Who ARE these guys?
The career totals I posted were those for the big leagues. They just looked like totals for somebody who had been given a little chance at the end of the season in Japan.
I do make mistakes. Feel free to correct anything you think is wrong. (Just be sure to make it clear what the mistake was, as I thought that the "informer" was complaining about my not using a search engine to find links myself - not that I had missed the Japan entry dates.)
This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Some rights reserved.
"Well, McClain and Cabrera have now increased their Japan leading homerun totals to 9 apiece by each hitting one each today (4/13). So much for Seibu's power struggle. Does anyone know anything about either of them? I can't even find FIRST NAMES for these people much less something about their history."First names I can provide:
Nikkan Sports has dubbed them the "twin bazookas," and they are really providing the power that Seibu has needed since they cut Martinez (because he didn't fit the "speedy" team image). These two have really given the team's offense a great ballance.
As for where they're from, Cabrera joined Seibu last year from the Diamond Backs, and played in Taiwan before that. He only played in 31 games for the Lions last year, but in them, batted .263 with 5 home runs and 14 RBIs. Gee, seems to me that those numbers were better than some of their regulars!
McClain also joined Seibu last year, plaining for the Rockies in 1998-9. He didn't get much of a chance last year, only playing in 9 games, hitting.100 with no home runs nor RBIs. What a difference a year makes!