=== 3/26/2010 1:45am JST

...The Giants worked out for about 2 hours on Thursday.

...Tetsuya Matsumoto will likely start in center and bat second on opening day.

...The Giants apparently have their own three letter combo of relievers to pitch the last few innings of the game this year.  TDK:  Kiyoshi Toyoda, Daisuke Ochi, and Marc Kroon.

Speaking of Kroon, the Giants don't appear t0o concerned that he has yet to pitch on consecutive days.

...A t-shirt designed by Hayato Sakamoto for Red Cross Japan (the Red Cross Charity Tee) will go on sale on opening day.

...The Giants will offer discounted section C tickets to students for all weekday home games (not including games against the Hanshin Tigers).  The tickets will cost 1,500 yen on the day of the game.

They also announced a section C ticket with free drink plan as well -- for a list of applicable dates, check the link above.

=== 2:38pm JST

...The Giants are going with three rookies on their opening day roster: Kyohei Tsuchimoto, Tomoya Ichikawa, and Hisayoshi Chono.  While this may not be a first for the Giants, it certainly the first time it has "officially" happened since 1985 when teams first started posting their opening day rosters.

...Yoshinobu Takahashi took part in general practice from 1:30pm until 5:30pm on Wednesday.  He took some BP and worked on his defense at first.  Prior to general practice, Takahashi also spent some time going over scouting reports for other CL teams.

Takahashi will likely start at first and bat 8th on opening day.

Sanspo is also carrying a mini-interview with Takahashi that you can find (in Japanese) here.

...Alex Ramirez apparently told guests at the rally on Tuesday that he's going to shoot for 50 home runs this year.

...The Ni-gun Giants will be playing a practice game against Industrial League Honda on 3/28.

...The Giants will be handing out game programs again this year (to the first 10,000 fans), beginning with their home opener on the 26th.

...The Giants' website has been re-designed.

...The Giants posted the schedules for Stage G-King at their official site.

...It seems the Giants will be going with a 5-man rotation during the first two series of the season and add Tetsuya Yamaguchi in during or after the third series.  Both Tetsuya Utsumi and Dicky Gonzalez will likely pitch on 5-days rest during the first few turns of the rotation.

Yamaguchi  is scheduled to start a Ni-gun game against Yakult on the 24th (he'll try to throw about 100 pitches).

...Both Gonzalez and Utsumi did some running and various other basic exercises on Tuesday in preparation for their upcoming starts against the Yakult Swallows.  Utsumi vowed to toss a complete game opening day victory.  And if he does it, he'll be the first lefty to do it in franchise history.

...Tatsunori Hara expects his starters to go at least 7 innings while giving up, at the most, 3 runs.

...For those interested in what a Nippon Series Championship Ring looks like (they apparently cost 1M yen a piece).

...The Giants announced that they have begun offering team logo / player wallpapers and various other goodies to allow fans to customize their mobile phones through a site called Giants Kisekai (ＧＩＡＮＴＳ　きせかえ).

...Giants' posters have apparently been plastered on 21 columns (42 images)  at Tokyo Station's Yaesu entrance.  There's also a mini exhibit of player uniforms as well.  The area is being sponsors by Yomiuri Shimbun, Nippon TV, and the Yomiuri Giants.

=== 3/24/201 12:30am JST

...The Giants held a rally on Tuesday at a hotel in Tokyo.  About 1,200 people attended the event (financial backers and supporters).

Club president Tsuneo Watanabe told guests at the rally that he expects the "Giants to finish in first place this season" and that "second place is out of the question."

The Giants were also presented with their Nippon Series rings.

...Yoshinobu Takahashi went 15-for-32 during exhibition play.

=== 3/23/2010 3:40pm JST

...Nippon TV's News Zero will be running a special on Yoshinobu Takahashi during their program on Tuesday night.  I have no idea when the segment will air, but News Zero starts at 11:24pm for those interested.

Yoshinobu finished exhibition play with 4 home runs, 7 RBI, and a .469 batting average of 14 games.

...Tatsunori Hara's book Genten (原点), or The Beginning, goes on sale on the 25th for 1,575yen.

=== 10:22pm JST

...Tatsunori Hara gave his team an 85% after their last exhibition game on Monday.

...The starting rotation will be: Tetsuya Utsumi, Dicky Gonzalez, Shun Tono, Shugo Fujii, Kentaro Nishimura, and Tetsuya Yamaguchi.

...Yoshinobu Takahashi must want the season to hurry up and start.  He hit another home run on Monday and ended exhibition play with home runs in each of his last three games.

...It seems there's a good chance Masumi Hoshino will start the season at Ni-gun in order to work on his control a little  more.

=== 5:16pm JST

...The Giants held a rally after Sunday's game against the Yokohama Bay Stars.  Tatsunori Hara, Shinnosuke Abe, and Tetsuya Utsumi appeared on the field in uniforms to address the remaining fans in the stands.

