The Orix Buffaloes announced today that Seung-Yeop Lee will not be returning next year because the team decided to accept his request for release.  A press conference is scheduled for the 21st.

Incidentally, Sponichi reports that Lee could return to the KBO and play for the Samsung Lions.

UPDATE 10/21 @ 4:09pm - Lee told reporters at his press conference at Hotto Motto Field earlier today that his 8 years in Japan were full of things he could not put into words and that he felt he deserved some of the blame for the team not making the Climax Series this year.

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See also:

Orix Buffaloes: Seung-Yeop Lee wants to return to play in the KBO

According to Nikkan Sports, Seung-Yeop Lee wants to return to Korea next season to play in the KBO despite being in the middle of a 2-year deal.  Lee is said to have already spoken to the Buffaloes about his desire.

Career NPB Stats

According to Sport Hochi:

Seung-Yeop Lee is in the first year of a 2-year deal.  For the time being, it seems he will be returning to the club next season.  An unnamed team personnel told reporters that Lee is good friend with Dae-Ho Lee and that it would be interesting to watch the two of them batting in the same line-up.

Chan Ho Park signed a 1-year deal before the start of the season.  The team is uncertain whether or not they'll give him an extension for next season and will consider a number of things, including his physical condition, before making their final decision.

Softbank Hawks

Toshiya Sugiuchi became the 129th pitcher in NPB history to notch 100 career victories.  The victory came against the Chiba Lotte Marines and was accomplished in his 4th attempt.  He's also the first pitcher in franchise history to record 100 wins since Takanori Yamauchi in 1992.

Sugiuchi picked up his first victory on 4/1/2002 against the Chiba Lotte Marines.

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Munenori Kawasaki became the 42nd player in NPB history to steal 250 bases.  The stolen base came in the 4th inning of today's game against the Chiba Lotte Marines -- he stole second off Tomohisa Otani with Yuichi Honda in the batter's box and the count 1-2.

Kawasaki stole his first base on 6/19/2002 (vs Seibu).

Orix Buffaloes

Seung-Yeop Lee became the 155th player in NPB history to record 150 home runs.  The homer came in the 6th inning of today's game agaisnt the Seibu Lions.  Hideaki Wakui (SEI) was on the mound for Seibu.

Lee's first career homer came on 4/4/2004 off Nagisa Arakaki (Daiei).  He has also hit 324 homers in the KBO.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Today's practice game against the Samsung Lions:

The Lions beat the Buffaloes, 2-1.

Yuki Nishi started the game and did not allow a run over 3 innings and held the Lions to just 1 hit.

The Buffaloes had a chance to score some runs in the 3rd inning when Masato Fukae (5th round) stepped into the batter's box with runners on first and third and 1 out.  Unfortunately, Fukae couldn't capitalize on the opportunity and wrapped into a double play to end the inning.

Seung-Yeop Lee went 1-for-3 in the game.  His hit was a double that came in his third at bat in the 7th inning.

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Chihiro Kaneko started his rehab today at Miyakojima Stadium.  A team spokesperson told reporters that while there isn't a lot Kaneko can do right now, he'll work on doing whatever he can.  Kaneko returned to Miyakojima yesterday.

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Akinobu Okada told reporters yesterday that he'll use Seung-Yeop Lee during practice games against Samsung Lions today and the Yomiuri Giants on the 22nd (Lee has played for both teams).  He also said that Takahiro Okada will play in all four practice games.  Akinobu Okada also added that he doesn't care of T-Okada doesn't hit any homers before the start of the regular season, so long as he hits them during the regular season.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

===== 2/10 @ 11:03pm

Chan Ho Park faced Seung-Yeop Lee during BP today and threw 15 pitches while giving up 6 could-be hits, including 2 that went over the fence.

"He told me he couldn't hit the inside pitches, so I asked him why he was able to hit them," said Park while smirking.

Park also faced Takahiro Okada and threw an additional 20 pitches.

===== 2/10 @ 5:25pm

So Taguchi took the day off today due to a cold.  It doesn't appear to be the flu.

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The Buffaloes are currently thinking Chihiro Kaneko will return in June, perhaps in time for, or in the middle of, the Inter-league series.

Said Akinobu Okada, "This can't be a partial recovery.  It doesn't matter if he takes his time.  We just need to make sure the team is in a position where it makes sense for him to return.  And that means other players will need to pick up the slack until then."

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One of the Buffaloes' mascots took a cue from Ichiro's suggestion that Takahiro Okada wear a thong in order to make his nickname T-Okada stick out more, by giving Okada a mask in the shape of a thong as a birthday present yesterday.  Okada told reporters he would wear the mask if the team won a championship.

Akinobu Okada also told reporters that he expected Okada to play out a full season without taking any days off.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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The Buffaloes have the day off today.

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Chan Ho Park did some running and played some catch on his day off today. ... Takahiro Okada also worked out today, spending about an hour in the indoor training facilities. ... The five rookies spent their day off relaxing at a hot spring in Miyakojima. ... And So Taguchi and Takeshi Hidaka went out to Kurimajima (about 9km away from the team hotel) by bicycle for some site-seeing.  The two also spent some time on the beach in the middle of a down pour with Taguchi reciting lines from one of Antonio Inoki's poems.

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Alfredo Figaro told reporters yesterday that he's been practicing how to use chopsticks and jokingly said that it was probably helping him strengthen his fingers.

Figaro threw 35 pitches during his bullpen session yesterday (his second in as many days).  He also threw his slider, change, and a new fork he learned from Jose Valverde last September.  The Buffaloes currently see Figaro as a starter.

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Akinobu Okada would like to see Seung-Yeop Lee hit 40 homers this year.  During BP yesterday, Lee swung the bat 96 times and hit 12 over the fence.  Lee has decided to go back to the bat he was using during his first year with the Yomiuri Giants in 2006 (34 inches, 900 grams).

This post will be updated throughout the day.

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Seung-Yeop Lee took 97 swings of the bat and hit 10 over the fence.  The Buffaloes also had two people handling the Korean media (13 reporters from 6 media companies).

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Mike Hessman took 45 swings of the bat during BP and hit 16 over the fence.  His last shot traveled likely traveled more than 130 meters.

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Six Korean media companies covered the first day of spring camp.

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Chan Ho Park apparently told Akinobu Okada that he wants to help coach the younger pitchers on the team.

The Orix Buffaloes are apparently thinking about holding a press conference to introduce both Chan Ho Park and Seung-Yeop Lee at Kyocera Dome some time near the end of January next year.  And in seeing how well the Fighters drew with Yuki Saito's press conference, the Buffaloes are also thinking about opening the press conference up to the public (for free).

With the additions of Seung-Yeop Lee and Chan Ho Park, the Buffaloes have started getting more calls from Korea.  In order to account for the potential increase in the Korean fan base, the Buffaloes are apparently considering some of the following ideas:

Providing a portion of their website in Korean.

Putting up signs in Korean around the stadium and having announcements made in Korean.

Merchandising opportunities involving the two players, including special food items (similar to the way the Chiba Lotte Marines started the Kim Chee Tae-Kyung Burger  after Tae-Kyun Kim).

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The Buffaloes currently have four practice games scheduled for the month of February.  One of them will apparently be against the Yomiuri Giants -- Akinobu Okada apparently phoned Tatsunori Hara directly to request a practice game.