Right back at you: Paul-Henri Mathieu hits a shot to John Isner during their match at the French Open on Thursday. Mathieu won 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. APPARIS — This, then, is who John Isner is for now: The Marathon Man of Tennis, the guy who plays and plays and plays, for hours on end, until the last set seems interminable.At Wimbledon two years ago, he won 70-68 in the fifth, the longest set and match in tennis history. At Roland Garros on Thursday, as afternoon gave way to evening, the 10th-seeded American lost 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the second round, a 5-hour, 41-minute test of stamina and attention span.This one goes in the books as the second-longest match, by time, in French Open history."I just didn't get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren't ideal for me," said a somber Isner. "I wasn't going for my shots at certain points in the match, and that comes from a little bit of a lack of confidence."If Isner is going to become more than a novelty act, he needs to win encounters like Thursday's, and not because of the duration but because it was a first-week Grand Slam match against a player ranked 261st who got into the field thanks to a wild-card invitation from the tournament.After finally converting his seventh match point — Isner never had one — an emotional Mathieu thanked the partisan crowd in the main stadium for willing him to victory. Their sing-song choruses of "Po-lo! Po-lo!" — the French equivalent of "Paulie" — and roars of approval rang out after pretty much every point he won down the stretch."I dug deep," said the 30-year-old Mathieu, who hadn't played in a major tournament since the 2010 U.S. Open because of a left-knee injury that forced him off tour all of last year. "I was away from the courts for quite a while, and I came back to live moments like this."He helped provide easily the most intrigue on a day that featured straight-set wins for defending champions Rafael Nadal and Li Na.About 10 hours earlier in that stadium, it appeared a man seeded even higher than Isner would be on his way out of the tournament: No. 4 Andy Murray's back was so painful he could barely move, let alone play tennis at the level required to win a Grand Slam match.Or so it seemed.For the better part of an hour, the three-time major finalist looked downright miserable. He grimaced. He clutched at the small of his back. He contorted his body. He stepped gingerly, as though barefoot on a hot day at the beach. He tapped in serves at speeds so slow they'd be OK while driving on a highway. He considered quitting."Just kind of gritting my teeth," Murray said, "and (trying) to find a way of turning the match around, because I was a few points, probably, from stopping."And then, thanks in large part to a couple of massages from a trainer, Murray began to feel better. It helped, too, that his opponent, 48th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, was incapable of taking advantage of Murray's nearly incapacitated state. So Murray managed to come back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round at Roland Garros for the fifth consecutive year.What's unclear, even to Murray, is how his back will be for his next match."I have no idea what will happen in two days," said Murray."But if it's something like a spasm, it's not like you're doing major damage. You know, it's just a really, really tight muscle."The 25-year-old from Scotland had been dealing with a bad back for months. It forced him to pull out of the Madrid Open in early May.But Murray insisted that Thursday's problem was different — although might have been related, because he might have bothered a muscle by compensating for the earlier injury."It was his fault for letting me back into the match, because I didn't do anything special," Murray said. "I just tried to put some balls back in."Nieminen agreed, saying: "I feel like I had him. . . . It's not often that somebody looks that bad and can keep going."But Murray did trudge on, putting in serves at 110 kph or so, and taking big cuts at returns to try to end points then and there, until he could swing more freely.
