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Monday, December 15, 2008

Japan names preliminary squad for World Baseball Classic

Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox were among seven major league players named Monday to a 34-man preliminary roster for Japan’s team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

Other major league players named to the provisional squad by Japan manager Tatsunori Hara were Kenji Johjima of the Mariners, Hiroki Kuroda of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Akinori Iwamura of the Tampa Bay Rays and free agent relief pitcher Takashi Saito.

Kosuke Fukudome of the Chicago Cubs was also on the list but New York Yankee outfielder Hideki Matsui, who is recovering from a knee injury, was not included.

Japan won the inaugural WBC in 2006 and will defend its title in the 2009 tournament which begins on March 5 in Tokyo.

Notable players from Japan’s professional leagues included in the squad are pitcher Yu Darvish of the Nippon Ham Fighters and 21-game winner Hisashi Iwakuma of the Rakuten Eagles.

Seven Major Leaguers? Oh my god… that means they have SEVEN SAMURAI! We are screwed! Now we’ll need to raise a Magnificent Seven!

Gamingboy Posted: December 15, 2008 at 03:28 PM | 5 comment(s) | Login to Bookmark
Related News: General, International, Japan

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1. Gamingboy Posted: December 16, 2008 at 12:05 AM (#3029887)

For anyone curious, here's the full initial list (it will be pared down by the time the WBC starts):

----
Japan

Manager: Tatsunori Hara (Yomiuri)

C: Kenji Johjima (SEA), Toru Hosokawa (Seibu), Shinnosuke Abe (Yomiuri), Yoshiyuki Ishihara (Hiroshima)

1B: Michihiro Ogasawara (Yomiuri), Kenta Kurihara (Hiroshima), Seiichi Uchikawa* (Yokohama)

2B: Akinori Iwamura (TB), Yasuyuki Kataoka (Seibu)

SS: Hiroyuki Nakajima (Seibu), Munenori Kawaski (Softbank),

3B: Shuichi Murata (Yokohama)

OF: Ichiro (SEA), Kosuke Fukuddome (CHC), Nobuhiko Matsunaka (Softbank), Atsunuro Inaba (Nippon Ham), Yoshiyuki Kamei (Yomiuri), Norichika Aoki (Yakult)

SP: Daisuke Matsuzaka (BOS), Hiroki Kuroda (LAD), Takayuki Kishi (Seibu), Hideaki Wakui (Seibu), Satoshi Komatsu (Orix), Yu Darvish (Nippon Ham), Shunsuke Watanabe (Chiba), Masahiro Tanaka (Rakuten), Hisashi Iwakuma (Rakuten), Tsuyoshi Wada (Softbank), Toshiya Sugiuchi (Softbank), Tetsuya Utsumi (Yomiuri),

Relief: Takashi Saito? (FA), Takahiro Mahara (Softbank), Tetsuya Yamaguchi (Yomiuri), Kyuji Fujikawa (Hanshin),

?Potential issue as to whether he'd play (free agency, injury, etc.)
*Utility

NOTES: The Chunichi Dragons have no player representing them, apparently a result of both being hit hard during the Olympics in 2008 and a large number of injured players.

2. TVerik, AKA Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog Posted: December 16, 2008 at 12:15 AM (#3029892)

No Kei Igawa? For shame.

3. Petooter: 11'6" 355 lbs of scrap and grit Posted: December 16, 2008 at 12:50 AM (#3029924)

Think Iwamura will play 2B for the national squad?

4. vortex of dissipation Posted: December 16, 2008 at 12:58 AM (#3029937)

Isn't Nobuhiko Matsunaka more of a first baseman than an outfielder?

5. Gamingboy Posted: December 16, 2008 at 02:40 AM (#3030050)

Isn't Nobuhiko Matsunaka more of a first baseman than an outfielder?

Yeah, put him there by accident, since he used to an outfielde.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Japan names preliminary squad for World Baseball Classic

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