Randy Messenger arrived in Japan on the morning of January 28th, and will enter his eighth season with the Tigers this spring. The veteran pitcher says his weight is down to 109 kilograms (240 pounds), the lowest it has been since 2004 or 2005. He also said he ran on treadmills and in the mountains…
New relief pitcher Roman Mendez (age 26, formerly of the Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers) arrived in Japan on the 28th and met the press formally for the first time on the 29th in Nishinomiya. Here is a partial transcript of his Q & A: －What’s your mindset in joining Hanshin? I’m really happy….
Although both Marcos Mateo and Roman Mendez came off the airplane in t-shirts, for some reason only the latter made headlines for his attire. The flame-throwing Dominican relievers arrived in the Kansai area on the 28th with huge smiles on their faces. When asked about how he was feeling, Mateo said, “I’m really happy to be back in…
Less than 24 hours after arriving in Japan, newly signed infielder Eric Campbell met the press in Nishinomiya on the 27th. Below is a translation of what was found online. Some answers were transcribed from video I saw, the rest were my best attempt at translating. ―How do you feel now about joining the Hanshin…
Newest Hanshin Tigers import (and former New York Met infielder) Eric Campbell arrived in Japan on the 26th. He flew via Narita Airport into Itami (Osaka). The press greeted him with questions right away – which is to be expected, I suppose. He said he did not get a lot of sleep on the flight…
It’s almost that time of year again, folks! From February 1 to 28, Hanshin Tigers first squad will have its camp down in Ginoza, Okinawa. Yours truly will not be able to attend this year (see here for last year’s report), but am planning on doing some hard negotiations to get a day or two…
As Hanshin got close to reaching a deal with free agent Yoshio Itoi, it had some important decisions to make. First, would he play center field, or right? One big idea that had been floating around since practice sessions in September was that incumbent right fielder Kosuke Fukudome could play first base, making room for…