鈴木 昇太 （帝京）
すずき・しょうた

180cm / 82kg
R/R

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帝京・鈴木、練習試合で粘投３失点

ドラフト候補の右腕、鈴木昇太投手（３年）はプロ４球団のスカウトが見つめる前で最速１４１キロをマークするなど、８回９安打３失点。前田三夫監督 （６０）は及第点を与えた。

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バックネット裏には４球団のスカウトが集結。この日は最速１４１キロで自己記録の１４７キロには及ばなかったが、ソフトバンクの宮田スカウトは「この時期 で１４０キロが出れば十分」と話していた。（石川洋）

Sanspo 3/12/2010

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ドラフト･レポート

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Softbank Hawks vs Yakult Swallows @ Jingu Stadium - 13:00

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Seibu Lions vs Chiba Lotte Marine @ Chiba Marine Stadium - 13:00

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Orix Buffaloes vs Yomiuri Giants @ Kyocera Dome Osaka - 18:00

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Hiroshima Carp vs Hanshin Tigers @ Skymark Stadium - 13:00

The NPB announced on the 11th that for every minute a baseball game goes over three hours, they will put that much money towards helping support the growth of forests.  If I'm reading this right, the NPB will calculate the amount of carbon dioxide games emit past the three hour mark and then purchase that amount of "usage" from other entities (in this case, four towns in Hokkaido and Niigata prefecture) that are promoting the growth of forests.  In other words, a domestic version of the Kyoto Protocol.

Incidentally, the NPB is hoping to decrease the average length of a 9-inning game to 2 hours and 59 minutes this year.  Last season, an average 9-inning game lasted 3 hours and 8 minutes.

...Go Kida was surprised to see the infield shift used against him in the 9th inning in Wednesday's game against the Rakuten Eagles.

...Ken Takahashi told reporters after pitching against the Rakuten Eagles on Wednesday that he'd like to pitch 4-5 innings during his next outing.

League 1

League 2, Group A

League 2, Group B

Central League Roster Updates

Added to Active Roster

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Removed from Active Roster

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Pacific League Roster Updates

Added to Roster

Orix Buffaloes

- Bynum, Freddie INF

Added to Active Roster

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Removed from Active Roster

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Commissioner Updates

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=== 3/12/2010 1:10am JST

...The Buffaloes attended a pep rally on Thursday at an area hotel in Osaka.  At the event, Akinobu Okada told guests that Chihiro Kaneko was going to be the opening day starter.

=== 4:20pm JST

...All Japanese position players stayed back after Wednesday's game to take about 90 minutes of extra batting practice after the team was shutout, 6-0, despite racking up 10 hits.

...Akinobu Okada revealed to reporters on Wednesday that he told his players during Spring camp that he only wanted Alex Cabrera swinging for the fences.  So while the team did not score any runs on 10 hits, he felt they were moving in the right direction.

Batting coach Kozo Shoda added that they may hold extra BP session after day games during the season if they felt it might help.

=== 10:26pm JST

...Darrell Rasner may have given himself a boost after tossing 4 shutout innings against the Chunichi Dragons on Thursday.  While Rasner did walk two batters, he did not give up any hits.

=== 4:09pm JST

...Takeshi Yamasaki will be appearing in one of those BOSS Rainbow Mountain Blend commercials with Tommy Lee Jones (is there anything he can't do?).  If you have never seen them, I think you can see the latest commercial at the official Rainbow Mountain Blend website.

The new commercial is set to begin running nationwide on 3/17.

...The infield shift Marty Brown used against the Hiroshima Carp on Wednesday: he replaced left fielder Akihisa Makida with Tatsuya Shiokawa and positioned him in between the second baseman and shortstop.  He pulled center fielder Ryo Hijirisawa over to left and right fielder Teppei in center.  All this for lefty-hitting Go Kida, a batter Brown thought wouldn't be able to pull Juan Morillo's fastball.  Especially if he spotted them on the outside corners.

The plan ended up backfiring as Morillo threw a fastball insde that Kida was able to pull into right.  With no one there, the ball rolled all the way to the wall and cleared the bases for a triple.

While that was bad, the Eagles were actually making something of a comeback in the bottom of the 9th (they had scored two runs and still had the bases loaded with only one out) when the game was called due to rain and completely wiped out the 9th inning.

For those wondering why the 9th inning was thrown out...  According to rule 4.11d, subsection 2, if a visiting team grabs the lead in the top of the inning and the game is called while the home team is still batting and has not had the opportunity to either tie the game or re-take the lead, the innings is thrown out.  The last full inning is where the game officially ends.

Kind of a weird rule.

=== 3/12/2010 1:12am JST

...Takao Obana is apparently contemplating whether he should demote Yoshitomo Tsutsugo or not.  Demoting him would give him more at bats than he could get while at Ichi-gun.

=== 3:44pm JST

...The Bay Stars introduced their special limited edition uniforms on Thursday.  The uniforms have stars on both sleeves, are 15% lighter than regular uniforms, and will be worn during the first game of each multi-game series at home.  Interested fans can get more information about how to purchase the limited edition uniforms, as well as see a sample of the new design, at the Bay Stars' official website.

...The Yokohama Bay Stars are the only team that has not won an exhibition game yet (0-5-1).  The team finished with a 6-9-4 record last year.

...Club president Takao Kaji walked around in the right field stands on Wednesday in order to meet and greet the fans.

=== 3/12/2010 1:15am JST

...Nobuhiko Matsunaka played out a full game on Thursday and went 0-for-4.  After the game, he told reporters that he felt no pain.  He still has not had a chance to test his legs on the base paths.

...The Hawks announced on Thursday that they will send a total 20,000 employees to two games against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Tokyo Dome on 7/6 and 7/7.  That's 10,000 employees per game.

The Hawks also held a pep rally on Thursday at the company headquarters in Tokyo.

=== 3:24pm JST

...Kazumi Saito visited Chiba Marine Stadium on Thursday to provide the Hawks with an update on his progress.  Saito had surgery on his right shoulder in February and is still in the middle of rehab.  He told reporters that he's getting better and that he'll continue with his rehab in Chiba for just a bit longer.

...Koji Mise is currently working out at Ni-gun and threw about 80 pitches in the bullpen on Wednesday, the first time since being demoted.  He pitched in five exhibition games but struggled to keep his pitches down and was hit pretty hard (10.80 ERA).

...Nobuhiko Matsunaka had two at bats in one game for the first time this year on Wednesday.  After the game, he told reporters that he was feeling fine and wanted to try three or four at bats during his next outing.  Matsunaka is 0-for-3 against the Chiba Lotte Marines (still in progress as of this writing).

...The cost of admission to the Sadaharu Oh Museum will be 1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for elementary school children and younger.