players on it. In the business world conference calls are not the easiest way. You hear voices and everyone's talking. We definitely knew what we were told. There was added stuff just to get us to go over there. I can't blame one person for the misunderstanding. I think the next time we know going forward that when you have these conference calls, you have to get it in writing. It's the easiest way to do stuff. One thing that will be addressed at players' union meetings now is that you have to put it in writing and be on the same page. We found out today. It's a learning process, we're moving forward and we're going to have a lot of fun over there."

How could it not be put in writing? Someone dropped the ball here, quite possibly the MLBPA. Luckily for all involved it all worked out.

Update: Larry Lucchino is on the game broadcast now, and he says one problem today was that the lawyers for MLB and the MLBPA who negotiated the deal are in China.

The Red Sox are taking the field.

Update: The Japan trip is on, and Youkilis will speak about the settlement after the game.

The Red Sox are not taking the field for the game against Toronto. They're sitting on the bench.

Update: I really love this. For a long time, people like Al Bethke have been making a positive case for Bud Selig's legacy. Fortunately, every once in a while Bud reminds us that we dislike him because the organization he runs can be quite dishonest. Kudos to the Red Sox players for bringing that to our attention.

Update: The Red Sox players left the dugout and retreated to the clubhouse.

Update: There seems to be plenty of blame to go around on all sides.

The Red Sox players are upset a promised payment to coaches for the Japan trip was withdrawn (It's not clear if this was the team or MLB making the promise.) They've voted not to go unless the coaches get paid:

''When we voted to go to Japan, that was not a unanimous vote,'' said Lowell, "but we did what our team wanted us to do for Major League Baseball. They promised us the moon and the stars and then when we committed, they started pulling back. It's not just the coaches, it's the staff, the trainers, a lot of people are affected by this.

"I'm so super proud of this team, when we put it to a vote it was unanimous, we're all in agreement that we're not going to put up with this.''

I suspect the funds will be available quickly.

Update: The sides are talking. This appears to be a case of Major League Baseball lying.

Schilling said a few things have already been "taken away" by Major League Baseball, according to the pitcher.

"In October when we were on the phone call, they wanted this trip to happen so badly, and now they've fallen by the wayside time and time again. The things we were adamant about at the time we reiterated time and time again, and it was never an issue."

What things?

"Different personal things that were supposed to happen from an accommodations standpoint. Little things that tend to make trips like this easier. It's been more than one thing. Hopefully, it's just miscommunication, and it will be fixed," Schilling said.

A great way to run a business.

Update: There appears to be plenty of blame to go around on both sides.

After playing to a 3-3 tie Saturday, the Padres defeat the Dodgers 6-3 on Sunday to win the the only Major League series played in China. They even played "Hells Bells" when Hoffman came into pitch.

The first game between Major League teams in China ended in a 3-3 tie.

The Padres visited the Great Wall of China:

Padres manager Bud Black described the goodwill trip as a chance for MLB to "sow a few seeds," saying the games themselves were of little importance. Both teams have brought just a handful of starters, leaving most of their top pitchers in the United States.

"The popularity of basketball here just went off the charts when Yao Ming got to the NBA," Black said. "That's what baseball is looking for."

Traipsing to the apex of the twisting wall was a test of fitness. Becky Moores, wife of Padres team owner John Moores, made it to the highest rampart. After arriving several days ago in the polluted air of Beijing, she welcomed the clean air of the countryside.

"Now I can breathe, my chest is open," she said.

Betsy Gonzalez, the wife of first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, managed to get three-quarters up the wall wearing 3-inch heels.

"I'm always in high heels so I'm used to it," she said.

Replied her husband: "It would be like me going three times as far as I went. That's incredible to climb all the way up there in high heels."

Here's a picture of my daughter on the Great Wall from 2006. She didn't attempt the climb in heels. :-)

The Padres are in China, and Gaslamp Ball provides links to relevant stories on the trip.

My daughter visited China two years ago on a school trip. The two interesting things she noticed were:

• Soldiers were everywhere.
• The Chinese went out of their way to explain they had no classes, yet a stratification of society was clearly evident walking around the cities where beggars abound.

She really loved the trip and the family that hosted her stay, but she also understood the reality of China. I wonder if the players and press on this trip are going to be insulated from that?

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

River Ave. Blues is enjoying the fact that the Red Sox suddenly aren't too happy with the Japan trip.

The Baseball Musings pledge drive continues through March. Please consider making a donation.

