Canseco v Daimajin

Prior to the start of the interleague game at Yokohama between the BayStars and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Sunday 24 May, infamous former slugger Jose Canseco faced off against former BayStar and Seattle Mariner closer Kazuhiro “Daimajin” Sasaki in a ceremonial “at bat”.

Because Canseco wanted to launch a homerun into the stands at the expense of Daimajin, he repeatedly asked for “one more pitch” resulting in a 9 pitch ceremonial at bat (which is reminiscient of Tsuyoshi Shinjo’s ceremonial first at bat against Hichori Morimoto last season in Fukuoka), but the attention seeking PED whistleblower could not reach the short porch of Yokohama Stadium.

Canseco had faced Sasaki 3 times during their MLB careers, and after the ceremonial at bat Canseco commented that “Sasaki’s fastball and forkball were just as I remembered from our playing days, I should’ve practiced more for this occasion”.

(Canseco is in Japan to participate in his first MMA tournament (aside from celebrity boxing matches), the DREAM Super Hulk Tournament in Yokohama Arena on Tuesday 26 May, his first match will be against former MMA novice and Korean giant Choi Hong-man who stands 218cm (7’2″) tall.)

Original Japanese article after the break

【プロ野球】カンセコと大魔神が対決

2009.5.24 19:44

試合前に、米大リーグで通算４６２本塁打をマークするなど活躍したホセ・カンセコさんと、「大魔神」の異名を取った横浜ＯＢの佐々木主浩さんが始球式で“対決”した。

　カンセコさんが何度も「もう１球」と要求した勝負は、９球にも及んだが、柵越えはなし。佐々木さんがマリナーズ在籍時に３度対戦し、無安打だったというカンセコさんは「直球もフォークも現役時代と変わらない。もっと練習してくれば良かった」と照れ笑いだった。（横浜）

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