NBA plans major complex in China

BEIJING — The NBA and a Chinese partner say they plan to open a basketball center near Beijing.

The partners say the facility in Tianjin, a port city east of the Chinese capital, will include NBA-style basketball courts, a fitness center, a restaurant and other features, according to NBA China and the Yatai Lanhai Investment Group.

The announcement was made as the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers played NBA exhibition games in Beijing and Shanghai.

The 12,000-square-meter NBA Center is to become part of a mixed-use development by Yatai Lanhai with housing for 150,000. The New York Times reported the entire complex will cost $1.5 billion.

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BayStars need major upgrades to roster

The Yokohama BayStars lost their 69th game of the 2012 season on Sept. 5, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. The BayStars thus sealed their 11th consecutive losing season, and it is safe to say the team's performance this year has been nothing short of disappointing.

It's been a long year: Norihiro Nakamura and the BayStars are trying to avoid another last-place finish. KYODO

Yokohama was not expected to qualify for the Central League Climax Series, but it was hoped the colorful first-year manager Kiyoshi Nakahata might lead the club out of last place (still a possibility, although unlikely). It does appear however Yokohama will win more games and slightly improve on the its 2011 record of 47 wins, 69 losses and 8 ties. With 40 victories through games of Sept. 12, the team needed to win just eight of its remaining 22 games in order to say at least it got a little better.

However, the fans in the port city must be getting tired of the futility and seeing their boys come in dead last year after year. Yokohama has registered sixth-place finishes in eight of the last 10 seasons and four in a row. The only times the BayStars were out of the basement were in 2005 when they finished third, and 2007 in fourth place.

One area where the club has not improved is in its foreign player roster. Seven non-Japanese guys have played for the BayStars this season, but you would not know it by looking at the team's lineup these days.

Pitcher Clayton Hamilton was released earlier this summer, infielder Oscar Salazar and left-handed pitchers Brandon Mann and Wang Yi-cheng from Taiwan, and right-hander Gio Alvarado have spent most of their time lately in Yokosuka on the farm team.

The same goes for a pair of players acquired since the season began; first baseman Randy Ruiz and southpaw hurler Bobby Cramer.

In fact, during a recent series against the Yomiuri Giants at Tokyo Dome the only non-kanji name in the BayStars lineup was that of left-fielder and cleanup hitter Alex Ramirez, who is actually counted as a Japanese player, having played 12 years in country.

"There's no doubt our foreigners have not worked out this season," said team general manager Shigeru Takada. "We need to do a better job of scouting in the U.S. so we can improve in this area next year."

Lack of production by the gaikokujin has not been Takada's only problem, of course. The team desperately needs to improve its corps of catchers, add more power and acquire some strong-armed pitchers. Takada said he will work hard to eliminate some of the many weaknesses by drafting some good young talent in the upcoming amateur draft and by making some trades over the winter.

"It has been a long season for us, and I know the fans in Yokohama are frustrated, as am I. But we will do our best to complete our three-year plan to develop a pennant contender by 2014," he said.

As documented by Kaz Nagatsuka of The Japan Times in a July 1 article and also pointed out in a recent (Aug. 29) New York Times article by Ken Belson, the BayStars front office, under new ownership, has tried a series of promotions to lure customers to the ballpark. There were also refunds offered to fans dissatisfied with their Yokohama Stadium experience, even when the home team emerged victorious.

A change of atmosphere has indicated most fans are enjoying themselves at the stadium, though, and attendance is said to be up slightly over 2011.

Nakahata, the former Giants star, has also been criticized for being a little too much of a comedian rather than a serious manager, but he does have his pride and has gotten tough at times. During that Giants series, he scolded and benched young centerfielder Sho Aranami for lackadaisical play.

While the 'Stars go through the motions of finishing out the schedule, one highlight should be the pursuit of the 2,000-career hit total by Ramirez, and here is a check on the watch and hit count as he attempts to become the first foreigner to reach that mark in Japan. It will be, as the Japanese say, "giri, giri" or very close for him to do it this season.

He can make if he stays healthy and can pick up the pace just a bit. Rami went into the year with 1,850 career knocks, needing 150 to reach the coveted milestone.