The Athletics and Red Sox players will receive as much as $50,000 each for their appearance in Tokyo. Plus, there are special roster rules in effect:

All travel expenses will be covered for 30 players from both teams, although the clubs can bring additional players if they pay the extra travel costs. There will be 28-man rosters for the two regular-season games, but the teams must designate three players as inactive for the games in order to comply with the 25-man regular-season limit.

That ensures that the three players designated as inactive will not lose two days of service time. The three inactive players almost assuredly will be the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 starters, who are not expected to work in the two games but could pitch in the exhibition games against Japanese teams that precede the season opener March 25.

So teams will be able to carry extra hitters and or extra relievers, giving each manager more flexibility than he might have in a normal regular season game.

The Dodgers and Padres will play exhibition games in China in March. If MLB and successfully interest even a fraction of the Chinese population in baseball, the benefits in both increased revenue and supply of players would be huge.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are investing heavily in a new Dominican baseball academy.

"Latin America needs to be an even greater priority for our ballclub," Nutting said. "The Pirates have had a great history of Latino ballplayers making a significant impact at the major-league level, including the great Roberto Clemente. Today, no team has more opportunity or, frankly, a greater need to acquire and develop quality players from this region than we do."

Players in Latin America are not included in Major League Baseball's draft and, thus, available only as free agents.

"This facility will help our baseball operations staff attract, retain and teach the best players, coaches and scouts in the region," Nutting said.

General manager Neal Huntington said the academy "will provide us with an advantage in recruiting players, while providing an optimal setting to teach our young players not only baseball skills but also life skills."

I like everything I'm seeing so far from the new Pirates management team. However, I liked Littlefield for a long time, too. We'll see if this group does more than just talk a good game.

Team USA defeats Cuba to win the World Cup.

The Boston Red Sox open the season on the road against the Oakland Athletics. The first two games, however, take place in Tokyo.

Boston and Oakland will be the third set of teams to open the regular season at the Tokyo Dome, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), and the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2004). A scheduled 2003 series between Oakland and Seattle at the Tokyo Dome was canceled because of the threat of war in Iraq.

"Opening our regular season in Japan for the third time is another example of Major League Baseball's commitment to continue the global growth of the game," commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.

I still wish MLB would do more to make the Japanese leagues more competitive with the North American leagues. Free trading between the teams, and free agents going both ways, as well as eliminating the draft to allow players to sign anywhere in the world.

Frank Osterhaus writes:

Thought I'd let you know that yesterday marked the passing of Kazuhisa "Iron Man" Inao, former pitcher for the Nishitetsu Lions of the Japan Leagues. His career ERA was 1.98, and his "signature moment" occurred during the 1958 Japan Series. His team had lost the first three games (including one by Inao) of the best-of-seven match to the Yomiuri Giants, and he came in to pitch Game 4. He pitched his team to a complete-game victory, and then in the next game was called on to pitch in late-inning relief in a tie game. That game went into extra innings and Inao won it by hitting a "sayonara" homerun in the bottom of the 11th. With an off-day to rest, Inao was called upon to start Game 6, in which he again won in a complete game. Game 7 followed and again Inao was tabbed to start and again Inao pitched a complete game and won the Series for the Lions. Inao got the "W" for all four games.

Here's his obituary.

Widely seen as one of Japanese pro baseball's all-time great pitchers, Inao logged a lifetime 276-137 record, playing his entire career with the Lions until 1969.

He led the Lions to three consecutive Japan Series championships. In he tied the record for most wins in a season with 42 triumphs.

That's quite a career. My thoughts go out to his family and friends, and all his Japanese fans.

The Chunichi Dragons won the Japan Series on a combined perfect game.

The Kansas City Royals' new manager and his Nippon Ham Fighters lost 1-0 to the Chunichi Dragons when Daisuke Yamai and Hitoki Iwase combined on a perfect game in Game 5 of the seven-game series, giving the Dragons the championship of Japanese baseball.

...

The first perfect game in the 57 years of the Japan Series gave the Dragons their first title in 53 years.

Yamai, playing in his sixth professional season, struck out six over eight perfect innings, and Iwase retired the final three batters in order in the ninth.

Tyrone Woods scored the only run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Ryosuke Hirata in the second inning.

My daughter has friends in Hokkaidō, the home of the Fighters, so I'm sorry to see them lose. But a perfect game in a championship round is a rare occurrence and something to be celebrated. It took 54 World Series for that to happen in a US playoff. Congratulations to the Dragons on their championship!

