LAコロシアムでの試合

前日のロサンゼルス・コロシアムでの11.5万人の観衆を集めたレッドソックス対ドジャースのオープン戦。とにかく半端無い人の数と、変なフィールドと、ド ジャースの中堅アンドリュー・ジョーンズを2塁後方に置いた5人内野（しかもジョーンズがエルスバリーの盗塁死の送球を受けるという珍プレーも。６０ｍのレフトの高さ１８ｍ のフェンス越えホームランは3発。ドジャース西海岸移転50周年記念の一環で行われました。）

Advertisement

魔将ガイエル、2008年開幕！

日本で一番ジャック・カストみたいな、長打力＋選球眼（＋低打率＋多三振）の野球をするアーロン・ガイエル（応援歌の出だしのカナダ国歌も素晴らしい！）が開幕の東京ダービーで読売相手に3連勝してスイープしたチームと共に大活躍！

勝ち越しの四球はもちろん！3試合で12打席5安打2四球3得点3打点3二塁打、これで打率／出塁率／長打率が500/583/800。さすが我らが魔将！

落ち目のラミレスはいらんでしょう、走守は共に目も向けられないし…ｗ

オープン戦でも魔空間を発揮！

Pedroia とKinsler @ Arizona State

アリゾナ大学時代にチームメイトだった現メジャーリーガーのダスティン・ペドロイア（ボストン・レッドソックス、2007年新人王）とイアン・キンスラー（テキサス・レンジャーズ）。今は共に2塁手ですが、大学時代には元々ペドロイアがショートで2002年途中からKinsler がショートを奪ったけど、今度はPedroia がショートを奪い返したそうですが、結局2003年にはKinsler が別の大学に編入したので、彼らが一緒にプレーしたのは半シーズンくらいみたいです。

College

In college he played at Arizona State University, With fellow middle infielder Ian Kinsler. In three years, he never hit below .347. Kinsler took Pedroia’s shortstop position moving Pedroia to second, and then Pedroia took it back as Kinsler moved to second. In the end, Kinsler transferred to University of Missouri. Dustin was one of the best players in college baseball.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Pedroia

http://thebaseballcube.com/players/K/Ian-Kinsler.shtml
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/P/Dustin-Pedroia.shtml

ミルウォーキーのソーセージレース雪上版

あの有名なミルウォーキー・ブルワーズのイニング間ソーセージレースのソーセージ達各種が、地元のスキー場のお祭りに参加して、クロスレースをした模様ｗ

ちなみに彼らの球場での勇姿！

先発ローテーションの登板間隔

先発投手の使われ方は、日本でもメジャーでも時代によって変わってきていて、現在メジャーでは5人ローテ、プロ野球では6人ローテが主流です（昔は両国ともに連投や、中１－２日での当番も珍しくありませんでした）。日程の組まれ方（移動日）の関係と、5人ローテを忠実に守っている球団の関係で、メジャーでは中4日の登板が5割強を占めているのですが、近年では中4日の滑らかな減少と反比例して中5日の登板の割合が増えてきていて3割にもなっています。これは投手の肩を守ろうとしているからでしょうか？4.5人ローテにして、力のある１－３番手を確実に中4日で廻した方がシーズン中勝てる試合が増えそうだし、弱い先発投手（日本でいう谷間の先発に当たる5番手）の出番もかなり減らせるから合理的に見えるけれど、プレーオフが3ラウンドある今の時代にはポストシーズンまで体力温存するのが妥当なのか…？

これがセイバーメトリクス界では有名なTangotiger 経由で見つけた、サイトの登板間隔分析結果です。

メジャーでは20世紀の初頭から中3日の4人ローテが1930年代まで一番多く、’30－’60年代には中3日と中4日が同数くらいでした。70年代から近年に至るまでが面白く、中3日先発の激減と共に中4日と中5日の登板が確実に増えていきました。そして今世紀からは、中4日も90年代前半のピーク時からは減り始め、中5日で投げている選手が増えて続けています。5人ローテを忠実に守ってるなと思った球団が増えてきてる印象だったので、ピッタリです。