Showing posts with label short. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short. Show all posts
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Isner comes up short in marathon match with Mathieu
Right back at you: Paul-Henri Mathieu hits a shot to John Isner during their match at the French Open on Thursday. Mathieu won 6-7(2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16. APPARIS — This, then, is who John Isner is for now: The Marathon Man of Tennis, the guy who plays and plays and plays, for hours on end, until the last set seems interminable.At Wimbledon two years ago, he won 70-68 in the fifth, the longest set and match in tennis history. At Roland Garros on Thursday, as afternoon gave way to evening, the 10th-seeded American lost 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 18-16 to Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the second round, a 5-hour, 41-minute test of stamina and attention span.This one goes in the books as the second-longest match, by time, in French Open history."I just didn't get it done. I felt like I got caught in patterns that weren't ideal for me," said a somber Isner. "I wasn't going for my shots at certain points in the match, and that comes from a little bit of a lack of confidence."If Isner is going to become more than a novelty act, he needs to win encounters like Thursday's, and not because of the duration but because it was a first-week Grand Slam match against a player ranked 261st who got into the field thanks to a wild-card invitation from the tournament.After finally converting his seventh match point — Isner never had one — an emotional Mathieu thanked the partisan crowd in the main stadium for willing him to victory. Their sing-song choruses of "Po-lo! Po-lo!" — the French equivalent of "Paulie" — and roars of approval rang out after pretty much every point he won down the stretch."I dug deep," said the 30-year-old Mathieu, who hadn't played in a major tournament since the 2010 U.S. Open because of a left-knee injury that forced him off tour all of last year. "I was away from the courts for quite a while, and I came back to live moments like this."He helped provide easily the most intrigue on a day that featured straight-set wins for defending champions Rafael Nadal and Li Na.About 10 hours earlier in that stadium, it appeared a man seeded even higher than Isner would be on his way out of the tournament: No. 4 Andy Murray's back was so painful he could barely move, let alone play tennis at the level required to win a Grand Slam match.Or so it seemed.For the better part of an hour, the three-time major finalist looked downright miserable. He grimaced. He clutched at the small of his back. He contorted his body. He stepped gingerly, as though barefoot on a hot day at the beach. He tapped in serves at speeds so slow they'd be OK while driving on a highway. He considered quitting."Just kind of gritting my teeth," Murray said, "and (trying) to find a way of turning the match around, because I was a few points, probably, from stopping."And then, thanks in large part to a couple of massages from a trainer, Murray began to feel better. It helped, too, that his opponent, 48th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, was incapable of taking advantage of Murray's nearly incapacitated state. So Murray managed to come back to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 and reach the third round at Roland Garros for the fifth consecutive year.What's unclear, even to Murray, is how his back will be for his next match."I have no idea what will happen in two days," said Murray."But if it's something like a spasm, it's not like you're doing major damage. You know, it's just a really, really tight muscle."The 25-year-old from Scotland had been dealing with a bad back for months. It forced him to pull out of the Madrid Open in early May.But Murray insisted that Thursday's problem was different — although might have been related, because he might have bothered a muscle by compensating for the earlier injury."It was his fault for letting me back into the match, because I didn't do anything special," Murray said. "I just tried to put some balls back in."Nieminen agreed, saying: "I feel like I had him. . . . It's not often that somebody looks that bad and can keep going."But Murray did trudge on, putting in serves at 110 kph or so, and taking big cuts at returns to try to end points then and there, until he could swing more freely.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Inaba falls just short of milestone in Fighters victory
Atsunori Inaba eloquently stated that he doesn't play baseball to come up with 2,000 hits. He plays the game to win for his team.
