Wednesday night game, Hanshin Tigers vs Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.

Top of the 5th inning, runners on first and second and two out.

Craig Brazell up to bat.  Yuya Fukui on the mound for Hiroshima.

With the count 1-1, Fukui threw a pitch inside that brushed Brazell back.

After two bench-clearing moments, Brazell gets ejected for provoking Hiroshima.

Sun TV

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Incidentally, this was Brazell's second ejection of his NPB career.  The other came in a game against the Chunichi Dragons on September 9, 2010.

UPDATE 4/12 @ 11:29am - Sports Hochi Osaka is carrying the following quote from the home plate umpire:

"I did say that [Brazell] was eject for provoking Hiroshima, but I was specifically referring to him starting the second bench-clearing incident.  Things settled down after the first time and then they started back up again.  [I am not sure about Hiroshima heckling Brazell,] Hanshin did mention something, but I was trying to get the game moving.  I was looking at the pitcher so I can not confirm.  If you were to say I was not looking, that would be the case, but there was really nothing I could do."

Brazell is also quoted as saying, "I know [Fukui] was not throwing at me.  But he glared at me a little."

Another Sports Hochi Osaka report includes this quote from Hiroshima GM Kiyoaki Suzuki: "I would like to hear [what the ump was thinking].  Perhaps he thought it was not such a big deal that [Brazell] went toward the mound.  But then it becomes a question of whether he thinks it is ok that young pitchers can be intimidated.  The ump needs to make the right call."

UPDATE 4/12 @ 12:14pm - Sponichi has a slightly different quote from Brazell: "[Fukui] glared at me a bit.  The second time a Hiroshima coach was saying something to me."

And a quote from Fukui: "I did not say anything to anyone, I did not do anything.  I just looked [at Brazell]."

UPDATE 4/12 @ 5:10pm - Brazell was given a stern warning and fined 100,000 yen by the commissioner's office today.

UPDATE 4/13 @ 1:50pm - According to Sanspo, the Tigers sat down with Brazell to get his side of the story and filed a report with the commissioner's office (not a protest).

Today's Ni-gun game against NTT Nishi Nippon: Matt Murton started in right and batted third.  He went 2-for-2 with an RBI: single to right in the 1st inning, RBI single to left in the 3rd inning, walk in the 5th inning (replaced by pinch-runner). [Daily Sports, Nikkan Sports] ... Shinta Hifumi entered the game as a defensive replacement at first in the 6th inning.  He collected an infield single in the 7th inning. [Nikkan Sports]

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Yutaka Wada also told reporters today that Matt Murton is expected to join the Ichi-gun team for workouts on Monday.

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The Tigers decided today that they will send 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito to Ni-gun after starting the season out 0-for-5 with three strikeouts:

March 30: 0-for-2: strikeout swinging, strikeout swinging

April 1: 0-for-3: strikeout looking, fly out to center, fouls out to third, walk

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Craig Brazell participated in pre-game practices at Kyocera Dome today after leaving Saturday's game early because he was not feeling well.  And while Brazell was not in the starting line-up, he did make it in as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the 9th (strikeout swinging).

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Yamoto decided to revert his intro back to the theme song for Senkan Yamato.

Thursday's Ni-gun game against Orix (Buffaloes 4 - Tigers 2): Yasutomo Kubo started the game and gave up two runs on five hits over three innings of work. [Nikkan Sports, Sanspo]

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Ni-gun pitching coach Kiyooki Nakanishi told reporters on Thursday that Yasutomo Kubo could end up getting another Ni-gun start because the team would like to see him toss at least five innings before sending him back to the active roster.  They also want to see a little more power and speed behind his fastballs.

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Craig Brazell will get the start at first over Kenji Jojima on opening day.  Jojima could enter partway through the game as a replacement at first.

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Naoto Tsuru made the opening day roster because he can not only pitch out of the bullpen, but also start.

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito will likely have until Matt Murton returns to show he belongs on the active roster.

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While the Tigers have three players at catcher on their Opening Day roster, only one may be capable of playing: Akihito Fujii.  The other two: Jojima is still not ready to get behind the plate and Shinji Komiyama has not been feeling well.

Ryo Asai could catch if necessary.

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Yoshinoya, Sanspo, and Craig Brazell will be working together again this season to bring Sanspo readers free gyudon meals for every homer Brazell hits this season (two winners, twenty vouchers each).

Last year, Brazell helped give away 360 vouchers with his nine homers; Matt Murton helped give away 1,700 tickets with thirty-one multi-hit games.

Today's Kyoiku League game against Softbank, at Naruohama: 2nd round draft pick Hiroaki Saiuchi entered the game in the 6th and allowed a run (on a solo homer) one hit over an inning of work.  5th round draft pick Ryoma Matsuda tossed a shutout inning in relief and struck out two in a row. [Nikkan Sports]

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Randy Messenger's next start will likely be against the Hiroshima Carp (at Rexxam Stadium) on March 20.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto is scheduled to start Wednesday's game against the Hiroshima (at Kyocera Dome) in left. He did not play in today's game against Seibu and will not play in tomorrow's game against Hiroshima.

