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Holy salkow, Batman, Miki’s back! Yes, Japan’s very own Babe on Ice, Miki Ando, roared back to form in the opening event of the Grand Prix figure skating series, not only winning October’s Skate America competition in Connecticut, but overshadowing younger teen star Mao Asada, everybody’s current tip for greatness. Ando, of course, was panned after finishing a disappointing 15th at the Turin Olympics, but she’s lost a bit of chunkiness and taken her skating to a higher level; maybe now she will start to fulfill her promise. Next up on the calendar is the NHK Trophy from November 30 to December 3 in Nagano. Japan’s women skaters are hot right now. Catch them while you can. FV See sports listings for details.
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By
Fred Varcoe
Welcoming the MLB
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| Kazuhiro Sasaki |
When the Seattle Mariners meet the Oakland
Athletics in this season’s Major League Baseball opener
at the Tokyo Dome on March 25 and 26, the atmosphere is guaranteed
to be electric. The reason for this is simple: The Mariners
are Japan’s MLB team. They’re owned by a Japanese
company (Nintendo), they field three Japanese players—including
a genuine superstar in 2001 AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki—and,
geographically, they’re the closest to Japan. What induced
the A’s to come here and play is anyone’s guess,
but one thing’s for sure: The fans will be rooting for
Ichiro’s boys.
This sense of anticipation marks a big change from the first
time MLB teams opened their seasons here. When the New York
Mets and Chicago Cubs played three years ago, the spectators
were less than raucous. The only player that most Japanese
fans knew was Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, and some may have remembered
Mets manager Bobby Valentine, who spent a year in Japan with
the Chiba Lotte Marines. The result was an ambiance to die
for, or, to put it another way, it was like attending a very
sober wake. As irritating as the chants and songs of Japanese
baseball fans are during normal games, they do at least provide
some kind of atmosphere in sterile baseball stadiums like
the Big Egg.
So, with the excitement factor on high, be prepared for 5,000
verses of “Popeye the Sailor Man’’ (Popeye’s
another mariner) ringing around the Dome. Still, if it inspires
Ichiro, Kazuhiro Sasaki and Shigetoshi Hasegawa, everyone
will be happy.
The festive atmosphere probably won’t motivate the rest
of the major leaguers, but with Ichiro et. al. on their team,
even the Mariners’ gaijin will be familiar to Japanese
fans. With several Japanese players moving to various teams
in the United States, fan awareness of MLB rosters is now
much higher here, although the Japanese may still have trouble
with the nihonjin-less A’s.
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| Ichiro |
A’s for effort
Going into 2003, Oakland has a new skipper, Ken Macha—surely
that’ll draw a laugh from the fans—and one of the
smallest payrolls in the majors. They do, however, have AL
Cy Young Award winner Barry Zito, who won 23 games last season,
and two other top-draw pitchers in Tim Hudson (15-9 in 2002)
and Mark Mulder (19-7). They’ll need them. Only one regular
player (Miguel Tejada) managed to hit over .280 last season,
and the team batted an uninspiring .261, although they did
manage a respectable 205 home runs and 772 RBIs. The A’s
won 103 games and lost 59, and their pitchers had an overall
3.68 ERA, tops in the American League.
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| Shigetoshi Hasegawa |
The Mariners didn’t exactly set the league alight with
their .275 overall batting average, and their lowly 152 homers
and 771 RBIs. They won 93 games against 69 losses, with a
staff ERA of 4.07. Ichiro won the team batting title with
a .321 average, while the main sluggers were Bret Boone (24
HRs, 107 RBIs), Mike Cameron (25 HRs, 80 RBIs) and Jon Olerud
(22 HRs, 102 RBIs). The Mariners will undoubtedly be trying
to improve on last season’s performance, and a good showing
at the Tokyo Dome might put them on the road to a good season.
Both teams play warm-up games at the Tokyo Dome on March
22 and 23, so local teams will have a chance to say they are
of major league standard—if they win.
Schedule:
March 22
Seibu Lions vs. Seattle Mariners, midday, Tokyo Dome.
Yomiuri Giants vs. Oakland Athletics, 7pm, Tokyo Dome.
March 23
Fukuoka Daiei Hawks vs. Oakland Athletics, midday, Tokyo Dome.
Yomiuri Giants vs. Seattle Mariners, 7pm, Tokyo Dome.
March 25, 26
Seattle Mariners vs. Oakland Athletics, 7pm, Tokyo Dome.
Photos: ©/R Major League
Baseball 2002. ©MLBPA
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