See you later: Nippon Ham's Atsunori Inaba celebrates his home run against Lotte on Thursday at Tokyo Dome. The Fighters won 2-1. KYODOSo instead of regretting coming up with just one hit on the night, the team-first veteran was pleased that one hit ended up being a significant one for his club.Inaba, who entered the game two hits shy of 2,000 for his career, went 1-for-3 and launched a solo homer into the seats to lead the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a 2-1 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines at Tokyo Dome on Thursday night.After a couple of hitless at-bats in a game tied at 1, Inaba smacked the first pitch from Marines submarine pitcher Shunsuke Watanabe into the center-right bleachers in his third and final attempt to deliver the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. It was also a great birthday present for skipper Hideki Kuriyama."I didn't expect I would hit a home run," Inaba said. "But the homer gave us the win on the birthday of manager Kuriyama. That's great. I'm pleased about nothing but the win for the team."The Marines took a 1-0 lead on a Saburo Omura RBI single off Nippon Ham starter Brian Wolfe in the first. They got on bases afterward as well, but weren't able to take advantage of their chances. Chiba Lotte's night ended with one run on 10 hits.In the fourth, the Fighters tied the game at 1-1 on a Micah Hoffpauir solo homer."We could've allowed five or six more runs, but Hoffpauir changed the flow with one big shot," Kuriyama said of the American slugger, who had been limited to just two at-bats due to an injury this year. "Head coach (Junichi Fukura) told me before the game Hoffpauir is good against Shinsuke and he came up with the result."We got the win as a team like that, and I'm pretty pleased about it."Wolfe (2-1) looked shaky early but managed to not allow any runs after the first. In all, he lasted six innings, giving up nine hits and fanning four on 92 pitches to earn the win.Kuriyama sent Keisuke Tanimoto, Hirotoshi Masui and closer Hisashi Takeda to the hill in the last three frames. Takeda notched his sixth save of the season.Watanabe (0-1) seemed better and more elusive than Wolfe, but the two solo dingers he gave up hurt him. Watanabe was charged with the loss.Though he claimed that he doesn't play records, Inaba said that he felt an extraordinary atmosphere surrounding his at-bats and it gave him some jitters."Receiving the cheers, I felt unusual pressure in myself," said Inaba. "I felt the peculiar air at the first two at-bats. So for the third at-bat, I stepped up to the plate trying to think that if I don't hit, I don't hit."While Inaba sid that jokingly, Kuriyama tipped his cap to the No. 5 batter, who leads the Pacific League in batting average (.384), home runs (four) and RBIs (22), for refocusing after his unsuccessful at-bats."While we didn't have the momentum earlier, Inaba revamped and came up with (the homer). That tells the whole story about this guy."Because the Fighters, the home team, were winning, the bottom of the eighth ended up being their last offensive frame. The inning began with their leadoff man Kensuke Tanaka but the Fighters could not give Inaba another chance to achieve the 2,000-hit milestone.With Inaba waiting in the batter's circle, cleanup hitter Sho Nakata was struck out by Marines reliever Yuhei Nakaushiro for the third out."Right after the game, Kensuke and Sho came to me to say sorry," Inaba said. "But I told them I'm not playing to reach 2,000 hits. But making them feel that way, I feel I'm giving a trouble to the team, so I want to hit it as soon as possible."The night's homer put Inaba one shy of reaching 250 career home runs as well.Nippon Ham, which has the best record in the PL (16-8), now moves to Sendai for a three-game series against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.KYODO, — Tomohito Yoeno hit a pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth as the Seibu Lions defeated the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 5-3 on Thursday at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome.With Seibu trailing 3-1, Lions pinch hitter Tatsuyuki Uemoto led off the ninth with a single. The next two batters struck out before Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled and Takeya Nakamura walked to load the bases against Brian Falkenborg.Yoeno then sent the second pitch he saw to the seats in left to put the Lions on top to stay.Eagles 4, Buffaloes 2At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, Orix scored the tying run on a wild pitch by Shinichiro Koyama in the eighth inning, and pinch-hitter Mitsutaka Goto delivered a go-ahead single, helping his team end a five-game losing streak.Tohoku Rakuten saw its winning streak end at three games.CENTRAL LEAGUEGiants 15, BayStars 3At Kagoshima's Kamoike Stadium, Yomiuri rapped out a season-high 15 hits en route to a demolition of Yokohama, snapping a five-game skid as it clawed its way out of last place.Hisayoshi Chono went 3-for-5, and Shinnosuke Abe hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a run-scoring double in the fifth. D.J. Houlton (1-2) gave up three runs in seven hits for his first win of the season.Tigers 1, Carp 0, 11 inningsAt Nishinomiya's Koshien Stadium, Keiichi Hirano hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning to give Hanshin a victory over Hiroshima.Hirano's single to center off closer Dennis Sarfate (0-2) drove home a runner from second with two outs to end it. Yuya Ando struck out 10 over nine scoreless innings for Hanshin.Swallows 4, Dragons 2At Jingu Stadium, Lastings Milledge hit a go-ahead two-run drive in the third inning, and Kyohei Muranaka threw two-run ball over five frames as Yakult extended its unbeaten streak to six games to move into first place.Tony Barnette got his ninth save. Kazuki Yoshimi (3-2) was tagged for the loss.
