Panama

Obando was a big part of the Fighters' 1999 and 2000 "Big Bang Offense." It was a shame that they didn't have pitching to match their offensive production after Obando joined them. And Obando really crushed the ball those first two years! The fighters started opening the gates early so that the fans could watch him take batting practice, putting a lot of dents in the walls of Tokyo Dome. Venezuelan Alex Cabrera and USA-an Tuffy Rhodes shifted power fans away from the Fighters last season, with Obando missing almost 2/3rds of the season not helping the Fighters' power numbers in 2001. Obando is currently (June 2) hitting .268 with 13 home runs and 28 RBIs.

Switch hitting Seguignol is doing fairly well here in his first year. While he is only batting .239 (ranked 24th in the Pacific League), he's driven in 30 of Orix' 180 runs (23%) while leading the team in home runs with 16 (ranked 4th behind Kintetsu's Rhodes and Nakamura, both with 20, and Nippon Ham's Ogasawara with 17).

I think Obando is a great name for a foreign player in Japanese baseball. It's a name that's easy for Japanese people to pronounce. When he first came to Japan, there was talk about registering his name in NPB in kanji since it would've been possible to easily think of characters for his name.

Joe Randa of the KC Royals has another name that would be good for Japanese baseball. The Royals once had a guy named Bill Pecota who's name would've been perfect for NPB also.

The all-time best names for NPB have to be journeyman big league pitcher Bob Owchinko and journeyman big league catcher John Tamargo. Can you imagine a battery with Owchinko pitching to Tamargo? It's too bad those guys never played here.

Pecota is playing in Korea right now.

Really? Holy cow, I didn't know he was still active! I remember him getting his first amount of significant playing time back in '91 when Hal McRae of the Royals benched the popular Kevin Seitzer for Pecota. He was a scrappy guy who was servicable, but he just didn't have the talent to last long in the big leagues.

Maybe if he does well in Korea he'll get noticed and signed by a Japanese team. Then the Japanese team can register his name in kanji.

BTW, I have to say that you, Mr. Garland, are one of the best posters on this site. Your opinions are not only good, but you also come up with trivial information that guys like me are interested in. Keep up the good work.

Message for Sherman Obando:

Hi Sherman,

Remember me, it's Rejeanne from Montreal. I met you at SalsaTheque - the last year you played in Montreal. If possible, I would love to hear from you. You can e-mail me or call me at (514)704-1116.

Thanks,

Rejeanne

[Admin: While I hope he gets your message, you do know that he may not read this, right?]

Don't remember. Sorry.