Joe Posnanski traveled to Japan to cover their championship series. The Nippon Ham Fighters are managed by soon to be Royals skipper Trey Hillman. Right now, the the Fighters are down two games to one.

The Chunichi Dragons scored seven big runs in the first inning - they knocked Fighters starter Masaru Takeda out after he had retired only one batter - and then finished the job by destroying Hillman's team 9-1. This was just two days after the Dragons destroyed the Fighters 8-1. So, add it up, the Dragons now have a 2 game to 1 lead in this best-of-seven series, and right now it looks like they are a whole lot better than the Fighters.

Then again, it has looked that way all year for Hillman and his team. They scored the fewest runs of any team in Japan this year and hit the fewest home runs, and still they won their league outright. So, you never know.

"Don't underestimate us," Hillman says about his team. "That's when we'll get you."

Matsuzaka Watch believes that the Red Sox winning the World Series will cement Boston as Japan's team:

That's my Yankee perspective. It's grim. For the rest of you, our there in Red Sox Nation, there is only glory ahead. One of the more disturbing turn of events from my perspective, which should make you smile, is that Matsuzaka and Okajima winning the championship will solidify the Red Sox as Japan's team. It has always been the Yankees since the days of Babe Ruth. Matsui is the darling of Yomiuri Giants fans in their 30's, 40's, 50's, and up. Matsuzaka is the darling of anyone younger and certainly every kid in the country. By winning it all, there will be a death knell for the future of the Yankees in Japan. It's all about Boston and the red, white, and blue.

He's also very optimistic about Dice-K's performance tonight. I'm not, unless he throws nothing but fastballs.

For subscribers, my latest Baseball Prospectus column looks at the future of the relationship between MLB and Nippon Professional Baseball.

MLB FanHouse notes the end of the last AAA franchise in Canada. In an era when MLB is trying to expand international participation in the sport, interest keeps waning in one of the earliest countries to play the game.

The Israel Baseball League kicked off its inaugural season.

The FanHouse links to an article on how US teams are worried about the politics in Venezuela might stop the flow of players from that country to the majors.

The Feed comments on a story about "Fight Money" in Japan:

Kei Igawa or Hideki Matsui could provide some more information about the system. The money sometimes comes from management or sometimes right from the manager's pocket and no two teams use the same system. Igawa said that he would receive in the neighborhood of $1,000 for a good performance while with the Hanshin Tigers but sometimes you received gifts other than money from the team or from sponsors. Matsui, for example, received several cars for his successes while Igawa got hot plates. That sounds bad but the mighty Matsuzaka played for Seibu, who didn't give fight money, and would have to figure out what to do with two dozen cans of coffee after a big win.

This works in Japan because players are paid less money than here in the US. However, I'd like to see an All-Star payout, rather than the current system of awarding a league home field advantage. Get a sponsor to put up a significant amount of money that the players on the winning team get to split. Make it a winner take all game with a $10 million purse to be split by the active players and the manager. Then you'll get a meaningful game.

Gordon Edes talks with Masanori Murakami, Don Nomura and others about the continuing growth of Japanese players in Major League Baseball. It sounds to me like there is going to be changes coming in the next few years to the Asian game:

But no one ever envisioned the posting system resulting in a bid as exorbitant as the Red Sox' $51.1 million offer for the right to talk to Matsuzaka. When the numbers get that high, only the team with the winning bid walks away happy. Consider: other major league teams resent how high the bids climb; the player is annoyed that money that is his is instead collected by his former club; and the other Japanese teams are jealous of their adversary's windfall.

That's what's happening in Japan, said Nomura, who was in Tokyo for the opening of the 2007 Nippon Professional Baseball season. Lucchino, now the Red Sox president and CEO, joked that he may yet again prove catalyst to change; Nomura, who as an agent has his own interests to protect, believes change must occur.

Kuwata believes there are at least a couple of players on each Japanese team that could play in the big leagues. Colborn suggests the number is higher. Nomura believes there are 25 to 40 players in Japan who could play in the majors. There will be significant resistance by Japanese teams to the exodus, he said, but added there are ways to redress the declining TV audience in Japan. "My suggestion is for a new league, including Taiwan, Korea, and China," Nomura said. "The countries are three hours apart on any flight.

"They have to find a way to survive. This would lead to a real World Series."

And the Asian leagues need to start integrating with the North American leagues. A set of rules on drafting, trading and free agency will spread the talent more evenly over the two areas, allowing both to thrive and making the game more popular world wide.

