Japan Ball

Since the Yankees had an off day, I had a chance to catch up on some writing for my other blogs. Here's what you are in store for around the way:

Matsuzaka Watch
Yankees and Red Sox merchandise rules the roost in retail. My "Golden Week" shopping turns up a few surprises....

Darvish Watch
In his 6th start of the season, Darvish pitched his 5th complete game. A 2 hit, 2 walk, 8 strikeout shut out.

Yuki Saito Watch
Waseda University's freshman ace took the mound for the 2nd time as a college man. The 1st time was 6 one hit innings. The 2nd was....almost as spectacular.

Uehara Watch
After a delayed start to the 2007 campaign, free agent to be Koji Uehara has gone to the mound in back-to-back days to pitch the 9th inning. So far, so good.

Baseball Japan
Nothing new, but some links to my pieces at Baseball Prospectus. A few new BP articles are due from me in the next several days. Keep checking back there for more.

Hopefully, a change of scenery will do the Yankees some good. I'm looking forward to Phil Hughes 2nd trip to the mound, and I have my fingers crossed for a lights out performance. I'd like him to stick around despite what many others feel about his readiness. He's ready enough. See you tomorrow. Go Yanks.