NOMURA WINS 1,500TH GAME AS MANAGER

The man generally regarded as the greatest catcher in Japanese baseball history has reached a milestone that helps establish him as one of the country’s greatest managers, too. When the Rakuten Eagles defeated the Nippon Ham Fighters, 2-1, in a recent Pacific League contest, it marked the 1,500th win in the managerial career of Rakuten skipper Katsuya Nomura. But it didn’t come easily.

The Eagles got off to a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Daisuke Kusano in the second inning and Fernando Seguignol in the sixth, but a solo homer by the Fighters’ Termel Sledge brough Nippon Ham to within one run of Rakuten. However, Eagles starter Masahiro Tanaka held on to keep the Fighters off the scoreboard the rest of the way to complete his fourth complete game in as many starts this season. Tanaka limited Nippon Ham to four hits and a walk, striking out eleven batters.

Nomura becomes the fifth manager in Japanese baseball history to reach 1,500 victories. The late Kazuto Tsuruoka tops the list with 1,773 wins. Before becoming a manager, Nomura spent over 20 seasons as a catcher in Japanese baseball, primarily with the Nankai Hawks, beginning in 1954. He retired in the 1970’s with over 600 homers and 2,500 hits in his career.

MARINES OWNER DENIES PLAN TO MOVE TEAM

It has not been the happiest of seasons for Japan’s Lotte Marines president Ryuzo Setoyama. Already in hot water with fans in Chiba after it was announced that manager Bobby Valentine would not be brought back in 2010 after his contract expires this year, Setoyama has had to address rumors that the Marines are planning to relocate from their current home of Chiba Marine Stadium.

A memo was leaked last month that quoted Setoyama as saying, “If we have unworthy fans like this, let’s move,” in response to criticism of the decision to release Valentine at season’s end. The team president admitted that such a memo did exist, but added, “This is no joke. This is a forgery.” Setoyama says an investigation into the memo will be conducted at Lotte corporate headquarters.

Valentine is one of the most successful gaijin managers in Japanese baseball history. Now in his seventh year with the Marines, the former Major Leaguer led Lotte to their first Japan Series win in 31 seasons in 2005. Last year, Lotte missed a spot in the Pacific League Climax Series playoffs by finishing fourth in the standings.

RHODES CRACKS 450TH JAPANESE HOMER

Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes once hit three homers on Opening Day for the Chicago Cubs in 1994, but he was not regarded as a home run hitter during his major league career after knocking out just 13 longballs in 590 at-bats in 225 MLB games between 1990 and 1995. That has changed since he left the United States to play in Japan in 1997.

Rhodes had another three-homer performance for the Orix Buffaloes in an 11-3 win over the Nippon Ham Fighters last week to become the first American player to reach 450 home runs in Japanese baseball. The 40-year-old Rhodes now has 452 dingers for his career, tops among all active players in Nippon Professional Baseball. Hanshin’s Tomoaki Kanemoto is second on the list at 429.

In the win over Nippon Ham, Rhodes cracked a solo homer in the fourth inning to become only the 12th player in Japanese baseball history to reach the 450-homer mark, then whacked a three-run homer in the fifth inning before capping off his night with a two-run bomb in the eight.

Now in his 13th season of NPB ball, Rhodes has topped 50 homers twice (including a record-tying 55 roundtrippers in 2001), and has surpassed 40 homers on four other occasions.

HIDAKA’S WALK-OFF HOMER GIVES ORIX WIN OVER SEIBU

Takeshi Hidaka whacked a walk-off homer off Koji Onuma in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Orix Blue Wave a 2-1 victory over the Seibu Lions April 22 at Osaka’s Kyocera Dome. Reliever Daisuke Kato picked up his first win in five decisions for Orix, which evened its record at 8-8. Seibu fell to 8-8-1 with the loss. The Blue Wave turned a 5-4-3 triple play in the fourth stanza, marking the second time a Pacific League team has registered a triple killing this month after Nippon Ham turned one against Lotte on April 7.

The Rakuten Golden Eagles lead the Pacific League with a 9-6 record despite a 5-2 loss to Lotte April 22. Naotaka Takehara went 4-for-5 to key the Marines’ 18-hit attack as five Lotte players finished with three or more hits. Marines starter Shingo Ono went eight innings and gave up two runs on six hits with no walks to even his record at 1-1. The win snapped Lotte’s three-game losing streak.

DARVISH SPARKLES IN WIN OVER LIONS

After a streaky performance for Japan in the World Baseball Classic, Yu Darvish appears to be back on track pitching for the Pacific League’s Nippon Ham Fighters. Darvish held the Seibu Lions to two runs on three hits over eight innings on Friday, April 17 as the Fighters beat Seibu, 4-2, for their third consecutive win. Darvish struck out eight and walked two for the win, retiring the first eight batters he faced before Seibu’s Hiram Bocachica slammed a homer in the third inning. Shinji Takahashi hit a two-run homer and singled in another score for the Fighters, who got a scoreless ninth inning from reliever Hisashi Takeda for the save.

Despite the loss, Seibu held on to first place in the Pacific League with a 7-4-1 record, a half-game ahead of 7-5 Rakuten. Nippon Ham moved into third place at 6-5, while Orix is in fourth with a 6-6 mark. Lotte is fifth place at 4-7, just ahead of 4-7-1 Softbank.

TUFFY RHODES CLOBBERS 444TH HOMER IN JAPAN

Former Major League outfielder Karl “Tuffy” Rhodes swatted the 444th home run of his career in Japanese baseball Wednesday, April 8, tying him with Yomiuri Giants legend Shigeo Nagashima for 12th place on Japan’s all-time homer list. Rhodes’ three-run bomb helped propel the Orix Buffaloes to a 10-2 pounding of the defending Pacific League champion Seibu Lions.


Rhodes is beginning his 13th season in Nippon Professional Baseball after spending all or part of six seasons in MLB between 1990 and 1995. Prior to heading across the Pacific, the 40-year-old outfielder played for the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox. He is best remembered among American baseball fans for hitting three homers for the Cubs on Opening Day in 1994 off New York Mets ace Dwight Gooden.

Rhodes is currently the active leader in career home runs in Japan, but has a long way to go to catch Sadaharu Oh’s world record total of 868. Rhodes did tie Oh’s single season record of 55 homers while playing for the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 2001.

VALENTINE LIKELY DONE WITH MARINES AFTER NEXT SEASON

Former major league player and manager Bobby Valentine may be out as skipper of Japan’s Chiba Lotte Marines after his four-year contract expires following the 2009 season. Valentine told the Associated Press last week that the Marines have decided not to offer him a contract extension, saying “they just wanted to go in a different direction.”
Valentine led the Marines to a Japan Series championship in 2005, but the team finished fourth in the Pacific League standings in 2008 and did not make the playoffs. Valentine managed the New York Mets to a National League pennant in 2000 before losing the World Series to the rival New York Yankees in five games that fall. He managed the Texas Rangers from 1985 to 1992 before running the Mets between 1996 and 2002, winning 1,117 major league games against 1,072 losses.
As a player, Valentine made his major league debut in 1969 as a 19-year-old infielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a final season in the minors in 1970 (when he was the Pacific Coast League’s Most Valuable Player with the Spokane Indians), Valentine spent nine seasons in the majors, batting .260 with 12 homers and 157 RBI for five teams before retiring in 1979.