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Akihito Fujii and Shinjiro Hiyama played in a Kyoiku League game against Softbank today.  Fujii was the starting catcher and played through to the 5th inning and did not have a hit in two trips to the plate.  Hiyama entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the the 5th inning with runners on first and second and flied out to center.  He remained in the game as a DH and struck out swinging in his second at bat in the 8th.

Fujii could rejoin the Ichi-gun team on Tuesday and play in a game as early as Wednesday.

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Hiroki Uemoto started working out at Naruohama on Saturday.  Uemoto currently has his left elbow in a brace  (will need it for about three weeks) and will do exercises that focus on other parts of his body.  His workouts over the next two weeks or so will likely be limited to indoor exercises.

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Kyuji Fujikawa took a ball off his left leg during fielding practice on Saturday.  He was ok, but jokingly dragged his foot and told reporters that he was going to pitch even if his leg was broken.

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Matt Murton apparently tweaked his left hamstring during Friday's game against the Chiba Lotte Marines.  While the injury does not seem to be serious (Yutaka Wada told reporters he would be playing if this were the regular season), it is what it is and the team is playing it safe.  There is no set timetable for his return, but he could be back with the Ichi-gun sometime on or after March 21.

NOTE: Craig Brazell told reporters that while he had no interest in playing right because he was a first baseman, he would prepare accordingly since things can change during the season.

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Shunsuke returned to Osaka on Saturday because of fever (not the flu).

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Minoru Iwata worked out at the indoor training facilities at Koshien on Saturday and told reporters he really wanted more time to pitch before the start of the regular season (too much practice, not enough games).

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Takahiro Arai usually takes about eight minutes of batting practice, but on Saturday, he pushed that to about twenty minutes.

====== UPDATE @ 11:52pm JST

It seems there is a little more to the Fujikawa story...  According to Sponichi, Fujikawa was assisting with fielding practice drills by catching baseballs thrown in from fielders when Kazuya Tsutsui made an errant throw that bounced off the area above his left knee.  Fujikawa dropped to the ground and was later seen dragging his left foot around.  As he climbed into the bus he jokingly said, "I was taken out by Tsutsui.  Whatever.  I am actually ok."

Fujikawa must have really been ok since he tossed one shutout inning in relief against the Seibu Lions today.

Kohei Shibata rejoined the Ichi-gun team today after being out with inflammation in his left shoulder.

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The first three starters for the regular season will most likely be Atsushi Nomi, Jason Standridge, and Minoru Iwata (vs Yokohama at Kyocera Dome).

Yuya Ando and Yasutomo Kubo will likely pitch in the second series of the season (vs Yakult at Jingu).

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Standridge is scheduled to start Saturday's exhibition game against the Yakult Swallows (at Jingu).  Iwata is slated to start Sunday's exhibition game against the Seibu Lions (at Seibu Dome).

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Craig Brazell got some work in at left during pre-game fielding practices before Thursday's game against the Yokohama Bay Stars.

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Chuo University beat the Ni-gun Hanshin Tigers, 1-0, on Thursday.  Yosuke Shimabukuro started the game for Chuo University and tossed seven shutout innings while allowing three hits.

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The Tigers announced on Thursday that a Ni-gun player was diagnosed with the flu.  There are now three players in the organization with the flu.

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Team president Nobuo Minami attended an Organized Crime Prevention Conference that was held at the Koshien indoor training facilities on Thursday.

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4th round draft pick Kazuo Ito (coming back from right shoulder discomfort) played some outdoor catch at Naruohama today -- he threw thirty baseballs about a max distance of about fifteen meters.

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Akihito Fujii is expected to play in a Kyoiuku League game on March 17.  Depending on how that goes, he could be given the green light to rejoin the Ichi-gun roster and play against the Hiroshima Carp on March 20.

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Hiroyuki Kobayashi was originally scheduled to toss three innings against the Yakult Swallows on Wednesday but instead went just two innings.  He will get to pitch his third inning against the Chiba Lotte Marines (at QVC) on Friday.

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Keiichi Hirano was back in the line-up again on Wednesday after missing two games with right knee pain.

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Of the fifteen pitches Kyuji Fujikawa threw on Wednesday, four were cutters.  He threw the pitch only a handful of times last year.  Fujikawa told reporters he does not plan to throw the cutter during the season.

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Tomoaki Kanemoto started/played left for the first time this year on Wednesday.  He is also slated to play left on the 17th, 21st, 23rd, and 24th.

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The coaches were upset that Craig Brazell did not run more aggressively into second (as in, why he did not slide) in the 2nd inning of Wednesday's game against the Yakult Swallows.  Brazell later explained that his foot got caught.