日本は確か労働法に基づく日程（6勤1休が一般的）なので、自然と中6日のローテに落ち着いているのですが（これはいつからでしょう？）、これは先発完投が美徳とされ、メジャーと比べれば先発投手の球数も多いプロ野球では合理的なのかもしれませんね（エースが明らかな負け試合で完投するくらいなら、中4日でまた投げた方がチームの為になりそうです…慣れれば調整も出来そうだが…？）ファイターズのヒルマン前監督が中4日の5人ローテをヒルマン政権初年度に取り入れようとしましたが、見事に失敗してましたしね（まあ、1年だけだと分からないだろうが、今の日本の日程に合わせるのには一苦労するでしょう）。

Chunichi Ouendans banned

2 Chunichi Dragons ouendan (cheering squads) have been banned from all NPB stadiums. Here’s my transation of the news wire item:

Police and all 12 NPB clubs ban 2 Chunichi Dragons cheer squads

13:32, 27 March 2008

In an effort to remove elements of organized crime and malicious ouendan (cheer squads) from NPB, the Pro Baseball Crime Elimination Committee have banned 2 unaffliated (private) ouendans of the Chunichi Dragons. The notification was received by the Dragons on 27 March, and the decision bans 26 members of one ouendan, and the other ouendan were not granted special (organized) cheering privileges for this season. It was found that the 2 groups in question have ties to organized crime.

The group receiving the full ban are not allowed to enter any NPB stadium. The group that had its special cheering priviledge withheld can enter stadiums, but are not allowed to set up their organized cheering section in the stands.

The Pro Baseball Crime Elimination Committee comprises of the 12 clubs of NPB and the National Police Agency among other organizations. The ouendan system has been on an approval basis since the 2006 season in an effort to eliminate criminal elements from the game.

(Kyodo)

This is the dark underbelly of the baseball cheering squads in Japan, and the efforts made by NPB and the police should be applauded, even though some fans have complained about the lack of “oomph” in some clubs’ ouendans starting in 2006, but the diminished sound volume from the banning (oops, not granting cheering priviledges) of select ouendans will be good in the long run and the volume of the sound generated by the cheering squads will go back up to pre-2006 levels if there are enough dedicated supporters of the club.

The troublesome ouendans have a history of grabbing up excessive number of outfield seats, being rude and malicious both verbally and physically to fellow and opposing fans, excessive public intoxication (though this is not a crime in Japan), along with their ties to organized crime gangs known as boryokudan.

Hakuryukai (White Dragons Club) and Ryushinkai (Dragon Spirit Club) are the 2 ouendans in question, with the former being banned outright and the latter not getting its cheering priviledges granted.

In response to this news, all Chunichi ouendans (there are way more than 2) will not lead any cheering, and definitely not with the usual drums and trumpets (though the Chiba Lotte Marines supporters use a soccer/football style cheering using mostly just their voice and hands, pretty amazing sight and sound in their unison). It will be interesting to see how the Dragons fans react to this as the Central League season opens tonight. They just might enjoy the MLB style natural reactions to the onfield actions (though there is way too much PA sound effect prodding in NA sports for my tastes…)

Original Kyodo wire news item (in Japanese).

Minoru Mori

An interesting look at Minoru Mori, the Tokyo real estate mogul and developer, on the New York Times.

Even in a region where some builders churn out skyscrapers in a way that products might come off an assembly line, Mr. Mori’s have stood out. His projects have won attention and their share of controversy for their great impact and scale, helping make him one of the few real estate investors in Asia known by name, like the Hong Kong billionaires Stanley Ho and Li Ka-shing.

By focusing on a few long-term projects, and shunning speculative buying and selling, his company escaped the real estate bubble of the 1980s and its collapse soon thereafter.

Still, Mr. Mori seeks to reach higher. Of his 10 new complexes, he said one might include a skyscraper nearly 1,100 feet high. Some of the complexes are already in the planning stages, while others may be built by different developers with Mori Building’s help, he said.