Japan's best players already head to the United States when they become free agents, and now there is a fear that the best high school players head to the west before they play a game for their home country:

He wants to convince a top Japanese player coming out of high school to go directly to the United States rather than to the Japanese team that drafts him.

"I've been trying for 10 or 12 years," Nomura says. "But it's such a strong cultural thing. I've gone to college and high school coaches, I've gone to the parents, I've gone to the kids. So far, no go."

The next opportunity could be Sho Nakata. The powerful high school senior from Osaka is an accomplished pitcher but is the stuff of legend in Japan for long home runs, including one last year that went 520 feet, according to local media.

Three years ago, Nakata played in a tournament in suburban Chicago and told the Northwest Herald he would like to return to the United States and pitch for the Yankees.

"If it happens, it happens," Ito says, dismissing the impact of a player like Nakata spurning pro baseball in his homeland. "But the majority of club owners would answer differently."

Just as he believes the money involved in landing Matsuzaka is not likely to be repeated often, Ito also says one high school player going to the United States would not signal a mass exodus, for practical reasons.

"They're like teenagers anywhere else," he says. "Girls see Nakata here, they go crazy. He can play in the top leagues in Japan when he's 20. He'll be famous.

"If he goes to the U.S., he'll be in places like Midland, Texas. The food will be a big problem. He won't have friends, especially girls. It's not the physical and technical talent that will hold him back."

As the article points out, the money is much better in the US. One of these teenagers will eventually realize he'll make a lot more money playing his entire career in North America than waiting a number of years before his team posts him.

The AP writes a feel good story about two friends who defected from Cuba five years apart being reunited on the Braves:

"We've been playing baseball ever since we were 9 years old," Pena said. "When we started out, he was our No. 1 pitcher and I was his catcher. Then I was the pitcher and he was the catcher. We split the same gloves. One day, the glove lived at his house. Another day, the glove lived at my house. We had only one bat that we had to share. Sometimes my spikes were not in good shape, so I would borrow spikes from him. Thank God we wore the same size."

While Escobar still keeps up intently with news from his country, especially the ill health of longtime dictator Fidel Castro, Pena is more Americanized. He would love to go back home but has made a comfortable life in his adopted country.

"America is America, with all due respect," Pena said. "When you're free, man, you feel like you can do whatever you want. What can be better than that?"

Pena was able to slip away because his guard was chatting up a woman. I wonder what happened to the guard?

Baseball Musings is holding a pledge drive in March.

The Israel Baseball League is set to kick off on June 24, 2007, with a number of former big leaguers managing.

The Dominican Republic wins the Caribbean Series after just five games.

Overall, the Dominican Republic won the Series for the 16th time, one more than Puerto Rico. This was the fifth time that the Cibao Eagles represented the Dominicans and took the title.

The undefeated Dominicans play 3-2 Puerto Rico tonight. Puerto Rico needs to win the game or have Venezuela lose to finish second outright.

The Dominican Republic took control of the Caribbean Series last night as they pounded host Puerto Rico 12-0.

Tejada, the Baltimore Orioles ' star shortstop, went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs. Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz had three RBIs and Hernandez, a speedy New York Mets prospect, went 4-for-5.

Philadelphia Phillies reliever Fabio Castro held the Carolina Giants (2-1) to a pair of hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked three for the win.

Losing pitcher Jonathan Albaladejo lasted only one inning and allowed six runs on seven hits.

After the first round robin, the D.R. is the only undefeated team. That puts them well in control of the six-game tournament.

For the third time in three games, the Mexican team was blown out in the Caribbean Series:

Mexico has lost to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela by a combined score of 33-4.

Ouch.

T.J. Quinn reports on Omar Minaya and his group of former major leaguers in Ghana.

And then there is Daniel "Iron" Atieno, a shy 19-year-old shortstop, who steps into the batter's box in a white Bay Stars jersey (with "T. Tanaka" on the back) against the best pitcher in a blue Bay Stars jersey. He cracks the first pitch into the wind, over the outfield boundary marked by pitched ads for a mobile phone company, almost hitting a man on a bicycle.

He starts rounding first and second on a dead sprint while Winfield and Baker roar. "That's gone, baby!" Winfield yells. The umpires, players who didn't make the cut for the two teams, make the home run motion with their fingers.

Atieno slows to a trot and his teammates mob him at the plate.

He first saw baseball "on the telly - on CNN" about 12 years ago, he says. "I decided this is the game I want to play."

