Spring Training YouTube Highlights
by Patrick Newman (Feb 15, 2009)
By the time MLB pitchers and catchers
hit camps this week, NPB teams will have had their full squads in camp
for two full weeks. Here are some highlights, courtesy of fans on
YouTube.
- The first practice game of the spring training season, Hanshin vs Nippon Ham. Yu Darvish started for the Fighters, while Kyuji Fujikawa pitched the first few innings for the Tigers. Note that Kyuji surrenders a walk to Jason Botts after
being called for stalling on his third pitch. I'm no fan of that rule,
but Kyuji should be the last guy breaking it as he only throws two
pitches.
- New Chunichi Dragons import Tony Blanco has been
getting good reviews in the Japanese media, but I could see him having
a great camp and then not doing much during the season. Here's a
fan-shot video of him taking batting practice.
- Here's another fan-shot Dragons video, this one of Maximo Nelson pitching in an intrasquad game. Very high video quality on this one.
You can find more using this YouTube search link.