The Giants were apparently a bit tense yesterday as pre-game practice ended at Nagoya Dome and Marc Kroon walked over to the stands to do is his meet and greet with fans and sign autographs.

The last time the Giants were at Nagoya Dome, Kroon got into it with a spectator in the stands and both sides had to be escorted away.  This time around, the Giants didn't want to take any chances and had a number of people on the field keeping an eye on Kroon.  Nagoya Dome was also concerned and had two security guards in the vicinity in case something broke out again.

Fortunately for everyone involved, there were no unexpected surprises this time around.

Tatsunori Hara told reporters yesterday that he still plans to utilize Marc Kroon (YOM) as a closer despite his last two outings.

On the 27th, Kroon blew a save opportunity and gave up a game-tying 2-run homer to Takahiro Iwamoto (HIR) in the bottom of the 9th (with one out).  The Giants ended up losing that game 9-7 in the bottom of the 12th.

Kroon then followed up that game by serving up another 2-run homer to Iwamoto in the bottom of the 9th (this time with two outs and the score 12-9) on the 29th.  Fortunately for the Giants (and Kroon), Micheal Nakamura was able to protect the one run lead and close out the game.

8/19/2010 2:41pm JST

The man in the stands Kroon was arguing with was in his 60's.  When questioned about spitting at Kroon, the man said that his false teeth popped out and apparently said nothing else to deny the allegations.

And according to Sanspo, the Giants had about 5 people trying to calm Kroon down over a period of 15 minutes.

8/18/2010 7:58pm JST

It seems Marc Kroon was getting heckled by a spectator during pre-game practice at Nayoga Dome earlier today.  An argument then erupted between the two with Kroon claiming that the man spit at him (the spectator of course denied doing such a thing).  Kroon was pulled away and taken into the clubhouse while the spectator was escorted out of the stands for questioning.

Marc Kroon apparently jammed a finger when he stopped a come-backer to the mound on Saturday night (and with the bases juiced and two out).  So instead of throwing the ball to first, he rolled it over to first.  Fortunately for Kroon (and the Giants), they were playing on artificial turf.

Courtesy Youtube (not my video):

I'm guessing that on a natural grass surface, the ball doesn't make it to first.

Marc Kroon should be back on the active roster again today.  On Monday, Kroon tossed a shutout inning in relief against Ni-gun Lotte.  And yesterday, Kroon joined the Ichi-gun team for pre-game practice yesterday and worked on his fielding and ran some sprints.

Kroon told reporters yesterday that while he felt some pain from pitching on Monday, it wasn't the kind that would prevent him from throwing.

That's good news for the Giants, especially after Testuya Yamaguchi gave up a walk-off HBP last night to the Yakult Swallows.  Incidentally, it seems last night marked the third time the Giants lost a game on a walk-off HBP in franchise history.

And it wasn't all bad news for the Giants' pitching staff last night.  Seth Greisinger only last four innings, he did manage to throw 76 pitches and he only gave up 1 run.  That's a positive step forward.

Greisinger told reporters that he was still lacking in arm strength but felt he could build that back up over his outings.

Marc Kroon tossed a perfect inning in relief against Ni-gun Lotte on Monday and will be joining up with the Ichi-gun roster for practice on Tuesday.  Kroon told reporters that while his leg wasn't quite 100%, it was good enough to allow him to pitch.  The Giants could add Kroon back onto the active roster as soon as the 11th (dependent on how he's feeling Tuesday).

9:17am JST

Kroon tossed 35 pitches in the bullpen during pre-game practice on Sunday before sitting down with the manager and pitching coach and deciding on his removal from the active roster.

12:54am JST

The Yomiuri Giants took Marc Kroon off the active roster on the Sunday so that he can focus on getting his left hamstring better.  Kroon told reporters that he thought he'd be able to return in 10-days time and that if he had to throw now, he'd be able to.

Marc Kroon got his left hamstring checked out at a hospital on Thursday and his tests came back negative.  Still, he did tell reporters that he felt some tightness and pain in the area.  To that end, Kroon was not available to pitch Thursday night -- the Giants will likely spend the next couple of days observing how his hamstring is doing.

It seems Marc Kroon may have re-injured his left hamstring while retiring Masahiko Morino last night.  Kroon was originally set to toss two inning last night.  But after retiring the side in order in the 10th inning (Morino was the last batter he faced) and returning to the dugout with a slight limp, the Giants yanked him in favor of Tetsuya Yamaguchi for the 11th inning.

Kroon is expected to get the hamstring examined some time later today, after which the team will determine what their next course of action will be (that is, do they take him off the active roster or not).

Marc Kroon felt some discomfort in his left hamstring during an outing on the 21st (vs Yakult at Tokyo Dome).  On Saturday, Kroon joined up with the team at Giants Stadium for practice and had a chance to check his left hamstring with a bullpen session.

Kroon told reporters that while he did feel some pain in his hamstring, it wasn't severe enough to affect his pitching.  He also said that he should be ready to pitch when the second-half of the season begins on the 27th.