Minaya, watching from the shade of a VIP tent, nods.

"That kid is going to play in the United States," he says.

It may take decades to produce a major leaguer from Ghana, he says. But maybe Atiendo or another boy on this field will have the skills to play in a junior college, or an NCAA program, or maybe sign a professional contract.

"We're just planting seeds," Minaya says. "Right now I just want to see these kids smile."

The Puerto Rican and Dominican teams each won their second games in the Caribbean Series yesterday. They'll meet at 7 PM tonight, if you'd prefer to watch baseball instead of football.

I tuned into MLB.com's coverage of the Caribbean Series last night, thinking I'd catch the second game of the day. It turns out game 1 was still in progress as it proved to be the longest game in Caribbean Series history.

Luis Maza and Ronny Cedeno had consecutive doubles in the top of the 18th to give Venezuela a 3-2 lead in the series opener, but the Dominican Republic tied it on Bernie Castro's single and won on Batista's sacrifice fly.

Miguel Tejada also homered for the Dominican Republic to tie Tony Armas' record for Caribbean Series home runs with 11. Batista also homered.

In the night cap, Puerto Rico demolished Mexico 11-1. It's a six game, round robin tournament.

The Caribbean Series kicks off today at 3 PM EST with Venezuela taking on the Dominican Republic. If you get Fox Sports en Espanol you can watch it, or MLB.com is offering the series for $10. It will give you a taste of how well baseball broadcasts work on your computer.

Update: Chris writes:

I believe SNY in NY is also showing the games, so it says on its website, sny.tv

Does anyone else know if other local stations are broadcasting the games?

The Yankees are going to tutor the Chinese on baseball:

The New York Yankees agreed Tuesday to send coaches, scouts and trainers to China to help boost interest in baseball, furthering a push by the major leagues into one of the world's fastest-growing sports markets.

Under the agreement, the government-backed Chinese Baseball Association will send staff to the Yankees' facilities in New York and Tampa, Fla., while Yankees personnel will assist the Chinese national team and others.

Yankees president Randy Levine said he hopes to start sending coaches and other staff to China "in a few months."

It's a start. I wonder if there will be a class on buying free agents? :-)

While the Yankees head for China, Omar Minaya leads a contingent of former players to Africa for baseball clinics:

Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, former San Francisco and Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker also will be on the trip along with Dave Stewart, Bob Watson and Reggie Smith, Minaya said Friday. The group is scheduled to leave New York on Feb. 1, spend four days in Ghana and return Feb. 6.

"Children around the world dream of becoming major league superstars. With the help from programs like this one, the children of Africa are one step closer to making this dream a reality," George Ntim, the president of the African Development Foundation, said in a statement.

That's a pretty impressive group of teachers.

Japanese major league baseball may be going the way of the Negro Leagues:

Losing star players like Suzuki, Hideki Matsui and Matsuzaka -- whether through posting or free agency -- is taking its toll on Japanese baseball. TV ratings for Matsui's former team, the Yomiuri Giants, are way down. Attendance at many stadiums in Japan is also lagging in recent years.

The Giants, Japan's most popular team, often took a sink-or-swim attitude toward the weaker teams in the league, but there are signs the team is taking a more cooperative stance in the face of competition from the majors.

"I don't think we can eliminate the posting system," said Yomiuri GM Hidetoshi Kiyotake. "But we may be able to find ways to put limits on it."

This is a sure way to ruin. Japanese players will find ways around the system. The best youngsters will start signing with MLB clubs out of high school to avoid the nine-year free agency wait.

Japan needs to start competing with the North American major leagues for talent. They don't need to go after major stars, but they could scrape the barrel of available free agents (like Cliff Floyd or Jeff Weaver) and still improve their teams. Why not start trading stars for American prospects? Instead of isolating themselves, they should expand their horizons to try to bring stars to their teams.

The Negro Leagues disappeared because their star players went to the majors, and the fans started watching those games (and unlike Japan, the Negro League owners received little compensation). It would be a shame to see Japanese baseball suffer a similar fate. If Japan needs star players, there are plenty here. They just need to change the way they do business with MLB.

WasWatching links to an article on the Yankees heading to China to establish contacts and working relationships:

They are not expected to bring back any signed players. China hasn't developed any players who would be capable of playing in the major leagues or even the minor leagues. The Chinese clearly demonstrated their shortcomings in losing all three of their games in the inaugural World Baseball Classic last March by a combined score of 40-6.