See you later: Nippon Ham's Atsunori Inaba celebrates his home run against Lotte on Thursday at Tokyo Dome. The Fighters won 2-1. KYODOSo instead of regretting coming up with just one hit on the night, the team-first veteran was pleased that one hit ended up being a significant one for his club.Inaba, who entered the game two hits shy of 2,000 for his career, went 1-for-3 and launched a solo homer into the seats to lead the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a 2-1 victory over the Chiba Lotte Marines at Tokyo Dome on Thursday night.After a couple of hitless at-bats in a game tied at 1, Inaba smacked the first pitch from Marines submarine pitcher Shunsuke Watanabe into the center-right bleachers in his third and final attempt to deliver the go-ahead run in the sixth inning. It was also a great birthday present for skipper Hideki Kuriyama."I didn't expect I would hit a home run," Inaba said. "But the homer gave us the win on the birthday of manager Kuriyama. That's great. I'm pleased about nothing but the win for the team."The Marines took a 1-0 lead on a Saburo Omura RBI single off Nippon Ham starter Brian Wolfe in the first. They got on bases afterward as well, but weren't able to take advantage of their chances. Chiba Lotte's night ended with one run on 10 hits.In the fourth, the Fighters tied the game at 1-1 on a Micah Hoffpauir solo homer."We could've allowed five or six more runs, but Hoffpauir changed the flow with one big shot," Kuriyama said of the American slugger, who had been limited to just two at-bats due to an injury this year. "Head coach (Junichi Fukura) told me before the game Hoffpauir is good against Shinsuke and he came up with the result."We got the win as a team like that, and I'm pretty pleased about it."Wolfe (2-1) looked shaky early but managed to not allow any runs after the first. In all, he lasted six innings, giving up nine hits and fanning four on 92 pitches to earn the win.Kuriyama sent Keisuke Tanimoto, Hirotoshi Masui and closer Hisashi Takeda to the hill in the last three frames. Takeda notched his sixth save of the season.Watanabe (0-1) seemed better and more elusive than Wolfe, but the two solo dingers he gave up hurt him. Watanabe was charged with the loss.Though he claimed that he doesn't play records, Inaba said that he felt an extraordinary atmosphere surrounding his at-bats and it gave him some jitters."Receiving the cheers, I felt unusual pressure in myself," said Inaba. "I felt the peculiar air at the first two at-bats. So for the third at-bat, I stepped up to the plate trying to think that if I don't hit, I don't hit."While Inaba sid that jokingly, Kuriyama tipped his cap to the No. 5 batter, who leads the Pacific League in batting average (.384), home runs (four) and RBIs (22), for refocusing after his unsuccessful at-bats."While we didn't have the momentum earlier, Inaba revamped and came up with (the homer). That tells the whole story about this guy."Because the Fighters, the home team, were winning, the bottom of the eighth ended up being their last offensive frame. The inning began with their leadoff man Kensuke Tanaka but the Fighters could not give Inaba another chance to achieve the 2,000-hit milestone.With Inaba waiting in the batter's circle, cleanup hitter Sho Nakata was struck out by Marines reliever Yuhei Nakaushiro for the third out."Right after the game, Kensuke and Sho came to me to say sorry," Inaba said. "But I told them I'm not playing to reach 2,000 hits. But making them feel that way, I feel I'm giving a trouble to the team, so I want to hit it as soon as possible."The night's homer put Inaba one shy of reaching 250 career home runs as well.Nippon Ham, which has the best record in the PL (16-8), now moves to Sendai for a three-game series against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.KYODO, — Tomohito Yoeno hit a pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth as the Seibu Lions defeated the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks 5-3 on Thursday at Fukuoka Yahoo Dome.With Seibu trailing 3-1, Lions pinch hitter Tatsuyuki Uemoto led off the ninth with a single. The next two batters struck out before Hiroyuki Nakajima doubled and Takeya Nakamura walked to load the bases against Brian Falkenborg.Yoeno then sent the second pitch he saw to the seats in left to put the Lions on top to stay.Eagles 4, Buffaloes 2At Sendai's Kleenex Stadium, Orix scored the tying run on a wild pitch by Shinichiro Koyama in the eighth inning, and pinch-hitter Mitsutaka Goto delivered a go-ahead single, helping his team end a five-game losing streak.Tohoku Rakuten saw its winning streak end at three games.CENTRAL LEAGUEGiants 15, BayStars 3At Kagoshima's Kamoike Stadium, Yomiuri rapped out a season-high 15 hits en route to a demolition of Yokohama, snapping a five-game skid as it clawed its way out of last place.Hisayoshi Chono went 3-for-5, and Shinnosuke Abe hit a two-run homer in the first inning and a run-scoring double in the fifth. D.J. Houlton (1-2) gave up three runs in seven hits for his first win of the season.Tigers 1, Carp 0, 11 inningsAt Nishinomiya's Koshien Stadium, Keiichi Hirano hit a walk-off single in the 11th inning to give Hanshin a victory over Hiroshima.Hirano's single to center off closer Dennis Sarfate (0-2) drove home a runner from second with two outs to end it. Yuya Ando struck out 10 over nine scoreless innings for Hanshin.Swallows 4, Dragons 2At Jingu Stadium, Lastings Milledge hit a go-ahead two-run drive in the third inning, and Kyohei Muranaka threw two-run ball over five frames as Yakult extended its unbeaten streak to six games to move into first place.Tony Barnette got his ninth save. Kazuki Yoshimi (3-2) was tagged for the loss.Saturday, January 28, 2012
Plushenko second after short program at European C'ships
SHEFFIELD, England — Evgeni Plushenko got upstaged by his own training partner.Artur Gachinski snatched the lead from the 2006 Olympic champion at the European Figure Skating Championships Thursday after Plushenko opted not to do a quadruple jump in the short program.Gachinski completed a quad and he finished with 84.80 points, a mere 0.09 points ahead of Plushenko. Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic, the 2008 European champion, was third (81.14 points), just ahead of emerging star Javier Fernandez of Spain (80.11)."I'm pleased with the performance considering the circumstances. A program without a quad was like a trip into the past," said Plushenko, who returned to competition last month for the first time since 2010.The three-time world champion has a long history of knee and back injuries, and he decided to start his program with a triple lutz rather than the quad so as not to aggravate them."When I do the quad toe, I need three or four minutes to recover from the pain," Plushenko said. "Therefore we decided not to do the quad today. It was either doing a program without the quad or not competing, and I want to finish this competition."Still, it speaks volumes that Plushenko is in contention for his seventh European title without even trying that hardest of jumps in his showy routine, set to the emotional "Storm" by Yanni. A master at thrilling audiences, Plushenko hasn't lost the art of playing the showman.Enticing the judges by circling in front of them before his routine, the triple world champion was all smiles as he gave a performance full of energy and expression. At one point, he aimed a kick in front of a TV camera at the end of the rink, with his mouth wide open.His jumps were largely spot on, too, with a triple axel particularly impressing the judges.At 18, Gachinski is 11 years younger than Plushenko. He has drawn comparisons to Plushenko because of his eye-catching shock of blonde hair and also training with Alexei Mishin, Plushenko's longtime coach. He showed Thursday he is a worthy successor to Plushenko. He was the only skater among the top men to do a clean quad, which is a must-have jump for male competitors these days.Not only did the teenager score 15.83 from his dazzling opening quad toe-triple toe combination, the bronze medalist at last year's world championships received the highest levels for his spins.Defending champion Florent Amodio of France, who is fourth with 78.48 points, wobbled after a quad salchow.SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA — Agnes Zawadzki sure knows how to shake things up.The U.S. junior champ only two years ago, Zawadzki outskated not one, not two, but three former winners Thursday night to claim the short program at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.One of the few women to skate cleanly, her sultry routine to a blues medley earned her 66.24 points and put her three points ahead of defending champion Alissa Czisny going into the free skate Saturday. Ashley Wagner was third.Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 U.S. champ, was fifth after botching her opening jump. Rachael Flatt, the 2010 winner, was way down in ninth after a lackluster performance in front of an enthusiastic hometown crowd."I'm really excited," Zawadzki said, still grinning 15 minutes after she got off the ice. "Everything's finally clicked."Earlier Thursday, Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker took a big lead in the pairs competition, winning the short program by more than four points.
Monday, January 23, 2012
'Boomer' came up short in latest bid for Hall of Fame
