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The Ichi-gun players had the day off on Monday.

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John Bowker and Scott Mathieson played some catch (about fifteen minutes) in the grassy area near the team hotel on their day off on Monday.

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According to Sponichi, Bowker uses bats that weigh between 880-890 grams (lighter for more swing speed) and measure 33.5 inches long (shorter for better bat control).

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Yuya Kubo played catch at a distance of about fifty meters on Monday.  He also stepped into the bullpen with his cleats and did some shadow pitching.

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Hirokazu Sawamura faced Daisuke Fujimura and Bowker during batting practice on Sunday and threw fifty-two pitches.  Sawamura threw twenty-seven pitches to Fujimura and allowed two-could be hits.

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Tatsunori Hara tried playing Hisayoshi Chono in right, Taishi Ota in center, and Bowker in left during situational fielding practice on Friday.  At this point, Chono is the only player with a guaranteed job in the outfield.

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Five former Yomiuri Giant players held training sessions at Giants Stadium for fifty-eight university players on Monday.  Four of the five coaches: Tsuneo Horiuchi and Yoshitaka Katori worked with the pitchers; Kazunori Shinozuka was in charge of hitting; and Shuji Nishiyama worked catchers.  The training session will also be held on Tuesday.

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Today was the end of the first block of spring camp for the Ichi-gun Giants.  The team has the day off tomorrow.

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The Giants attracted 18,000 fans on Saturday.

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Hirokazu Sawamura tossed batting practice today (only fastballs) and said his goal for the session was to throw at 50-60%.

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Shuichi Murata stayed back after general practices today and spent fifty minutes taking about 500 swings against a pitching machine.

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Yi-Hao Lin faced Yoshiyuki Kamei and Tetsuya Matsumoto during batting practice on Saturday and threw fifty-one pitches (all fastballs).  Kamei and Matsumoto combined to make solid contact just four times.

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Scott Mathieson is scheduled to pitch in an intra-squad game on February 16.

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The Giants started practice indoors today for the second time in as many days.  While the wind died down a bit since yesterday, the weather was still cold.

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Miyazaki Prefectural Governor Shunji Kono and Miyazaki mayor Tadashi Tojiki visited spring camp today and presented the team with Miyazaki beef, Miyazaki chicken, Miyazaki Hamayu pork, hyuganatsus (citrus fruit), kumquats, and strawberries.  Tatsunori Hara in turn gave the governor and mayor autographed uniforms.

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Hara told reporters today that he planned to select his opening day starter sometime in March.  He also said that there would probably be three candidates.

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Ryosuke Miyaguni left practices early today because he was not feeling well.  He was examined at a hospital and tests for the influenza virus came back negative.  His status for tomorrow's practices are currently up in the air.

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Daisuke Fujimura stayed back after general workouts today for extra fielding practice.

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Max winds in Miyazaki on Thursday reached 19.6m/s at around 10am.  All workouts, other than fielding practices, took place indoors.

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Pitching coach Kazuhisa Kawaguchi spoke to Scott Mathieson about possible balk problems when he pitched out of the stretch during his bullpen session on Thursday.

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Shuichi Murata will attempt to be more selective at the plate after his old college manager, Hiroshi Suzuki, suggested that if he walked more, he could bat .300 and hit 30 homers.

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Evening swing practices began on Thursday.  There were plans to hold the session outdoors but the bad weather moved things indoors.

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Adidas adipure training shoes will be making an appearance at Giants' spring camp.

=== UPDATE 2/4 @ 1:36am

The Giants invited the Miyazaki Police Department's Organized Crime Division to provide Ichi-gun players and coaches with a lecture on organized crimes today.

Giants Eye in Miyazaki: The Giants announced today that they will be setting up cameras in Sun Marine Stadium, Himuka Stadium, Konohana Dome, and in the bullpens at Miyazaki Sports Park during spring camp and will be feeding the footage to the big screens located in Ballpark G.

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The players closed out their early training camp in Miyazaki today.

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Team rep/GM Atsushi Harasawa observed players working out in Miyazaki today.

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Michihiro Ogasawara signed some autographs after staying back for extra batting practice today.

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Yoshinobu Takahashi was excused from practices today because he was still not feeling well.  Takahashi first missed practices on Saturday and managed to get through most of the workouts on Sunday.  Team officials are telling reporters it is not serious (no fever, but headaches and a sore throat).

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Levi Romero arrived in Japan on Sunday.

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When Shinnosuke Abe approached Shuichi Murata for advice on Taishi Ota's hitting mechanics on Sunday, Muarata replied, "[Ota] has a tendency to lunge forward so it might be better if he relaxes more when he starts his swing."

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Bullpen sessions:

Monday

Hirokazu Sawamura tossed 34 pitches, including his slider.  He later told reporters he was throwing at about 60-70%.

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Tetsuya Utsumi threw 49 pitches to a squatting catcher.