So why are they going? They will explore opportunities, both baseball and business. They will establish contacts. They will determine the most likely source of future talent and very likely initiate conversations about future working agreements, like the one they have with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan.

My daughter spent two weeks in China last year and found there was very little knowledge of baseball in the country (basketball is much more popular). But with a huge population, it conceivable that China could easily fill every MLB team's roster in the future if it develops an interest in the game. It looks like the Yankees are trying to get a jump on those prospects.

The trip will also help baseball in general:

By enhancing their brand in China, the Yankees won't directly benefit financially because revenue from any merchandise sold in any country goes to baseball's central fund, whose proceeds are divided among all 30 teams. But chances are that more Yankees merchandise will be sold in China than caps and shirts of the Devil Rays or the Royals.

In other words, all teams will benefit from the Yankees' trip.

It's a good, forward thinking move by the club, something that might pay off 10 to 15 years down the road.

Update: Of course, it may prove very costly to deal with that country, given the level of corruption in China.

Kei Igawa arrives in New York today after submitting to the traditional Yankees haircut.

The Seibu Lions received the $51 million from the Red Sox, and plan on using the money to improve the team. However, it won't be used to pay for the criminal activity of the owner:

Last year, a Japanese court convicted team owner Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of insider trading and falsifying company records.

Seibu's parent company, Seibu Railways, was given a $1.73 million fine, while Tsutsumi's privately owned company Kokudo Corp., was fined $1.3 million.

I suspect the team is throwing a nice party right about now.

We hosted a Japanese exchange student during October, one of a group that visited Longmeadow at the time. My daughter made friends with a few of the visitors, and one, Suguru wrote her with his feelings about Matsuzaka:

By the way!! Daisuke Matsuzaka join Red Sox!!! I am very very very very happy! Because Matsuzaka is my most love player!!! He is my HERO!!! and Melinda and some longmeadow's people loves Red SOX!! What a nice thing!!!!!!!!! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahaha

And his home team is the Nippon Ham Fighters!

The earlier article I read on Iwamura had him making between 7 and 8 million a year for three years. It turns out, he's earning that over the life of the contract:

Infielder Akinori Iwamura became the second Japanese star to land in the major leagues in as many days when he agreed Friday to a $7.7 million, three-year contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. With one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, the last-place Devil Rays lack the financial resources to compete for top-tier free agents. They feel they made a significant acquisition, however, in the 27-year-old Iwamura.

That's a very good deal for the Devil Rays.

Lost in all the hoopla over Matsuzaka, the Devil Rays reached a deal with Akinori Iwamura to play third base. It's only for three years, but he'll earn close to what Matsuzaka's getting on a yearly basis. Rays Index surmises that someone needs to be traded and speculates on who it might be.

The other question that comes up is how well will Iwamura hit in the majors. For his career, he's posted .366 OBA and a .519 slugging percentage, but his last three years were much better than that. High OBA players tend to take a hit in that category when they come to the US. Ichiro and both Matsuis saw a drop in OBA. With Suzuki and Hideki, their OBAs were so high that it didn't matter; they were still very productive players. But it really killed Kaz Matsui's value. Two players with lower career OBAs, Iguchi and Taguchi, saw very slight drops in their OBAs. Maybe because the others were seen as more of a threat, they were walked more in Japan, and that didn't happen in the US. Iwamura's stats are more like Kaz Matsui's. The Devil Rays hope that the same thing doesn't happen to his offense. He'll have a much better park to hit in than Kaz did, however.

Tourism Massachusetts expects Daisuke Matsuzaka to raise tourism revenue in Boston per year more than the value of his contract:

The Red Sox spent more than $100 million to bring Dice-K to Boston.

That's how many more visitors Tourism Massachusetts, a nonprofit marketing group, estimates will come to Boston annually to watch Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka in a Red Sox uniform.

They're also expected to spend $75 million annually here.

That's a bit more than the $52 million the Red Sox are paying Matsuzaka in salary, or the $51.1 million they had to pay to his former team.

And while the Red Sox won't see much of that money, boosting revenues that much should give them more political pull, always a good thing.

Daniel Drezner looks at Matsuzaka's signing from the Japanese point of view.

The South Korean press is pessimistic about the team's chances in the Asian games after they lose the opening game to Taiwan:

South Korea's hope to take the third straight baseball title at the Asian Games tumbled on Thursday as it lost 4-2 to Taiwan in what was regarded as the virtual final of the six-country competition in Doha, Qatar.