...Yoshiyuki Kamei was not in the starting line-up on Sunday.  It seems he had a case of acute gastroenteritis.  He was back in the starting line-up on Monday.

=== 3/22/2010 12:18am JST

...Yoshinobu Takahashi hit another home run on Sunday, giving him three over two days.  The two day totals: 5-for-6 with 3 HR, 4 R, 5 RBI.

=== 8:46pm JST

...It seems Tetsuya Utsumi will get the opening day start.

...The Giants hit 8 home runs during Saturday's exhibition game against the Yokohama Bay Stars (all eight off Daisuke Miura).

...The 1949 Kawasaki Giants may have been the last team to hit 8 home runs in one game.

...Yoshinobu Takahashi also hit his first home run in Tokyo Dome since 9/13/2008 (vs Yakult Swallows).  Takahashi actually finished the game with two home runs (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI).

And the last time he hit two homers in one game?  4/15/2008 against the Chunichi Dragons at Nagoya Dome.

...During pre-game practice on Saturday , Shun Tono was struck in the left side of the head by a batted ball.  Tono was getting some running done on the field during BP.  It obviously wasn't a hard blow since he made his scheduled start on Sunday.

...The replay system was used for the first time at Tokyo Dome on Saturday (kind of a test case).  Officials wanted to check and see if a drive by Termel Sledge cleared the fence before bouncing back onto the field.  The replay shows that the ball did indeed clear the fence before it bounced back.

=== 3/21/2010 2:13am JST

...Ito Ham organized a private rally for the Yomiuri Giants on Saturday.  At the event, Tatsunori Hara told guests that he was having a difficult time figuring out which players to select for the opening day roster.

About 1,000 people attended.

...Shoki Kasahara started the Giants' Ni-gun opening day game on Sunday.  He gave up 3 runs on 7 hits over 7 innings of work.

=== 4:17pm JST

...Tetsuya Utsumi apparently has a good shot at being the opening day starter (3/26 vs Yakult Swallows at Tokyo Dome).  Both Utsumi and Dicky Gonzalez pitched in Saturday's exhibition game against the Yokohama Bay Stars.  Their final lines:

Gonzalez: 3 IP, 9 BF, 34 NP, 0 H, 0 SO, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER

Utsumi: 3 IP, 13 BF, 50 NP, 6 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 1 R, 1 ER

...Alex Ramirez showed off his new HR jig on a stage outside the Tokyo Dome on Saturday.  He apparently decided to go with kendo.

...The Giants still have two openings left in their bullpen.  Tatsunori Hara told reporters that he plans to carry 6 starters and 6 relievers.  So far, Marc Kroon, Daisuke Ochi, Norihito Kaneto, and Kyohei Tsuchimoto appear to have spots in the pen.

...Tetsuya Matsumoto will be appearing in a commercial for Nippon Seimi (Nissay).  It will be the first time a Giants' player has appeared in a non-sports-themed commercial since Koji Uehara in 2008.  Nissay apparently selected Matsumoto because of how he made it through the Giants' organization to find success despite getting his initial start as an Ikusei player.

...Dicky Gonzalez is scheduled to pitch against the Yokohama Bay Stars on the 20th.  Gonzalez did some running and played some catch Thursday.

...Tetsuya Yamaguchi must be feeling a little pressure.  How else could you explain his 200-pitch bullpen session on Friday.  He told reporters his theme while pitching was learning how to pitch even though you're tired (and rely mostly on the lower body).

...Hayato Sakamoto's home run on Thursday was his third in five games.

...Taishi Ohta collected two hits in an Ikusei League game against Lotte on Thursday.  One of those hits was also a solo home run off Yuta Ohimine in the fourth.  It seems likely that he'll start the year at Ni-gun.

...The Giants have not managed to score a run off Junki Ito over his last 13 innings of work (spanning 4 games that include two exhibition games and two games from last year).

...Nikkan Sports claims the Giants rotation so far consists of Dicky Gonzalez, Tetsuya Utsumi, Shun Tono, and Shugo Fujii.  And even though Yamaguchi has been shaky, he'll also probably be a part of the rotation.  Kentaro Nishimura, Yuya Kubo, and Satoshi Fukuda are all candidates for the final spot.  Sports Hochi appears to think that Nishimura has already won the job.

=== 3/19/2010 12:55am JST

...Kentaro Nishimura's exhibition game outings:

3/18 vs Chunichi Dragons: 5 IP, 21 BF, 86 NP, 4 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER

3/13 vs Orix Buffaloes: 2 IP, 10 BF, 39 NP, 3 H, 4 SO, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 ER

3/5 vs Chiba Lotte Marines: 4 IP, 15 BF, 62 NP, 2 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 0 R, 0 ER

2/27 vs Seibu Lions: 2 IP, 8 BF, 17 NP, 1 H, 0 SO, 1 BB, 0 R, 0 ER

With his latest outing, Nishimura may have nudged himself closer to a spot in the starting rotation.