Wonder if the building containing my friend’s bar in central Shibuya that’s being torn down in 3 years time (and buildings around it too, if I remember correctly) is a part of one of his 10 projects in Tokyo.

Roppongi Hills:

Moto-Azabu Hills:

The Spring Koshien Tournament

The spring invitational national high school baseball tournament at Koshien has started.

A couple of good Koshien articles via EWC.

A Boston Herald writer made it out of the dour Tokyo Dome to Koshien to catch a day of always (overly) dramatic highschool baseball action. It’s interesting to get an outsider’s view of the event.

If the baseball gods really wanted the Red Sox to play in Japan, they would have steered them to the 84-year-old Hanshin Koshien Stadium.

Not that a stadium is needed to enhance enjoyment of a baseball game, but as any Fenway Park [map] visitor understands, a special ballpark always does.

Koshien Stadium is that kind of a special ballpark.

Yesterday, as the 80th annual spring Koshien national high school baseball tournament kicked off, the thought that this was where talents such as Sadaharu Oh, Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and, of course, Daisuke Matsuzaka were tested as both high schoolers and pros (the Hanshin Tigers play here) was invigorating.

And a solid piece by Thomas Dillon of the Japan Times.

From samurai to kamikaze to the blaze of cherry blossoms, Japanese feel such honor in their bones and Koshien shows this.

Everyone loses, but not everyone gets to lose so majestically on national TV. Remember the final charge in “The Last Samurai?” Hear Ken Watanabe’s dying gasp — “It’s beautiful.”

That’s Koshien.

I personally don’t follow the Koshien tournaments much. Some highschool phenoms draw my attention, of course, but usually not when they’re playing agianst inferior opposition (the random bracketing can create havoc, with top teams facing each other in early rounds, or a weak side sneaking their way up the competition, etc.), high school baseball is much like NCAA basketball and football in that there are some powerhouse schools that recruit student-athletes from across the country and make it to Koshien year after year. Maybe I’m too cynical, but I enjoy it in parts.

Oh, I went to see the Sox-Hanshin preseason game, but haven’t had time to sort through the photos and videos yet. The Hanshin fans got into the game quite a bit by the end, even though the Sox regulars were almost all replaced by bench players, because it was a 1 run game and Kubota and Fujikawa pitched admirably, but the Sox closed the door on the Tigers with Delcarmen and Papelbon. I guess Okajima was scheduled to pitch against the Yomiuri Giants, his former team, so he didn’t make an appearance against the Tigers even though the situation would have usually called for him. Ah preseason.

欧州クラブチームの平均観客数

面白い数字が出てきたので、ちょっと。

欧州クラブチームの2007-08シーズン平均観客動員数（プレイオフ除く、リーグ戦のみなのかは不明）のトップ２５。

	国	チーム	アリーナ	平均観客数
1	SWI	SC Bern	Allmendstadion	15’939
2	GER	Kölner Haie	Kölnarena	12’317
3	GER	Adler Mannheim	SAP Arena	11’639
4	SWE	Västra Frölunda Göteborg	Scandinavium	11’549
5	RUS	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	Arena 2000	8’995
6	GER	Hamburg Freezers	Color Line Arena	8’834
7	RUS	Avangard Omsk	Omsk Arena	8’670
8	FIN	Jokerit Helsinki	Hartwall Areena	8’591
9	CZE	HC Moeller Pardubice	CEZ Aréna	8’547
10	RUS	Sibir Novosibirsk	Ice Sports Palace Sibir	7’133
11	SWE	Linköpings HC	Cloetta Center	7’105
12	RUS	Amur Khabarovsk	Platinum Arena Zolotoy	7’100
13	SWE	MoDo Hockey	Swedbank Arena	7’056
14	SWE	Färjestad BK Karlstad	Löfbergs Lila Arena	7’025
15	SWE	HV71	Kinnarps Arena	7’002
16	FIN	HIFK Helsinki	Helsingin jäähalli	6’573
17	GER	Düsseldorfer EG Metro Stars	ISS Dome	6’364
18	SWI	ZSC Lions	Hallenstadion	6’314
19	SWE	Brynäs IF	Läkerol Arena	6’291
20	RUS	Metallurg Novokuznetsk	Kuznetslikh Sport Palace	6’227
21	SVK	HC Kosice	Steel Arena – Košický štadión L.Trojáka	6’203
22	CZE	HC Sparta Prag	T-Mobile Arena	6’158
23	RUS	AK Bars Kazan	TatNeft Arena	6’074
24	GER	Frankfurt Lions	am Ratsweg	6’071
25	FIN	Kärpät Oulu	Oulun Energia Areena	6’055

