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The Lions prepared 100 surgical masks for people visiting the team on Monday.

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1st round draft pick Ken Togame tossed batting practice today.  He faced Masato Kumashiro and Takuya Hara and allowed two could-be hits on thirty-six pitches.

2nd round draft pick Hirotaka Koishi faced Shogo Akiyama and Hideto Asamura during batting practice today.  He threw forty-three pitches, nineteen for balls.

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Takeya Nakamura is thinking about using a heavier bat this season: from 930 grams to 950 grams.  Nakamura has been using a 940 gram bat during practices so far.

The Lions released their roster assignments for spring camp today.

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The Lions announced the following position changes for the player register today: Tomohito Yoneno (catcher to outfielder) and 3rd round draft pick Hitoto Komazuki (catcher to outfielder).

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Tatsuya Oishi threw about 50 pitches in the bullpen today (standing and half-standing catcher).  This was his second bullpen session in as many days.

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Takeya Nakamura took 130 swings over about 40 minutes during his BP session with Yataro Sakamoto on Monday.

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Sanspo's list of possible candidates for the starting rotation: Hideaki Wakui, Takayuki Kishi, Fumiya Nishiguchi, Kazuhisa Ishii, Kazuhisa Makita, Yusei Kikuchi, Oishi, and Enrique Gonzalez.

Hisanobu Watanabe also told reporters that 1st round draft pick Ken Togame and 2nd round draft pick Hirotaka Koishi will begin their pro careers as starters (that could change based on how they perform).

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Former Lion Kimiyasu Kudo will be a commentator for Bunka Hoso's Lions' Nighter this year.

Yataro Sakamoto threw 100+ pitches (fastballs and curves) to Takeya Nakamura during BP today.

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Hideaki Wakui showed up and worked out at Seibu 2 Stadium for the first time this year.  His workouts included running, playing catch, and strength training exercises.  Wakui also worked out with other players like Tatsuya Oishi.

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Oishi threw about 30 pitches (mostly fastballs) in the bullpen (half-bent catcher).  This was apparently his fourth bullpen session.  He also threw at about 60-70%.

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Hisanobu Watanabe watched the 2011 draft class working out at Seibu 2 Stadium on Sunday.  He later told reporters about how he might try playing Hiroyuki Nakajima at third, Hideto Asamura at short, and Takeya Nakamura at first.

Incidentally, Nakamura told reporters that while he would like to play third, he also understands the team has needs.

Six players, including Takumi Kuriyama, attended a lifesaving training course at Seibu Dome on Wednesday.  Kuriyama told reporters that he wanted to help support the proliferation of AED devices around Japan.

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Takeya Nakamura has managed to maintain his weight at around 105kg this winter by relying on a balanced diet.  And while Nakamura's weight has not changed much since 2005, the amount he eats has.

"I do not eat like crazy anymore.  I am fine with one serving [of rice].  I eat vegetables as well, but I think of them as medicine," said Nakamura.

Takeya Nakamura's meeting with the Seibu Lions on Thursday lasted about 50 minutes.  The team is not known for handing out multi-year deals, but with Nakamura set to earn his domestic FA option some time next season, they decided to take the necessary measures to make sure he remains for at least three seasons.

Said GM Haruhiko Suzuki, "[Nakamura] is special.  The multi-year deal shows that we want him to stay.  There is no one else in Japan that can hit as many homers and drive in as many runs.  He is number one."

According to Sponichi, the Lions gave Kazuhisa Ishii a two-year deal to join them after the 2007 season.  They also offered Kazuo Matsui a four-year deal after the 2003 season, but he ended up leaving for the Majors.

Sanspo is carrying the following comments taken during Nakamura's press conference on Thursday:

What are your thoughts now that negotiations are over?

I think they thought highly of the home run and RBI titles I won this season, in addition to all the homes I hit despite the new baseball.

You got a big three-year deal worth 1B yen...

I felt really wanted me when they offered such a big contract, even though I have not yet earned my FA option.

Are you satisfied with the two titles you won?

I think I was able to do ok, though it seems others had trouble.  I was two homers away from 50.  I was not really satisfied about that.  If I can hit one more home run a month, I will get there.

There's a good chance [Hiroyuki] Nakajima will be leaving...

I think those shoes will be tough to fill.  I want to do what I can to help fill them.

[Takumi] Kuriyama became captain and chairman of the team's player's group...

Kuriyama knows how to be a leader.  I am vice chairman so I will approach the season as if I were vice captain.  Everyone, please give Kuriyama one third of the space you plan to give me.

Takeya Nakamura met with the Seibu Lions today and signed a three-year deal worth an estimated 1B yen.  He is scheduled to earned about 250M yen next season.

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Career Stats

For the first time since 1954, one player amassed more homers than an entire team.

Through 144 games, the Chiba Lotte Marines hit 46 homers.  In the same amount of games, Takeya Nakamura managed to hit 48 homers.

It should also be noted that Tadahito Iguchi led the Marines with 9 home runs.  So not only were the Marines outhit by Nakamura this year, but they also finished out a full season without one player reaching double-digits in homers for the first time in franchise history.

As promised, here is the chart for Takeya Nakamura.  Next on the list, Mitsutaka Goto.

And as always, if you'd like a chart for a specific player, just post the name down in the comments section.

Sponichi mentions the following interesting tidbits on Takeya Nakamura from this season:

• Through August, the Lions were 13-15 in games Nakamura homered in.  Through 21 games in September, they're 8-1.
• Nakamura has 9 homers so far this month.  One more in the next 5 games the Lions player in September and he'll become the first player to hit 10 homers in a month since the NPB started using the new regulation ball this season.  9, the current high for one month, was also set by Nakamura back in June, and by Kenta Kurihara (HIR) in August.
• Of the 413 homers hit in the Pacific League (through to the end of 9/25), Nakamura has 42 of them, or about 10.2%.  The last player to come close to that (with at least 20 or more homers) is Hiroshi Oshita (Senator), when he recorded 20 of the 211 homers (9.5%) hit in 1946.  That means Nakamura has a shot at becoming the first player ever to record a percentage at or above 10%.

Takeya Nakamura became the 96th player in NPB history to knock out 200 home runs.

The home run came on the first pitch he saw from Brian Wolfe (HAM) in the bottom of the 7th inning with no one on, 1 out, and the Lions up 6-3.

Nakamura notched his first NPB homer on 7/24/2004.  That puts his 200th homer in his 787th game, good for 11th quickest on the all-time list (which is headed by Alex Cabrera at 538 games).  When considering only Japanese players, Nakamura's 787 games is only behind Koichi Tabuchi and Koji Akiyama's 714 and Hiromitsu Ochiai's 760.  That's also 37 games quicker than Kazuhiro Kiyohara's 824.

(UPDATE 9/20 @ 6:41am - additional facts added)