=== 3:35pm JST

...Edgar Martinez has 10 hits during exhibition play: 5 to left, 2 to center, and 3 right.  Seems there's a chance he could be the starting second baseman, batting in the 6 hole.  That would give the Giants the following: Hayato Sakakmoto, Tetsuya Matsumoto, Michihiro Ogasawara, Alex Ramirez, Yoshiyuki Kamei, Martinez, Shinnosuke Abe, Hisayoshi Chono / Seung-Yeop Lee / Yoshinobu Takahashi and the pitcher.  The number 8 hitter would probably change based on whether or not Kamei or Ramirez played first.  And of course, there's been talk of having Chono hit out of the 2 hole against left-handed starters.

=== 10:25pm JST

...Shugo Fujii's exhibition game outings:

3/17 vs Hiroshima Carp: 6 IP, 21 BF, 76 NP, 2 H, 4 SO, 1 BB, 1 R, 1 ER

3/12 vs Orix Buffaloes: 2 IP, 6 BF, 25 NP, 9 H, 2 SO, 9 BB, 0 R, 0 ER

2/28 vs Seibu Lions: 3 IP, 13 BF, 51 NP, 2 H, 3 SO, 3 BB, 0 R, 0 ER

...Marc Kroon tossed an inning in relief on Wednesday and managed to top out at 152km/h.  He told reporters after his outing that he felt a little pain in his elbow but that he expected the pain to go away.  His final line: 1 IP, 3 BF, 12 NP, 0 H, 1 SO, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER.

...The Giants held a press conference after Wednesday's game to announce that Masumi Hoshino was added to the regular roster.  His new contract is worth 4.4M yen and includes a 10M yen signing bonus.  Hoshino's new number is 95 (down from 100).

Hoshino tossed an inning of shutout relief in the game prior to the press conference.  His final line: 1 IP, 4 BF, 16 NP, 1 H, 2 SO, 0 BB, 0 R, 0 ER.

...Edgar Gonzalez hit his "first" home run since arriving Japan on Wednesday.  The home run came in the 4th with a runner on first and no out.  Takeshi Komatsu was on the mound at the time.

...19-year-old actress Kie Kitano threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Giants' exhibition game against the Hiroshima Carp on Wednesday.  She ended up one-hopping the ball to home plate.

=== 3:21pm JST

...Tetsuya Yamaguchi tossed a pro career high (for a game) 83 pitches against the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday.  His previous high was 46 pitches, set back in 2008.  Yamaguchi told reporters that exhaustion hit him pretty hard after he threw three consecutive walks with two outs  in the 5th.

...Yoshinobu Takahashi played in his first Tokyo Dome game since 10/24/2008.

...Ikusei player Ryuichi Bito pitched well on Tuesday (1 IP, 4 BF, 14 NP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER).  He's trying to make his way onto the roster.  3rd round draft pick Kyohei Tsuchimoto has also been pitching well (1.80 ERA and 2 saves over 5 games).

...Alex Ramirez hit his first exhibition game home run on Tuesday against the Hanshin Tigers.  He hit the homer in his 31st exhibition game plate appearance.  And despite hitting the home run, Ramirez did not reveal his 2010 dance after rounding the base paths.  He's apparently saving it for the regular season.

...The Giants officially announced on Wednesday that Olympic speed skater Keiichiro Nagashima will be throwing out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the home opener against the Yakult Swallows on the 26th.

...Tetsuya Yamaguchi has the start against the Hanshin Tigers on Tuesday night.  The Giants will also be testing Alex Ramirez out at first.  If Ramirez can handle first, it would open up another spot in the outfield, possibly for Hisayoshi Chono.

...Marc Kroon will likely make an appearance against the Hiroshima Carp on the 17th.  He'll like pitch one inning and then see how he feels before scheduling any additional appearances.  Seems the Giants are pushing Kroon a bit since both Masahide Kobayashi and Micheal Nakamura have not pitched as well as they had hoped.

...Ikusei player Masumi Hoshino is scheduled to pitch against the Hiroshima Carp on the 17th.  This appears to be a tryout for getting added to the roster as a regular player.  With 66 players on the roster, the Giants have four spaces available.

...Michihiro Ogasawara will be featured in a 9-page spread in the June edition of the women's magazine FRaU (hits newsstands on 5/12).  Materials for the spread (photos and an interview) were taken in a Tokyo studio on Monday.  This appears to be part of the Giants' plan to get more women to come out and watch games at Tokyo Dome.

...The Giants announced that they will be holding a number of fan events at the Kawasaki training facilities after their Ni-gun home opener against Seibu on the 20th.  They will also hold a pep rally at Taiyo-no Hiroba (太陽の広場) in Yomiuri Land on the 22nd.

Adult tickets prices to Ni-gun games have also increased from 700 yen to 1,000 yen in order to help pay security upgrades.  They also plan on holding a number of "present days" during the summer.