Number 11, I like it. Great shot from press conference number-1 this week to introduce a new starting pitcher.
about 3 years ago
gondeee
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My thoughts exactly
Haha, he looks like a 15 year old girl with a new boyfriend…hahahaha. What a great picture.
by Andy Braves Fan on Jan 14, 2009 9:17 AM EST up reply actions
"Soul"
Here’s another photo of him at this press conf, and the artistic calligraphy says “Soul”, as he explained his pitching style as:
“I would say that my style is that I put all of my soul into all of my pitches,” Kawakami said. “I hope to show that while I’m pitching in Atlanta.”
that’s awesome, i’ve never heard an american pitcher describe his style in this way; they usually give a technical description or more rarely use a word like “competitive,” but i’ve never heard “soul” (i assume the japanese word is equally powerful, as the referent seems to be universal… so i’m thinking of, for example, “anima” in latin).
aside from watching the man pitch, i’m looking forward to picking up bits of these cultural idiosyncrasies throughout the season.
He is always on fire on the mound
Yes Kenshin is that kind of person and as YouTube footage in other post shows he sometimes show his emotion after he strike out key hitter… maybe he won’t do this in US as somebody might advise him to avoid getting a countercharge at the plate.
BTW how do you forks call him? We Dragons fans regularly call him Kenshin as this name is pretty identical, but Ken should be easier way for you….
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 1:30 AM EST up reply actions
I will probably call him by his last name...
Is it pronounced just like it looks? Ka-wa-ka-me?
best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)
I’m thinking KK is what’s gonna take hold. If he and Jair get rolling at some point it’ll be JJ and KK all the way! (Yeesh.)
Ka-wa-ka-me
Right, Ka-wa-ka-me might easiest way to say it… stress on Wa in normal Japanese accent.
KK should be another good way to refer him, as he can continue to use his own domain name kk11.jp to write his diaries.
BTW “Kawa” means river and “kami” is up, so Kawakami means somewhat “upriver (district)”.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 4:03 AM EST up reply actions
calligraphy
I just saw this press conf on local news show here in Okinawa, and Kenshin said this calligraphy “soul” is his own handwriting… I didn’t know he can do this kinda artistic stuff even I’ve watching most of his move for past 11 years…
BTW he said greetings as “Hello, my name is Kenshin Kawakami, you can call me Kenshin” in English, then started speaking Japanese…
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 4:54 AM EST up reply actions
He's a Soul Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njGMwCF0umc
"The only time the Mets win is in the offseason"
#11
He’s always wearing this number since he was small kid, at Meiji University and Dragons, and will continue over there… This article says #11 at Braves is mainly for fielders and the last pitcher with it was Payne (probably Mike Payne – the article only refers his last name in Katakana).
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 1:49 AM EST up reply actions
bobby has no idea what the fuck is going on. he probably thinks this is a press conference to get baseball to japan
BIG JOE SUCK ONE
Bobby Cox
He was managing Blue Jays when I saw him in person first time many years ago at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto (I believe it was 1982), and he was ejected in that game… I heard he has all time record for ejections since then, is that right?
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 1:35 AM EST up reply actions
That is correct.
Bobby Cox owns the all-time record for ejections at 143.
best defensive shortstop in baseball hahahahahahahahahah (omar visquel)
A question for dragonsfanatic
is it just my imagination, or is the Nippon strike zone significantly larger than the MLB equivalent?
by BraveBronco0121 on Jan 14, 2009 3:33 AM EST reply actions
zones
I guess they are almost same dimension, but the NPB zone is a bit higher and outside corner is narrow than yours.
Much bigger issue for him is the difference of ball itself – MLB’s baseball is a bit bigger and slippy, and seams are higher than ours. Hope his cutter and curve ball has same dominance as he has some experience with that ball at Olympic games (he was badly beaten in that games though…).
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 4:10 AM EST up reply actions
Question:
Who are the Japanese players to play in Atlanta prior to Kawakami?
Bruce Chen doesn’t count, he was Chinese Panamanian.
"Have you ever had your heart broken?"
"Yeah, when we lost the pennant in '87."
Off the top of my head:
ChinesePanamanian: Bruce Chen
Korean: Jung Bong, Sung Ki Jung (AA)
Japanese: None. Kawakami’s the first.
No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.
There have been other Japanese players in the organization, but, like you said, to the best of my knowledge, none in the majors. C/1B Ryohei Shimabukuro (Shima) and P Shohei Sekiguchi are curently in the system. OF Takumi Hamaoka played for the GCL team a few years and there was a catcher, Jong Um that played for Myrtle Beach one year.
Another pitcher, Chen-En Hung is from Taiwan and P Jung Ji Cho, who was released last year, was from Korea.
Int'l scoutingc for Braves
Braves are one of very active ballclubs for recruiting young players in Asia, as Hiroyuki Ohya, Far East/Pac Rim scout is known well here in Japan for his outgoing activity. Ryohei Shimabukuro is Okinawan descent from Osaka (Shimabukuro is one of popular Okinawan names), and he was tall kid (6’ 2") and suggested to be a sumo wrestler, but he continued play baseball and found by Ohya. Shohei Sekiguchi is another tall kid (6’ 6") among other Japanese high school players from Shodoshima island in Kagawa.
Those players were not very famous and no track records to play in national tournament, but Ohya think they can run up in the system in near future I guess.
by dragonsfanatic on Jan 14, 2009 5:22 PM EST up reply actions
I’m really loving all this info. I’ve seen Shima play a few times and he’s really raw. If they let him grow he could be something, cause like you said, he’s a big kid with a ton of power. They tried him as a catcher but he looked pretty awful there so I think he’s on first now.
I saw Sekiguchi walking around during Spring Training but didn’t recognize the name. A 6’6" Japanese guy was a sight though.
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