It was a good week for the Hiroshima Carp family as two former pitchers were elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Manabu Kitabeppu and the late Tsunemi Tsuda garnered enough votes to enter Tokyo's version of Cooperstown. Their induction ceremony will take place at an All-Star Game at Kyocera Osaka Dome this coming summer.Kitabeppu picked up 257 votes, while Tsuda got 237, one above the minimum 236 required to get in. The third-place vote-getter pulled in 223, just 13 shy of the cutoff line, and who do you suppose it was?Former Hankyu Braves, Orix BlueWave and Fukuoka Daiei Hawks slugger Greg "Boomer" Wells was No. 3.Gregory DeWayne Wells was a prolific slugger, one of those "4A" players too good for Triple-A, but not able to crack a major league team's lineup, usually because a star player mans the position he plays. Wells was ready to break into the big leagues in the early 1980s but for whatever reason just did not make it after brief stints with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981 and the Minnesota Twins in '82.Instead, the Pacific League Hankyu Braves brought him, at the age of 29, to Japan in 1983, and he went on to play 10 seasons with Hankyu, the Orix Braves and BlueWave and the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks, retiring after the 1992 season.Wells was one of many foreign players in Japan who went by his first name or a nickname, and he was registered simply as "Boomer." Most Japanese fans who saw him play during his stellar decade-long PL career probably don't know his real name.Boomer was made to play in Japan, from his 213-cm frame to his picture-perfect swing to his skill at playing the first base position to his attitude about playing ball in the Far East. He loved living in western Japan and was never intimidated by Japanese pitchers and the breaking balls they threw, though the opposing hurlers may have been intimidated by him.One of his trademarks was the habit of hitching up the short sleeves on his jersey for better comfort while swinging, but it also exposed the muscles that made him one of the strongest power hitters in Japanese baseball history.I can recall seeing him play a game against the Lotte Orions one hot summer night in August of 1984 in Fukuoka, where he absolutely crushed three line drive home runs, one of which carried completely out of Heiwadai Stadium.He did not try to out-think the opposing hurlers but just went up to the plate hacking away, and hack he did. Over his 10-year career in Japan, Boomer won the Triple Crown in '84, his second year in the country, helping the Braves win the PL pennant by hitting .355 with 37 home runs and 130 RBIs and being named the league MVP.He also won league RBI titles in 1987 with 119, in 1989 with 124, and 1992 with 97, and another batting championship, hitting .322 in '89. There were three 40-homer seasons as well; he hit a career-high 42 in 1986, and 40 in '87 and again in '89. His lifetime-in-Japan statistics include a .317 batting average, 277 homers and 901 RBIs.Boomer might have played an 11th season in Japan in 1993, but the Hawks, about ready to move from Heiwadai Stadium into the newly constructed Fukuoka Dome, decided to clean house, changing managers and foreign players."Tabuchi wanted me back," said Boomer, referring to Koichi Tabuchi, the Daiei manager in 1992. "But they let him go, and they let me go." Wells did return to Japan, however, spending the 1994 season with his old Orix BlueWave as a batting coach, giving advice to — among others — some guy named Ichiro Suzuki.A native of McIntosh, Alabama, Boomer now lives in Cartersville, Georgia, and spoke to us by phone last week. He had no idea he had narrowly missed gaining entrance to the Japanese HOF and expressed some disappointment."I hadn't heard about it," he said. "But I always thought I would have a chance to make it. I was the first foreigner to win a Triple Crown in Japan, I left as the best foreign right-handed batter of all-time and set a lot of team records that are still standing, except for those broken by Ichiro."Asked what he's doing now, Boomer said, "I'm retired, just cutting my grass and taking care of my 85-year-old mom and other family members. I visit my daughter, Mika, in Chicago. She's a grad student and working there."He does stay in touch with the game, too. "Sometimes I do a baseball clinic for kids with (former Nankai Hawks player, 1986) Danny Goodwin," he said.Unfortunately, according to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum located at Tokyo Dome, this was Wells' final year of eligibility for election by the Players Selection Committee, because he has been inactive as a player for 20 years. However, he may be considered in 2012 in the Expert Section if selected by the Screening Committee to be included among the 10 candidates in that section.Wells played during an unforgettable time in Japanese baseball history when each team was allowed only two non-Japanese players, and there were some great ones: Randy Bass, Warren Cromartie, Leron and Leon Lee, Bobby Marcano, Ken Macha, Ralph Bryant, Bob Horner, Brad "The Animal" Lesley, Reggie Smith, Cecil Fielder, Bill Gullickson, among others.If there was a Baseball Bullet-In Hall of Fame, they would all be members.Maybe we should start one.Contact Wayne Graczyk at Wayne@JapanBall.com
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Marines rally but fall short
CHIBA — In a scene straight out of last year's Japan Series, the Chiba Lotte Marines were mounting a late-inning rally against the Chunichi Dragons.
