3/21/08: DLD, Japanese Style

Crossword puzzles.

should leave the Bay Area.

should be a Haiku Friday.
SAM? Are you out there?

So, I took today's DLD and Babelfished it from English to Japanese. Then I took that and Babelfished it back into English. Here's the DRD for today. Engrish style.

おはよう

(we'll 3.0 following to babelfish, Japanese good morning, at least... that is... how it does, this Ohayo which has the place you look at our computers amicable gozaimasu much)

concerning A's which is Japan the part of the just you are surprised until the fact that I work is obtained, day it is modification of the time when the fact that it passes is meant. There is the highlight from SuSlu here:

"Is in those the new member card of Embree which! "Johnson died and said the 38 years old jug in the admiration which regards. "There was a nest of that spider to that, but it is that. "

And....

as for the flight from Phoenix 12 hours of the Japan Air Lines Co., Ltd. company 747 which is chartered were taken. The majority of the players was restricted making the lob Bowen of the catcher be bored which you wandered about in order to chat with the reporter of class of management and class of coach, several times.

As for city Mychael there is with the Japanese team.

Inspect your those of the insomnia, from this sip!

First, however, before the surface Yomiuri of A's of nightcap of the group first in the afternoon of Saturday of the game having taken with トラ of Hanshin, 硫 element chemical compound comes double header Saturday of exhibition and Sunday. The quick game MLB.TV where Sunday, the play of the will of A's confronts 硫 element chemical compound Yomiuri nightcap and Hanshin which is preceding in all 4 games you have lived, it is shown.

The candy and the baseball all night long: )

NIIRO SOKKUSU OPPAI !!

and at this one, it's Barentuain Bobby-san, manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines, who he feels did not get the attention they deserve at their season opener because everyone was focused on the MLB visitors.

"The (Japanese) players are proving that the talent level here is on par with Major League Baseball but the Japan Professional Baseball business model is lagging behind," said Valentine.

Chiba Lotte lost to the Nippon Ham Fighters as their young phenom Yu Darvish struck out 10. More Japanese baseball results here.
Meanwhile, Terry Francona may offend the nation of Japan by pulling Dice-K early in the game if his pitch count is too high.

I think what we've been talking about all spring is not doing something on March 25 that will have repercussions on August 25. Our intent is to win the game. If we have to pull a pitcher an inning before because of the timing of the series, we will do that.'

In other news from Japan, Tokyo's Cat Cafe Calico celebrated its first anniversary.
Readers of the San Francisco Chronicle may remember that Jon Carroll wrote about it in a recent column; it's the first of several coffee shops for people who like cats but aren't allowed to have them in their apartments. For about $9 an hour you can snorgle the in-house kittehs. But no rough stuff:

At first, we allowed children to come to the cafe, but they used to tease the cats too much, pulling their tails and so forth, so we made a rule that only children over 10 years old can visit.

Huston and Billy represent the A's at the traditional sake-barrel opening ceremony. I've been next to these things when they've been opened before; it stinks.

Somehow, this seems even more humiliating than a pink Hello Kitty backpack.

on the right side of the screen, there is a "Current Series" box... which says the Tokyo games will be at 4:05 PDT.

?

The men had a red dot ball, restricted flight ball, and the women had a blue dot. It seems very weird for professionals.

Playing with a smaller baseball.

Japanese professional teams use a smaller-sized ball than the major leagues do. For these games, the regulation major league-sized ball will be used when the A's are in the field, and the smaller ball will be used when the Japanese squads are pitching.

"It's going to be interesting, almost like playing basketball with a women's ball," A's third baseman Jack Hannahan said. "It's not really going to throw you off. If anything, it will lock you in a little more at the dish, hitting a smaller ball."

Center fielder Chris Denorfia hadn't gotten word about the smaller ball until he took the field to stretch before the A's workout Friday.

"Really?" he said laughing. "Doesn't sound too fair."

http://www.insidebayarea.com/athletics/ci_8649490

Wikipedia sems to think that the ball is "a little" smaller and wound tighter.

The ball used in the Japanese Baseball League is a little smaller and lighter than its American cousin. Although the ball is smaller, it is harder than an American baseball because it is wound tighter.

And just to add to the fun, W sez the strike zone if different:

A smaller ball allows for a bigger strike zone in Japan. The strike zone is said to be bigger near the batter and gets smaller the further away from the batter.

Does anyone have any definitive words on these subjects? Is The Hardball Times in Japan called The Really Hardball Times, or is this all just pre-gamesmanship?

Jon Heyman

Some executives believe Oakland closer Huston Street is available, for a price. And that price would be very steep. The A's obviously determined long ago that their time isn't now, but until now, Street's name hasn't often been linked to the fire sale that began with Rich Haren and Nick Swisher. Considering the supply and demand for top relievers, inquiring teams should expect to have to part with multiple top prospects. The A's asking price for Joe Blanton with the Yankees was Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes. Not one, but both.

(emphasis added)

a few years of aikido. Here, here, and (barely) here.

Onegaisimasu!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3305616

Get it done, Billy!!!!

... AT THE HANDS OF ROBOTS!!!

Does new AN keep track of your sigline for every post? Some of mine show my old one, some show none, and hopefully this one shows my new one.

But you claimed it first, so now I must embark anew on the quest for the perfect sigline!

Cub Scouts prevented from taking the field at Beijing MLB game

http://umpbump.com/press/you-make-the-call-sox-v-as-fashion-police-in-japan-edition/

Eveland had a nasty slip in the shower after the game, he said, bruising his right leg and left wrist, but he said he'd be fine.

"It was hard, I didn't see it coming,'' Eveland said with a laugh. 'I'm OK, though.''

from SuSlu blog

Outfielder Jeff Fiorentino scored the go-ahead run Saturday, but he was still in disgrace afterward. Reliever Alan Embree stole his clothes and made Fiorentino wear a pink kinmono with a purple sash after the game because Fiorentino had bumped into him in a painful fashion while at a crowded party the night before.

"Don't mess with an old man with resources,'' Embree said with a wicked laugh

Any body know? The first season you could purchase/save downloads by individual games..can you do that now? I was surprised that I could see the archived game w/o subscription.

here. Susan seems to be working through her jet lag.