===

Valentine's Day: Shota Dobayashi received about 100 chocolates.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/14/2013

===

Kenta Kurihara felt tightness in his lower back during warm-ups today and ended his day early.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/14/2013

===

Jun Hirose was re-assigned to San-gun camp because of tightness in his back.  Hirose first started feeling the soreness during practices on Wednesday and ended his day a little early.  He will return to Ichi-gun camp once he can participate in regular workouts.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/14/2013

===

Takeru Imamura had a fever on Tuesday and still managed to throw two bullpen sessions on Wednesday.

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/14/2013

===

Shota Dobayashi will begin using a longer and heavier bat after batting coach Hiromasa Arai suggested the change.  Current bat: 33.5 inches, 890 grams.  New bat: 34 inches, 910 grams.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/14/2013, Nikkan Sports 2/14/2013

===

Brad Eldred cut his workouts short after he took a ball off his right ankle during batting practice against a pitching machine today.

Source: Sports Hochi 2/3/2013

===

3rd round draft pick Takashi Uemoto worked out at Ichi-gun camp today in place of Fred Lewis (out with flu).

Source: Nikkan Sports 2/3/2013

===

Shota Dobayashi swung the bat about 300 times during early morning workouts on Saturday.

Source: Sponichi 2/3/2013

Shota Dobayashi will wear the number seven next season.  The number had not been in use since Kenjiro Nomura last wore it in 2005.

Source: Nikkan Spots 12/18/2012

Hiroshima approached Nomura about retiring the number, but he declined.  After fall camp this year, Nomura asked the organization to give the number to a younger player.

"I want [Dobayashi] to do well so that when people think of the number seven, they think of him," said Nomura.  "That would also be good for the team as well".

Incidentally, the Carp originally assign Dobayashi the number thirteen because they wanted him to become a player like Alex Rodriguez.

Source: Sponichi 12/18/2012

Purchase orders for Dobayashi merchandise with the number thirteen were already placed by Hiroshima for next season.  The items will have to be shelved and the organization will eat the losses (over ten million yen).

Source: Sponichi 12/18/2012

Tonight's game between the Rakuten Eagles and Hiroshima Carp at Mazda Stadium.

Bottom of the 2nd inning with runners on first and second and no out.

Shota Dobayashi up to bat for Hiroshima.  Kelvin Jimenez on the mound for Rakuten.

1-2 pitch...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_Q9RNUTkY

Jimenez was ejected from the game for throwing a dangerous pitch.  Dobayashi was replaced by pinch-runner Shogo Kimura.  Jimenez is the first PL pitcher (fourth overall) to be ejected for throwing a dangerous pitch this season

Dobayashi was taken to a hospital and his tests came back negative.  He told reporters he was ok (he actually wanted to continue playing but Kenjiro Nomura erred on the side of caution and pulled him from the game) and that he planned to attend practices on Friday.  As of now, Dobayashi is expected to play in Saturday's game against Nippon Ham.

Kenjiro Nomura told reporters after practices at Mazda Stadium today that Kenta Maeda will be the opening day starter.  He also said that he informed Maeda of his decision the day after he pitched against the Softbank Hawks.

===

The Hiroshima Carp will be loaning the Tokushima Indigo Socks (Island League) two Ikusei players, pitcher Mitsuhiro Nagakawa (24) and catcher Kosuke Nakamura (20), for the 2012 season (from April 3 through until the end of October).

===

Shota Dobayashi is expected to start the year at Ichi-gun.

===

Shota Nakazaki will likely make the opening day roster as a reliever.

===

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura opted to remain with the team on Monday instead of attend his university graduation ceremony.  Nomura's first regular season start could come on April 1 against Chunichi at Nagoya Dome.

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura workouts at Mazda Stadium today included bunt practices and running.  He will not be traveling with the team on their two game road trip against the Seibu Lions (at Seibu Dome, March 13 and 14).

===

Kenjiro Nomura spent some time working with Shota Dobayashi on his hitting during practices at Mazda Stadium today.

===

Ryuhei Matsuyama is hitting the ball well: through ten exhibition games he is 16-for-34 with one homer and eight RBI.

===

The Carp had the day off today.

===

Yoshihiro Maru worked out a Tenpuku Stadium on his day off today.  His workouts lasted about two hours and included running and weight training.  Maru will be joining the Ichi-gun team tomorrow.

===

Shota Dobayashi also worked out at Tenpuku Stadium on his day off today and spent about fifty minutes taking batting practice.

====== UPDATE 2/21 @ 12:52am

The Carp announced on Monday that they will be holding tours at Mazda Stadium this year.  Admission will be 1,000 yen for adults and 500 yen for children.  Tours will run about eighty minutes and include views of the bullpen, dugout, and locker room.

The Carp had the day off today.

The Ichi-gun Carp closed out Okinawa camp on Tuesday and headed to Nichinan, Miyazaki for the second leg of spring camp.

===

The Carp held a staff meeting today and decided to hold off making hard changes to player assignments and will instead try a number of Ni-gun players at Ichi-gun camp first to see if they are ready to be called up.

The team also decided to call Tomonori Maeda up to Ichi-gun camp.  Shigenobu Shima and Ryuji Yokoyama will continue to workout at Ni-gun camp until they are better prepared.

===

Shota Dobayashi has taken two baseballs off his face during spring camp so far: once off his left cheek during indoor fielding practice on February 7 and he was hit near his left eyebrow when a grounder took a bad hop during Tuesday's practice game against the Hanshin Tigers.

===

Masaya Kanemaru will be sent to San-gun camp in Nichinan because of left elbow pains.

===

The Carp drew around 4,000 fans on Tuesday.

Shota Dobayashi has his eyes on the starting third base job.

Takuro Ishii donated 1,082,212 yen to relief efforts in northern Japan (specifically, to help schools and children) via Hearts of Gold, date January 30.

===

Akihiro Higashide spent about an hour and thirty minutes giving Yuta Shirahama advice on his swing after general practices on Monday.  The two were also seen taking swings in the cages this morning.

===

1st round draft pick Yusuke Nomura arrived in Okinawa today -- he was in Tokyo taking final exams at his university.  Nomura bumped in Yuki Saito (HAM) before boarding his flight at Haneda Airport.

===

4th round draft pick Shohei Habu had five teeth capped with gold -- he was initially planning to get his cavities fixed using silver crowns but was told gold was the better option for athletes.

===

Kenta Kurihara spent about 30 minutes giving Shota Dobayashi advice on his swing on Monday.

"I wanted to go home early today, but Dobayashi was just swinging the bat really badly.  And I could not allow him to head into camp in such bad shape," said Kurihara.

He added, "There are things you can also learn by teaching."

===

The Carp coaches will have a much easier time keeping track of player workouts this year.  With the help of NTT Docomo, live feeds of the bullpen and indoor practice area in Okinawa (Ichi-gun) and the bullpen in Nichinan (Ni-gun) will be sent to five smartphones.