Fall classic revisited: Dragons southpaw Yudai Kawai competes against the Marines, Chunichi's 2010 Japan Series foe, on Tuesday in the series opener at QVC Marine Stadium. KYODOChunichi has put that heartbreak behind them. This time, they made sure the Marines came up short.Kei Nomoto hit a tie-breaking two-run single in a four-run eighth inning and closer Hitoki Iwase avoided a meltdown in the ninth as the Dragons opened the interleague schedule with a 6-5 win over the Marines on Tuesday night at QVC Marine Field.Facing reliever Carlos Rosa with the bases loaded in the eighth, Nomoto hit a single down the first-base line that drove in two runs and gave the Dragons a 5-3 lead.Pinch hitter Takehiro Donoue followed with a run-scoring single to extend the lead later in the inning.Unlike in the final game of last season's Japan Series, there was no late-game magic for the Marines this time.But that wasn't for lack of trying.Chunichi reliever Takuya Asao shut Lotte down in the eighth, but Iwase began the ninth by giving up a double to Kazuya Fukuura.The next batter, Kei Hosoya, was retired, but Yoshifumi Okada was hit with a pitch putting runners on first and second. Shota Ishimine hit a long fly ball for out two, but Tadahito Iguchi followed him with an RBI single.Marines cleanup hitter Kim Tae Kyun then hit a run-scoring single to make the score 6-4 as Iguchi advanced all the way to third.Iwase composed himself with the tying run at third and retired Toshiaki Imae to end the game.Despite allowing two runs, Iwase earned the save, his seventh of the season. Iwase now has 283 career saves, trailing all-time leader Shingo Takatsu by three.Masafumi Hirai earned the win in relief. Tatsuya Uchi, who allowed all four runs in the eighth, took the loss.Hirokazu Ibata drove in a pair of runs for Chunichi, finishing 2-for-4. Masahiko Morino, who started the eighth-inning rally with a game-tying sacrifice fly, was 1-for-3 while Masahiro Araki led all batters with three hits.Hosoya had a big day for the Marines in his season debut, hitting a single in his first at-bat and his first career home run the next time up."I'm glad I could hit my first homer," said Hosoya, who finished 2-for-3. "I had a good image from my previous at-bat."SENDAI — Kenji Yano and Hidetoshi Tsuburaya delivered two-out RBI singles in the top of the ninth inning as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Tuesday. Lions 4, BayStars 1At Omiya Stadium, Hideaki Wakui pitched a complete game to earn his first win since the season opener on April 12. Swallows 2, Fighters 0At Sapporo Dome, Shohei Tateyama (3-1) threw eight shutout innings for Tokyo Yakult in a win over Hokkaido Nippon Ham. Hawks 4, Carp 4 (11)At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Seiichi Uchikawa singled in the tying run in the eighth inning as Softbank came back to play out an 11-inning tie with Hiroshima. Tigers 5, Buffaloes 4
Fall classic revisited: Dragons southpaw Yudai Kawai competes against the Marines, Chunichi's 2010 Japan Series foe, on Tuesday in the series opener at QVC Marine Stadium. KYODOChunichi has put that heartbreak behind them. This time, they made sure the Marines came up short.Kei Nomoto hit a tie-breaking two-run single in a four-run eighth inning and closer Hitoki Iwase avoided a meltdown in the ninth as the Dragons opened the interleague schedule with a 6-5 win over the Marines on Tuesday night at QVC Marine Field.Facing reliever Carlos Rosa with the bases loaded in the eighth, Nomoto hit a single down the first-base line that drove in two runs and gave the Dragons a 5-3 lead.Pinch hitter Takehiro Donoue followed with a run-scoring single to extend the lead later in the inning.Unlike in the final game of last season's Japan Series, there was no late-game magic for the Marines this time.But that wasn't for lack of trying.Chunichi reliever Takuya Asao shut Lotte down in the eighth, but Iwase began the ninth by giving up a double to Kazuya Fukuura.The next batter, Kei Hosoya, was retired, but Yoshifumi Okada was hit with a pitch putting runners on first and second. Shota Ishimine hit a long fly ball for out two, but Tadahito Iguchi followed him with an RBI single.Marines cleanup hitter Kim Tae Kyun then hit a run-scoring single to make the score 6-4 as Iguchi advanced all the way to third.Iwase composed himself with the tying run at third and retired Toshiaki Imae to end the game.Despite allowing two runs, Iwase earned the save, his seventh of the season. Iwase now has 283 career saves, trailing all-time leader Shingo Takatsu by three.Masafumi Hirai earned the win in relief. Tatsuya Uchi, who allowed all four runs in the eighth, took the loss.Hirokazu Ibata drove in a pair of runs for Chunichi, finishing 2-for-4. Masahiko Morino, who started the eighth-inning rally with a game-tying sacrifice fly, was 1-for-3 while Masahiro Araki led all batters with three hits.Hosoya had a big day for the Marines in his season debut, hitting a single in his first at-bat and his first career home run the next time up."I'm glad I could hit my first homer," said Hosoya, who finished 2-for-3. "I had a good image from my previous at-bat."SENDAI — Kenji Yano and Hidetoshi Tsuburaya delivered two-out RBI singles in the top of the ninth inning as the Yomiuri Giants beat the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles 4-3 on Tuesday. Lions 4, BayStars 1At Omiya Stadium, Hideaki Wakui pitched a complete game to earn his first win since the season opener on April 12. Swallows 2, Fighters 0At Sapporo Dome, Shohei Tateyama (3-1) threw eight shutout innings for Tokyo Yakult in a win over Hokkaido Nippon Ham. Hawks 4, Carp 4 (11)At Fukuoka's Yahoo Dome, Seiichi Uchikawa singled in the tying run in the eighth inning as Softbank came back to play out an 11-inning tie with Hiroshima. Tigers 5, Buffaloes 4Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Nishikori comes up short in final
HOUSTON (AP) Ryan Sweeting made sure he didn't get too far ahead of himself in the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship final — and ended up leaving Kei Nishikori behind.