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Through Wednesday, Kenji Jojima was 9-for-19 with one homer and two RBI over eight exhibition games.

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The front office was informed on Wednesday that season ticket sales so far have come in under initial expectations.  Team owner Shinya Sakai told reporters he felt it might have something to do with the team not making any major moves during the winter, other than hire a new manager, and with the way they have played their exhibition games so far.

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Meiji University beat the Ni-gun Hanshin Tigers, 5-1, on Wednesday.  Shun Ishikawa (Meiji) hit a three-run homer off Robert Zarate in the 7th inning.

The Tigers announced today that Ryo Watanabe's wife gave birth to twins on Wednesday.

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Minoru Iwata is slated to start Saturday's exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters.  Iwata has not pitched in a game since February 23 (intra-squad game, two inning outing).

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Atsushi Nomi's start got rained out today.  How it changes his schedule moving forward is not yet know, but as of Thursday, Sanspo notes that he may be slated to start exhibition games on March 16 (vs Lotte at QVC) and March 23 (vs Orix at Kyocera Dome).

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Takahiro Arai plans to play in Saturday's charity game and could take an early morning Shinkansen back to Kansai on Sunday in order to make the 1pm exhibition game against the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien.

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The Tigers will be giving 1st round draft pick Hayata Ito a "tryout" in center during an exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters at Koshien on Saturday.  Depending on the results of that game, he could end up being dropped to Ni-gun to get more seasoning.

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It appears other players, like Tomoaki Kanemoto (LF), Craig Brazell (LF) and Kenji Jojima (1B) will also be tested at Koshien to see how well they can play the field.

"We have five games at Koshien so we need to make the best of them.  We also have some players that are learning new positions.  We need them to learn more about how Koshien plays.  They might have an idea of how things are, but that feel might be different when they actually take the field.  I want to check on those things and prepare for opening day" said Yutaka Wada.

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The Tigers do not plan on putting Shinjiro Hiyama on the active roster on opening day unless he has had a chance to play in a number of games.  They want to make sure he is 100% when they activate him.

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Akihito Fujii took batting practice at Naruohama today (team staff threw easy pitches).

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Batting stats, through Thursday (includes practice and intra-squad):

• Brazell is 4-for-14 with one homer and four RBI over six games.
• Jojima is 5-for-17 with two homers and five RBI over seven games.
• 1st round draft pick Ito is 6-for-28 with two RBI.

Shinjiro Hiyama took batting practice outdoors for the first time since his injury.

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Kohei Shibata could get to play some defense during a Kyoiku League game against the Chunichi Dragons on March 9.

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Sanspo reports that Daiki Enokida will likely continue to pitch out of the bullpen this year.

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The Tigers got a new batting dummy on Tuesday after their previous dummy suffered "a serious right knee injury" that prevented it from standing upright.

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Matt Murton and Craig Brazell took team staff out to eat Mexican food on Monday night in Hakata.  The food was followed by some Karaoke.

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Brazell hit an inside-the-park home run during an exhibition game against the Softbank Hawks on Tuesday.

The last inside-the-park home run hit during an exhibition game: Yoshimoto Tani (Orix) on March 3, 2001 against Kintetsu.  The last ITP homer hit during a friendly game: Akihiro Yano (Hanshin) against the New York Yankees on March 29, 2004.  Two ITP homers were hit last year: Masato Watanabe (LOT) on July 7, 2011 and Kensuke Uchimura (RAK) on September 24, 2011.  The last Hanshin ITP homer: Tomochika Tsuboi in July 5, 1998 against Hiroshima.

And according to Sponichi, through Tuesday, Brazell is 34-for-92 with seven homers and twenty RBI over five years of exhibition games in Japan.

March 6, 2012 vs Softbank Hawks.

Top of the 6th inning, runner on third, two out.

Craig Brazell up to bat.

5th round draft pick Shinya Kayama on the mound for the Hawks.

(Not my video)

Kyuji Fujikawa is scheduled to pitch two innings in relief during an exhibition game against the Orix Buffaloes on March 4 in Haruno, Kochi.  It will be Fujikawa's first outing in Kochi since 2/28/2010.

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Daiki Enokida's start today was his first since 3/29/2011 (practice game vs Chunichi).

The Tigers are planning to use Enokida as a reliever this season but also want to keep their options open in case someone in the starting rotation falters/gets hurts.  It is also possible he could move into the rotation depending on how other relievers fare during the season.

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Craig Brazell contacted his wife in Alabama on February 22 and asked her to send him the outfield glove he used back in 2003.  That glove arrived in Oknawa a few days ago.

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Nikkan Sports notes that Kenji Jojima has been trying to get into the heads of base-runners at first base by shouting out things like, "Hey, that is a good slide step, good slide step!"

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1st round draft pick Hayata Ito swung the bat 713 times on Monday.