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Toshiya Suiguchi threw 28 pitches, including his slider, to a squatting catcher.  This was his third bullpen session in as many days (but the first time he threw to a squatting catcher).

D.J. Houlton arrived at Narita Airport today and told reporters that he already tossed two bullpen sessions before coming to Japan.

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Actress Masami Nagasawa participated in workouts (warm-ups, fielding practice) with the Giants at Miyazaki Sports Park today as part of a story for Kaze to Rock (free newspaper).

The Urawa Red Diamonds (soccer), also holding workouts in Miyazaki Sports Park, spent some time watching BP and bullpen sessions today.

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The Giants attending early training camp in Miyazaki worked out indoors on Saturday due to the rain.

Yoshinobu Takahashi was excused from practice because he was not feeling well, but he did suit up for photos in the afternoon.  Takahashi was back at practices today.

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Hisayoshi Chono spent time in the cages on Saturday working on bunts.

Chono's workouts today started at around 10am and lasted about three and a half hours.

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Hirokazu Sawamura signed an advisory contract with Under Armor.

Sawamura threw a cutter during his bullpen session on Saturday.  The pitch apparently is not for use during games, just during practice sessions.

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Ni-gun manager Masahiro Kawai does not want players to wear sunglasses during Ni-gun spring camp.

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Bullpen sessions:

Sunday

Toshiya Sugiuchi threw 26 pitches (standing catchers).  That is three more than he threw on Saturday.

Saturday

Tetsuya Utsumi threw 44 pitches.

The winners of the 2011 Hochi Pro Sports Awards were decided on Monday.  Takuya Asao and Seiichi Uchikawa were both informed that were going to be presented with the CL and PL awards, respectively, during a ceremony on 12/20.  Hirokazu Sawamura was selected for the Fresh award.

Hirokazu Sawamura (YOM) and Kazuhisa Makita (SEI) were selected as Rookies of the Year for the Central and Pacific Leagues, respectively.

A Yomiuri Giant player has now won the award four straight seasons (a first in NPB history): Tetsuya Yamaguchi (2008), Tetsuya Matsumoto (2009), Hisayoshi Chono (2010), Sawamura.  Sawamura is also the first RoY winner to toss 200 or more innings since Shigeyuki Takahashi (1964) in the CL and Hideo Nomo (1990) in the PL.

Makita is the first Seibu Lion rookie since Daisuke Matsuzaka in 1999.  He is also just the third RoY winner to record 20 or mores saves.  The other two are Koji Mise with 28 in 2004 and Masafumi Hirai with 27 in 1995.

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Voting Results

Central League

Pacific League

Via Sponichi, Yu Darvish posted an update at his blog on Tuesday that revealed he was training with Yomiuri Giant Hirokazu Sawamura.  He also writes that he did the following exercises to strengthen his back: deadlifts, wide grip pull-ups, barbell rows, lat pull downs, and close grip pull-ups.

Shinnosuke Abe was selected as this year's Tokyo Dome MVP.  Over 63 games at the Dome, Abe batted .312 (58-for-186), hit 13 homers, and drove in 37 RBI.  Abe will receive a plaque and 3M yen.

The 2011 Tokyo Dome Special Rookie Award was give to 23-year-old Hirokazu Sawamura.  While Sawamura was only 5-6 at the Dome, he did post a 2.39 ERA / 1.05 WHIP over 94.1 innings of work.  Sawamura will get a plaque and 1M yen.

Hisayoshi Chono (YOM) knocked out a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th against the Yokohama Bay Stars.  Not only was it the first pinch-hit walk-off grand slam since Isao Hirono in 1971, it was also the Central League's 1,000th grand slam -- a Satoshi Sugiyama recorded the first CL grand slam on 4/9/2005; the PL is currently on 1,006; including the 82 grand slams during the one-league format, a total 2,088 grand slams have been hit in pro yakyu history.

Hirokazu Sawamura (YOM) became the first rookie pitcher in the CL to record 200 innings since Yutaka Enatsu tossed 230.1 innings in 1967.  Sawamura missed out on being the first rookie to record an ERA under 2 since Tsuneo Horiuchi registered a 1.39 ERA in 1966.

Shuichi Murata (YOK) became the 57th player in NPB history to reach the 250 homer milestone -- the homer came in the top of the 2nd off Sawamura (YOM).  Murata hit a second homer in his second at bat of the game for 20 on the year.

Shinji Ohara (YOK) appeared in his 71st game of the year and set a new record for appearances by a rookie (since the two league format began in 1950).

The Yokohama Bay Stars finished their 4th straight season with a winning percentage under .400.  The last team to do that: Kintetsu between 1057 and 1961.

Seiichi Uchikawa (SOF) became just the second player in NPB history win batting titles in both the CL and PL.

The Hawks became the first team in NPB history (since the two league format began in 1950) to have three players that played in every inning of every game: Munenori Kawasaki, Yuichi Honda, and Nobuhiro Matsuda.

Soichi Fujita (SOF) became the 36th player in NPB history to appear in 600 games over his career.