"I feel in the past I'd see the finish line and I'd start thinking about that," Sweeting said after beating Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday for his first ATP World Tour title. "I didn't think about the end result today. In the tiebreaker, I just tried to play each point."
The 23-year-old American became the fifth first-time winner on the ATP tour this year and the first U.S. Clay Court wild-card champion since Mardy Fish in 2006.
"I think I'm most happy the way I performed under pressure in my first final," Sweeting said. "I stayed calm and stayed focused. I didn't let the moment get to me which in past performances I have."
Sweeting, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., turned pro in 2007 and had never reached an ATP semifinal until this week. He fell to the court in jubilation and fatigue after the hard-fought second set and later took a cannon ball victory dive into the River Oaks Country Club pool.
Sweeting had to show his mettle before the tiebreaker.
Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Sweeting served in the 10th game and had to overcome three set points before holding on a lob error by Nishikori that fell behind the line. The game lasted for 26 points.
"It was a good hold, it gave me a little bit of momentum going into the rest of the set and made it tougher on him," Sweeting said. "He's a competitor and he won't stop until the last point.
The tiebreaker got tight when Sweeting double-faulted to bring the score to a 3-3 tie. Two errors by Nishikori and a forehand volley winner by Sweeting brought it to match point and it ended when Nishikori's forehand skipped wide.
Nishikori was trying to win the tournament to give inspiration to his tsunami-torn country.
Nishikori has a website that auctions donated items from players with all profit going to the tsunami victims in Japan. Items include a shoe worn by Maria Sharapova and a tennis racket signed by John McEnroe. A tennis shirt worn by Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open has surpassed $5,200 in bidding.
Nishikori almost pulled off a comeback late in the second set.
"I wasn't aggressive enough," Nishikori said. "I really wanted to win but I think he deserved it today. He played well, better."
"I feel in the past I'd see the finish line and I'd start thinking about that," Sweeting said after beating Nishikori 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday for his first ATP World Tour title. "I didn't think about the end result today. In the tiebreaker, I just tried to play each point."
The 23-year-old American became the fifth first-time winner on the ATP tour this year and the first U.S. Clay Court wild-card champion since Mardy Fish in 2006.
"I think I'm most happy the way I performed under pressure in my first final," Sweeting said. "I stayed calm and stayed focused. I didn't let the moment get to me which in past performances I have."
Sweeting, from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., turned pro in 2007 and had never reached an ATP semifinal until this week. He fell to the court in jubilation and fatigue after the hard-fought second set and later took a cannon ball victory dive into the River Oaks Country Club pool.
Sweeting had to show his mettle before the tiebreaker.
Trailing 5-4 in the second set, Sweeting served in the 10th game and had to overcome three set points before holding on a lob error by Nishikori that fell behind the line. The game lasted for 26 points.
"It was a good hold, it gave me a little bit of momentum going into the rest of the set and made it tougher on him," Sweeting said. "He's a competitor and he won't stop until the last point.
The tiebreaker got tight when Sweeting double-faulted to bring the score to a 3-3 tie. Two errors by Nishikori and a forehand volley winner by Sweeting brought it to match point and it ended when Nishikori's forehand skipped wide.
Nishikori was trying to win the tournament to give inspiration to his tsunami-torn country.
Nishikori has a website that auctions donated items from players with all profit going to the tsunami victims in Japan. Items include a shoe worn by Maria Sharapova and a tennis racket signed by John McEnroe. A tennis shirt worn by Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open has surpassed $5,200 in bidding.
Nishikori almost pulled off a comeback late in the second set.
"I wasn't aggressive enough," Nishikori said. "I really wanted to win but I think he deserved it today. He played well, better."
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