In their opener of the Doha Games held at the Al-Rayyan stadium, Chen Yung-chi hit two single homers and LA Dodgers pitcher Kuo Hung-chih held five innings to one run for Taiwan to outdo the favorite Korea. Son Min-han took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits, including two homers over 4 1/3 innings.

It appears difficult for Korea, winner of the Bangkok and Pusan Games, to win the round-robin competition even after winning the rest of the matches. As Japan is comprised mostly of amateur players and regarded a notch below the two countries, Taiwan is likely to beat the other participants including the Philippines, Thailand and China.

I wonder why they're playing in Qatar when all the teams are from East Asia? It's good they're trying to spread the game west, but it must make for tough viewing back home.

The Yankees won the bidding for Kei Igawa, for the paltry sum of $25 million. His stats are here. He looks pretty good. His strikeout, walk and home run numbers in Japan are excellent. He's mature but not old. He's not Matsusaka, but I bet he can be effective in the majors.

The Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the right to negotiate with Japanese third baseman Akinori Iwamura for a mere $4.5 million.

"One of the things we like about him is his position flexibility," Friedman said, adding that subsequent moves the Devil Rays make in free agency or via trades would impact what role Iwamura would fill.

The 27-year-old Iwamura was a five-time All-Star in eight seasons with the Yakult Swallows. A left-handed hitter, he batted .311 with 32 homers and 77 RBI in a career-high 145 games last season.

The Devil Rays have been interested in Iwamura since watching him in the World Baseball Classic last spring. In six games, he hit .389 and helped Japan win the inaugural WBC championship.

Kwamura's career OBA is .366, but he's been over .380 in four of the last five seasons. I'd guess his OBA would be about .340 in the majors, which for the Rays is pretty good.

The MLB-Japan All-Star series ended as it started, with a close fought, low scoring game. This time, Jose Reyes provided a dramatic finish:

Jose Reyes hit a walkoff, two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning Wednesday to give the MLB All-Stars a 5-3 victory over the Japan stars and a sweep of the five-game series.

Bill Hall singled before Reyes homered to right off reliever Hisashi Ogura to complete the major leaguers' first sweep in Japan in 72 years.

A team of major league players led by Babe Ruth went 17-0 in 1935.

Ryan Howard hit his fourth home run in three games to to lead the MLB Stars over Japan 7-2. That's four straight wins for the western players. Howard might end up as popular in Japan as Ichiro. :-)

The Times is under the impression that baseball GMs can't keep track of Koreans named Lee:

The teams pursuing Daisuke Matsuzaka -- the Mets, the Yankees and the Red Sox among them -- know exactly what they seek. Lee Byung-kyu, on the other hand, can cause all sorts of confusion.

Lee is the South Korean outfielder whose availability was announced last week by his American representatives, the Beverly Hills Sports Council. The only problem is the agents didn't offer any clear-cut way of identifying their client from all the other Lees who are standout baseball players in South Korea.

When the Koreans beat the United States in the World Baseball Classic in March, they had five Lees, including Byung-kyu, in their lineup.

When they knocked off Japan in a second-round game, then lost to Japan in the semifinals, the first three batters in the lineup and five of the first six were named Lee.

But the No. 1 Lee is Seung-yeop, whose 56 home runs in 2003 broke Sadaharu Oh's Asian record and who had five home runs after Korea's first five games in the Classic, the fifth against Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins.

Lee Byung-kyu's hitting credentials are not as gaudy, but he won the Korean batting championship in 2005 and led the league in hits that year and in three other seasons. And he has won six Gold Gloves for his defensive excellence.

But the best part of Lee's availability is that it provides an excuse to reprise a tune from the Broadway musical, "1776," about the Lees of Virginia: "Here a Lee, there a Lee. Everywhere a Lee, a Lee."

I know the author meant this to be funny (and he does get points for the 1776 reference), but it falls flat. After all, baseball has no problem keeping track of its Johnsons. From the 1983 Bill James Baseball Abstract:

Somebody Name Johnson, Minnesota

What I want to know is, just where the hell are all these Johnsons coming from? Is there a Johnson factory down there in the Sun Belt somewhere? In 1980, there were only four Johnson playing in the majors -- Cliff, John Henry, Lamar and Randy (John Henry is one Johnson), and Randy batted only 20 times. Last year we had at least five R. Johnson's alone -- R. Johnson of Atlanta, R.R. Johnson and R.W. Johnson of Montreal, plus Randy Johnson of Minnesota (I think this is Randy I'm supposed to be writing about here) and Ron Johnson of Kansas City, with at least eleven total Johnsons around the majors. How are we supposed to keep track of all these people? Maybe we should start assigning them distinctive nickname, Clicker and Turkey Shoot and stuff like that. Howard Johnson of Detroit, needless to say, is exempted from this requirement. And Drungo Larue Hazewood languishes in the minors. What a waste.

