Twelve players exchanged high-fives with fans before the start of practices today.  Kazuki Yoshimi, Masato Kobayashi, and the Donoue brothers (Naomichi and Takehiro) were amongst the twelve players.  About 335 fans showed up.

FYI: the first high-five session that was scheduled on January 20 was canceled due to rain.

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Motonobu Tanishige took part in a talk session at Nagoya Miryoku Hasshin Shop, Nagomiya today.  About 100 fans attended the 30 minute event.

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Takuya Asao, Junki Ito, Hirokazu Ibata, Masahiro Araki, and Kei Nomoto spent about two hours meeting patients at Japanese Red Cross Nagoya Daiichi Hospital today.

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Araki told reporters today that his experience at short may have helped him become a better second baseman as well.

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Pitching coach Hiroshi Gondo told reporters that they could end up using Hitoki Iwase and Asao as closers this year.  Seems the team is concerned with Asao's fatigue -- he has appeared in 151 games in two years.

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Yudai Ono and Yoshimi closed out their training with Wei-Ying Chen in Fukuoka and returned to Nagoya Stadium to continue their workouts on Monday (January 23).

Ono has been tweaking his mechanics to make better use of his lower body.

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Takeshi Yamamsaki took part in the player training camp taking place at Nagoya Stadium on Monday.  He also introduced himself to the 2011 draft class.

Motonobu Tanishige became the 32nd player in NPB history to reach 350 career doubles.

The double came in the top of the 2nd with runners on second and third, 1 out, and the Dragons up 5-2.  Takahiko Nomaguchi was on the mound for the Yomiuri Giants.

Tanishige recorded his very first double on 5/30/1989.

The Dragons took Motonobu Tanishige off the active roster today due to the injury he sustained to his left knee during a collision play at home plate yesterday.  Tanishige was at Nagoya Dome today, but did show up on the field in order to get treatment on his knee.

Head coach Shigekazu Mori told reporters the team still had no idea if Tanishige would be able to return after 10 days and that they would simply have to make do with what they currently have.

Motonobu Tanishige would like to play for at least another 4 years (although he realizes at his age, he also needs to play year to year), which could be long enough for him to break Katsuya Nomura's NPB record of 3,017 games.  Tanishige is currently sitting on 2,534 and is 484 games away from breaking the record.  And with 1,810 hits, he's also a good candidate to reach the 2,000-hit milestone as well.

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Shinji Iwata has been pushing forward with his training and is hoping to get some time in the bullpen before the end of the month.

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Atsushi Fujii would like to play in every game of the season and is hoping to improve on his fielding and on his bunting during spring camp.

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Hirokazu Ibata was apparently involved in a minor car accident on December 29.  According to Ibata, he was stuck in traffic when the car behind him bumped in his car from behind.  There was a dent in his bumper, but no other serious damage (no problems with whiplash as of now).  The people in the car that bumped in his car was an old couple; he told them not to worry about the repairs.

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Junki Ito celebrated Coming of Age Day in Inazawa, Aichi today.

Motonobu Tanishige (CHU) was taken out of last night's game (vs Yakult) on defense in the 4th inning.  When reporters asked Hiromitsu Ochiai what the problem was, he answered by saying that he wasn't a doctor and didn't know.

Assuming Tanishige was injured, the Dragons will likely call up a catcher from Ni-gun today.

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Norihiro Nakamura (RAK) injured his right hamstring while running the bases in the 2nd inning of last night's game against the Chiba Lotte Marines.  He was replaced by a pinch-runner and treated with ice (he did not go to the hospital).  No word on his status moving forward.

It seems Motonobu Tanishige will be ready to return to playing tonight after he complained of left elbow pains and missed 5 games.  Tanishige took part in practice yesterday and didn't appear to have any problems during BP.  And according to the coaches, he's ok on defense as well.  Tanishige may not be in the starting line-up, but could see action later on during the game as a defensive replacement.

Motonobu Tanishige had his left elbow examined at a hospital yesterday.  While details of his diagnosis are unknown, it appears as though the injury isn't serious since the club will be leaving Tanishige on the active roster.  Tanshige will be in the dugout for the Yakult game tonight, but likely won't be available.

4:11pm JST

Tanishige told reporters that he tweaked his left elbow while swinging the bat.  It's still not certain if there was an underlying injury before hand, but whatever it was, something happened when he swung and missed a pitch during his second at bat in the 4th inning.

1:38am JST

Motonobu Tanishige was taken out last night's game against the Yakult Swallows in the bottom of the 4th inning due to an injury to his left arm.  Seems he originally injured his arm in a previous game and aggravated it during the game last night.

Motonobu Tanishige became the 8th player in NPB history to play in 2,500 games last night.  That's also good for 2nd amongst all catcher's in NPB history (behind Katsuya Nomura's 3,017) and best amongst all active players (the second closest is Takuro Ishii with 2,287).

Tanishige was also hit by a pitch twice last night.  That gives him 100 in his career (good for 15th on the All-time list).