Through Wednesday, Ramirez had 124 hits in the 'Stars 122 games played to that point. That puts his pace for the year at 146, and the key will be if he can get enough plate appearances, and that may depend on whether or not Yokohama is playing close games, as the tendency had been for Nakahata to sometimes remove Ramirez from games already won or lost in the seventh inning after his first three at-bats.

More recently, though, the Japanese baseball veteran has been getting that important fourth at-bat after the team realized Ramirez can make it to 2,000 in October. Schedule-wise, and barring rainouts, the last three BayStars regular season games are set for the weekend of Oct. 5-7 at Tokyo Dome against the Giants. This includes a make-up and two games not on the original slate.

That would be an appropriate time for Ramirez to bang out hit No. 2,000, as he played four seasons with the Giants (2008-2011) and remains a crowd favorite at the Big Egg, even in the uniform of an opposing team. If he falls short, he will then have to wait until the opening weekend of 2013.

Contact Wayne Graczyk at Wayne@JapanBall.com

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Iwakuma, Chen intriguing options for major league clubs

Yu Darvish and Tsuyoshi Wada have been spoken for, but there are still two high-profile NPB pitchers looking to make the jump to the majors next season.

With the majority of the baseball world caught up in the hoopla surrounding Darvish's posting, and the record $51.7 million fee the Texas Rangers doled out for his rights, there hasn't been too much attention paid to Hisashi Iwakuma and Chen Wei-yin this winter.

Both probably expected to be in MLB last season, but had to stay in Japan a little longer. Now the duo, who also both dealt with injuries in 2011, are ready to make the jump for real this time.

Iwakuma will make the moveafter a near-brush with the majors following the 2010 season.

The right-hander was posted by the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles last year, but failed negotiations with the Oakland A's, the highest bidder, meant he had to spend one more summer in Sendai.

Iwakuma got off to a good start, going 8? innings to score an emotional Opening Day victory for a team and fan base still reeling from the earthquake and tsunami that battered the Tohoku region on March 11.

But later, he was hampered by shoulder problems and made just 17 starts, going 6-7 with a 2.42 ERA in 119 innings.

"Iwakuma can be very effective, if his shoulder is in fact healthy," said an AL scout.

The shoulder cost him a few km on his fastball, but he approached his normal production toward the end of the year. Iwakuma also has a good slider to lean on and can keep the ball on the ground (42.7 career ground ball percentage).

"A doctor, or doctors, cleared him with a clean bill of health, but my eyes tell me differently," the scout said. "Some team will pay a couple million to find out, and could be rewarded handsomely with broken bats and weak ground balls to the opposite side of the infield all season long."

Chen is a bit of a mystery.

The Taiwanese lefty has been among the best pitchers in the Central League since 2009, when he posted the lowest ERA (1.54) in the CL since 1968.

At 26 years old, he's still slightly unpolished, with his future potential a major selling point for some MLB observers.

"His ceiling looks lower than most thought just a few seasons ago, yet I'm hearing that 12 teams are interested," said the MLB scout. "His control is excellent, but his command is not. Strikes at the letters over the fat part of the plate are going to travel much farther in the big leagues."

Chen is 36-30, with one save, a 2.59 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in five seasons with the Chunichi Dragons.

He's been helped to an extent by playing home games at pitcher-friendly Nagoya Dome where, since 2008, he's 18-7 with a 1.97 ERA in 51 games versus 18-23, 2.84 in 64 outings everywhere else.

Chen made his first start of 2011 on May 6, after struggling with a left adductor injury in the spring. His performance suffered early in the season, but he regained most of his velocity and some command of his slider as the year progressed.

"Usually a team doesn't have to pay what Chen and his agent may be asking for to find out if a 26-year-old can improve his command and stay healthy," the scout said.

"The fact that he already bridged the gap between Taiwan and Japan very well works in his favor; he is diligent and driven. He could be a great guy to have in the pen."

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Li masters clay for first major title

Long time coming: French Open champion Li Na poses with the winner's trophy on Saturday. AP

PARIS — As China's Li Na tossed the ball while serving at match point in the French Open final, a cry from a fan in the stands pierced the silence at Court Philippe Chatrier.

French revolution: Li Na celebrates winning a point against Francesca Schiavone during the French Open final on Saturday in Paris. Li won 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) to become the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam tournament. AP

Distracted, Li stopped and let the ball drop. The words of support were in Mandarin: "Jia you!" — which loosely translates to "Let's go!" After so many years of "Come on" and "Allez" and "Vamos," there's a new language on the tennis landscape.