• スイスのSCベルンが2位以下を大きく引き離してダントツ1位の16000人弱。
• でもスイス2位で25位内唯一のもう一つのスイスのクラブZSC Lions は6300人強で18位。（ベルンはV９時代の巨人みたいな人気チームって事？でもスイスのホッケーは日本みたいに全国区ではなく地域スポーツらしいが。）
• ドイツが５チーム、ロシアとスウェーデンが６チームずつランクインしてる。さすがホッケー大国と資金力、石油で潤ってるロシアは両方だけど、スウェーデンは前者で、ドイツは後者（でもやっぱりスイスみたいに地域的には人気のあるスポーツらしい）。
• 残りがフィンランド3チーム、チェコ2チーム、そしてスロバキア1チーム。皆人口が少ないながらホッケー大国なので、あまり驚く結果ではありませんね。
• でも、25チームってNHLの30チームより少ないのに、25位のチームは1位のチームの38％しか集客できないって…（まあ、アリーナの最大収容人数とかもありますが…）弱小チームでも観客数がほとんど1万人を切らないにNHL に経済的に立ち向かおうとするのはやっぱり結構無謀…？欧州プロスポーツは日本みたいにスポンサー制度が一般的なんで、一概に集客力だけで比較は出来ませんけど。]
• トップのベルンは、NHLに入っても中の下の立派な観客動員数。2－4位のドイツとスウェーデンのチームはNHLだとビリ、まあ施設の収容人数も関わっているのでしょうが…NHL と欧州リーグの経済力の差が歴然と表れているのでしょうかね？ロシアで今年から立ち上がるKHL が面白い起爆剤になりそうです（最低条件のアリーナの席数は8000人くらいと少ないが…）
• 5位以下はAHL （AAA)やECHL （AA)の集客力とアリーナのキャパみたいです。

ベルンのファンはとにかく半端無い、欧州サッカー文化を凝縮したような感じ。日本とも北米とも全然違う。一度でいいから、こんなアリーナで試合を見てみたい！

Information for visitors to Sapporo Tsukisamu Arena

Some information about the Tsukisamu Arena in Sapporo, Japan where the 2008 IIHF World Championship Division I Group B games will be held.

Chances are your mobile phone won’t work in Japan because Japan uses a proprietory cell system. Even overseas 3G phones won’t work just by inserting Japanese SIM cards (though things may have changed recently, so check with your local carrier). Very inconvenient for visitors, I know.

Tsukisamu Arena has a capacity of about 3000 (this year’s AL games drew close to 2900).

Here are some pictures of the arena:

I recommend staying in the Susukino area of Sapporo, as that’s where the nightlife is, and it’s only 4 metro stops away from the Tsukisamu-Chuo station where the arena is situated (a 3 minute walk) on the Toho metro line.

All weekday Japan games are scheduled at 8pm, so I expect a good crowd for those games (not sure about preordering tickets). But I don’t expect much of a crowd for the other games, as Sapporo’s not a hockey town (there are some nice mountains nearby, so skiing and snowboarding are more popular) and Japanese people tend not to take many holidays.

For the Japan team preview, most of my Asia League summary is here already:
https://jhockey.wordpress.com/category/hockey/asia-league-ice-hockey/

If I have the time I’ll try to do a Team Japan preview once the roster’s announced.