Masanori Ishikawa set a new franchise record with his fourth career opening day victory.  The previous record of three was held by Masaichi Kaneda, Hiromu Matsuoka, and Kazuhisa Ishii.

Ishikawa was also just two outs away from becoming the first pitcher to toss a no-hitter on opening day.

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At forty-one years and four months, Shinya Miyamoto became the second oldest Central League player to record three (or more) hits in an opening day game.  The oldest: Hiromitsu Ochiai with three hits in 1998 at the age of forty-four years and three months.

Miyamoto is now twenty-two hits away from 2,000.

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The Swallows decided not to pitch Yoshinori Sato during a Ni-gun game on Saturday.  There does not appear to be any sort of set timetable for when Yoshinori will pitch, other than the team wanting to wait until he is 100% ready to pitch.

There is a chance Yoshinori will not be able to make it to the active roster until mid-April.

Since Masanori Ishikawa's start was rained out today, he will get to pitch in a Ni-gun game against Nippon Ham at Toda on Saturday.  Kyohei Muranaka will start Saturday's exhibition game against the Seibu Lions.

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Shohei Tateyama will likely get some work out of the bullpen on Saturday.

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Shingo Kawabata joined the Ichi-gun team today and is scheduled to play in Saturday's game against the Seibu Lions (Jingu).

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Junji Ogawa told reporters today that Chang-Yong Lim will be sent down to Ni-gun to continue his preparations for the season -- they do not want to rush him.  This also leaves open the possibility that Lim starts the season at Ni-gun, which could be good news for players like Wladimir Balentien and Orlando Roman, since the two were competing for the last remaining foreign player roster spot.

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The first three pitchers in the starting rotation will likely be: Ishikawa, Muranaka, and Katsuki Akagawa.

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The Swallows announced the start of the Shinya Miyamoto 2,000 Hit Support Project today.

And when Miyamoto records his 2,000th hit, the Swallows plan to celebrate by giving fans with the names "Miyamoto" or "Shinya" and fans in their forties or with the number six in their age a discount on tickets to the 2,000th Hit Commemorative Game -- 3,000 yen reserved seat A tickets on the first base side will be priced at 2,000 yen.

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Lastings Milledge and his girlfriend made the headlines today.

Nine players, including Junji Ogawa, Shinya Miyamoto, Masanori Ishikawa, and Yoshinori Sato, worked out at the indoor training facilities at Jingu before meeting with 300 season ticket holders for about an hour (played catch, signed autographs).

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Kyohei Muranaka's start against the Hanshin Tigers was rained out today.

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Wladimir Balentien showed up with blond hair today.

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Kazuhiro Hatakeyama worked out for about three hours today.

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Masanori Ishikawa will likely be the opening day starter after tossing five solid innings in his start against the Orix Buffaloes on Friday.  Assuming he really gets the opening day start, it will be his fifth opening day start in a row and seventh overall.

The Swallows worked out for about two hours at Sapporo Dome today.

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Shinya Miyamoto will likely begin playing third base starting from Saturday (instead of DH).

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Wladimir Balentien had his right elbow examined at a hospital in Tokyo on Thursday.  While the team did not inform the press what kind of injury Balentien suffered, it does not appear to be serious.  The Swallows did, however, decide not to take him on their road trip to Sapporo this weekend.

The injury, coupled with his slow start could mean that Balentien begins the season at Ni-gun.

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Masanori Ishikawa (tightness in left calf) currently plans on participating in the March 10 charity game.  Said Ishikawa, "I will toss a bullpen session sometime around the 5th.  I should be fine by the 10th."

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1st round draft pick Ryuhei Kawakami attended his high school graduation on Thursday.

Masanori Ishikawa could end up skipping the March 10 charity game due to tightness in his left calf.

Ishikawa started feeling the tightness while running on Monday.  The injury does not appear to be serious at this point (he has not gone to the hospital), but the team does not want to risk turning it into something more.

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Yoshinori Sato participated in a recording for the theme song for an NHK program on the Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami today.

The Swallows closed out spring camp in Urasoe today.

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Masanori Ishikawa took things slow during practice today due to tightness in his left calf.  Ishikawa tweaked the calf during practices on Monday.

Ishikawa probably will not travel with team to Sapporo for their exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters on March 3.  His status for the charity game on March 10 is unknown at this point.

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Yoshinori Sato has been testing cleats during spring camp that have one fewer spike than the version he used last season.  His next possible outings: an exhibition game against the Nippon Ham Fighters March 4 and an exhibition game against Hiroshima on March 11.

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Through Monday, Ueda is 15-for-34 over nine games.

Masanori Ishikawa tried dropping his arm angle a little when throwing the shuto and slider during Saturday's exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers and found that he was able to get some interesting movement on the pitches.

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Wladimir Balentien did not take batting practice on Friday because of pain in his right elbow.

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The Swallows plan to continue holding evening practices even after spring training ends (during March and throughout the regular season).

The players, not including veterans and foreign players, have gotten together at around 8:30pm on most nights during spring camp in order to work on their swings for about an hour.

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Yoshinori Sato has been invited by NHK to participate in a group song recording for revitalizing northern Japan.

The Swallows worked out indoors today because of the rain.

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Masanori Ishikawa is scheduled to start Saturday's exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers.

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Junji Ogawa hinted to reporters on Thursday that he can not afford to wait too long on Wladimir Balentien.  The Swallows currently have five foreign players which means Balentien could start the season at Ni-gun.

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Some batting numbers through Thursday:

• Balentien is 1-for-14 over six games.
• Tetsuto Yamada is 12-for-31 over eight games.

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Today was the last day of the third block of spring camp for the Ni-gun Swallows.  The Ni-gun Swallows have the day off tomorrow.

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Ryoji Aikawa currently weighs ninety-three kilograms and would like to stay above ninety for the start of the regular season.

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Junji Ogawa hinted to reporters on Saturday that Masanori Ishikawa may be his current pick to start on opening day.  Ishikawa is currently scheduled to start a game against the Hanshin Tigers on February 25.

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Shohei Tateyama could get to pitch against the Rakuten Eagles on February 26.

Between bullpen sessions and situational batting practice, Tateyama threw a total 136 pitches on Saturday.

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Eiji Bando visited Swallows' camp on Saturday.

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Yoshinori Sato originally planned to throw thirty pitches during his bullpen session on Sunday.  He also plans to mix in off-speed pitches once he is able to throw sixty to seventy pitches.

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A slight scare: Tetstuo Yamada hit a baseball back up the middle that struck Masanori Ishikawa in the back during batting practice on Sunday.  Ishikawa was lifted after the play and told reporters he was feeling fine.

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Junji Ogawa told reporters on Sunday that he plans to give younger outfielders a chance to prove themselves during practice games on Monday and Tuesday.

"I will not make firm decisions after two games, but I will use what I see in the two games to rank players," said Ogawa.