Li became the first Chinese player, man or woman, to win a Grand Slam singles title by beating defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7-0) at Roland Garros on Saturday. The sixth-seeded Li used powerful groundstrokes to compile a 31-12 edge in winners, and won the last nine points of the match, a run that began when the fifth-seeded Schiavone was flustered by a line call she was sure was wrong.

"China tennis — we're getting bigger and bigger," said Li, who is projected to rise to a career-best No. 4 in Monday's new WTA rankings.

She already was the first woman from that nation of more than 1 billion people to win a WTA singles title, the first to enter the top 10 in the rankings, and the first to make it to a Grand Slam final — she lost to Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open in January.

Thinking back to that defeat, Li said: "I had no experience. I was very nervous. For my second time in a final, I had the experience. I knew how to do it. And I had more self-confidence."

Tennis is considered an elite sport in China, and while participation is rapidly increasing, it still trails basketball, soccer and table tennis, among others. But Li's victory was big news back home, where the match finished shortly after 11 p.m. local time on a holiday weekend.

State broadcaster CCTV posted the banner, "We love you Li Na," on their gushing coverage, and announcer Tong Kexin pronounced: "This has left a really deep impression on the world." People at the Green Bank Tennis Club on Beijing's northern edge gathered to eat barbecued food, drink beer and watch the events from Paris on a big-screen TV set up on a court. Some waved Chinese flags during the postmatch trophy ceremony.

Li broke away from the Chinese government's sports system in late 2008 under an experimental reform policy for tennis players dubbed "Fly Alone." Li was given the freedom to choose her own coach and schedule and to keep much more of her earnings: Previously, she turned over 65 percent to the authorities; now it's 12 percent. That comes to about $205,000 of the $1.7 million winner's check.

"We took a lot of risks with this reform. When we let them fly, we didn't know if they would succeed. That they have now succeeded, means our reform was correct," said Sun Jinfang, an official with the Chinese Tennis Association. "This reform will serve as a good example for reforms in other sports."

At her news conference, Li wore a new T-shirt with Chinese characters that mean "sport changes everything," and offered thanks to Sun.

"Without her reform, then possibly we wouldn't have achieved this success," Li said.

When a reporter mentioned the June 1989 crackdown on prodemocracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square and asked whether her victory could spark a sports revolution, Li said she's "just" a tennis player and added, "I don't need to answer . . . this question."

Her tennis game, filled with flat forehands and backhands, looks better-built for hard courts, rather than the slow, red clay of Paris. Indeed, Li never had won a clay-court tournament until Saturday.

Li repeatedly set up points with her backhand, then closed them with her forehand, and she finished with 21 winners from the baseline, 15 more than Schiavone. Only after Li controlled the first set and the early part of the second did Schiavone begin working her way into the match.

She broke to 4-all in the second, and held to lead 6-5. The 12th game was pivotal.

Serving at deuce, Li smacked a backhand that landed near a sideline but initially was called out by a line judge, which would have given Schiavone a set point. But Li began walking up to take a closer look at the mark left in the clay by the shot, and chair umpire Louise Engzell climbed down to examine it, too. She told Schiavone the ball touched the line. Schiavone pointed at the spot in question, discussing the ruling with Engzell, who stood by her call.

Schiavone wouldn't win another point.

"That ball was out," she said later. "Sure, you get angry. . . . So what do you do? You're playing tennis, you have to go back to playing tennis and think about what you need to do. Obviously, I think it was a big mistake. But it's up to the tournament and others to watch that match again and evaluate the call."

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Ishikawa makes cut for major

KYODO — Ryo Ishikawa shot his second straight even-par 71 on Friday to make the cut at the Japan PGA Championship for the first time in four starts.

The 19-year-old star was in danger of missing the cut after a bogey on the third hole and a double bogey on the next, but bounced back with birdies at Nos. 5, 11 and 18 at Onotoyo Golf Club

Ishikawa is tied for 26th at the midway point in the first major of the year.

Winless veteran Hiroo Kawai turned in the day's best score, a 67, to tie for the lead at 4-under 138 with Michio Matsumura (71) and American Jay Choi (72).

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