Now that's comedy.

Meanwhile, Todd Zolecki wonders why the Phillies aren't interested in Yakult Swallows third baseman Akinori Iwamura of Japan's Central League. Third base is a hole the Phillies need to phill.

The MLB-Japan All-Star series keeps supplying games of all stripes as the MLB team provided a blowout in the third contest. Ryan Howard hit his third home run in two days as his team won 11-4.

"I'm feeling real good about playing in Japan," said Howard. "The balls are jumping off my bat here and I hope to keep up the good work."

The Japanese are down to two chances for a win.

Game 2 of the All-Star series in Japan featured a lot more offense but the same result, a win for the MLB All-Stars.

Howard hit a pair of homers Saturday and Iguchi drove in two runs with a clutch double as the MLB All-Stars defeated the stars of Japanese baseball 8-6 for a 2-0 lead in a five-game tour.

Howard, who led the majors with 58 homers for the Philadelphia Phillies, gave the major leaguers a 5-2 lead in the top of the third inning with a towering two-run homer to center field at Tokyo Dome.

"I got some good pitches to hit," Howard said. "We've got a lot of good players on this team, and I was happy to contribute."

The Japanese team showed some power, too:

Tomoya Satozaki of the Chiba Lotte Marines cut the lead to 7-4 with a two-run homer in the third off MLB starter Bronson Arroyo of the Cincinnati Reds, who picked up the win after giving up four runs on five hits over four innings.

So far we've seen one pitcher's duel and one slugfest, but both games were close. Sounds like the fans in Japan are getting a real treat.

The MLB All-Stars won the first game of their Japanese tour. I like the fact that the Japanese teams are becoming more competitive with the US leagues:

Japanese manager Katsuya Nomura said the gap between Japan and the major leagues is closing.

'I've been in this game for 50 years,' Nomura said. 'I've taken part in this series several times and it used to be there was a huge gap in the level of play, but it's closing and we had a very good chance of winning this ballgame tonight.'

The final score was 3-2. As the Asian leagues get stronger, I hope to see a real playoff between an Asian champion and a North American champion some day. Maybe even regular season games between the two.

Congratulations to the Nippon Ham Fighters! They won their first Japanese championship in 44 years.

Fernando Seguignol hit a two-run homer and Yu Darvish went 7-1/3 strong innings Thursday as Trey Hillman's Nippon Ham Fighters defeated the Chunichi Dragons 4-1 to win the Japan Series.

Seguignol, who played for the Montreal Expos from 1998 to 2001, broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a home run off Chunichi starter Kenshin Kawakami that just cleared the wall in right field at Sapporo Dome.

It was the second straight year that an American manager has led his team to victory in the Japan Series. The Chiba Lotte Marines swept the Hanshin Tigers last year under former New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine.

I wonder who will be the first Japanese manager in the US?

We recently hosted a Japanese exchange student from Hokkaido, the home of the Fighters. I'll have my daughter write and get her reaction to the victory. The Fighters moved to Sapporo in 2004, since there were too many teams in the Tokyo area competing for attendance.

Update: This looks like a very big win for a poor region of Japan.

Gary Garland writes, calling attention to his site, Japan Baseball Daily. It's a great place to find English language news and stats on the Japanese leagues. Check it out.

The World Baseball Classic looks pretty much set to be played next spring. I'm interested to see how players train for this. Are they going to spend the early part of the spring with their clubs, and just go to the tournament like at the all-star game, or are they going to train as a unit and only join their clubs after the tournament is over? Is this going to hurt Florida and Arizona as fans don't want to come watch minor league spring training?

I also find this wrong:

Each team will have 27 players, including at least 12 pitchers, and there will be pitch-count limits. Players must be citizens of the nation they play for.

So it won't be an all-out win at any cost tournament. I can't wait to see the guy throwing a perfect game get lifted in the 7th due to a pitch count and the team goes on to lose. If MLB wants this to be taken seriously, if they want this to cause interest in baseball to grow world wide, then you have to play the games like they were the World Series. Otherwise, it's just a meaningless barnstorming exercise.