Day 2 of midweek madness ...

Another quiet day

Chatter intensified about the Tohoku Rakuten Eagles after they dropped their opening three-game series; marriage for a one-time batting champ and one inning and one injury for one of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters' newest starter are the hot topics on Wednesday.
Midweek off days: baseball's armpits. And to have three consecutive diamond-less days is torture.
Well, it seems Marty Brown is already dodging media shots, mostly spurred by crotchety former skipper Katsuya Nomura last week. The well-respected but highly opinionated Nomura took the sour-grape approach when predicting how the Eagles, who finished second last year under his direction, would do this year with Brown on the bench.
He picked them to finish fifth and an 0-3 start against the Orix Buffaloes did nothing to stamp out that view. But Nomura has been wrong on many occasions, and yet the foul taste of grimy leather has never stopped him from repeatedly jamming his foot into his mouth.
JBD distinctly recalls Nomura, as a guest TV analyst in 2005, harping on then-Chiba Lotte skipper Bobby Valentine to bunt with one out and runners on first and second, and the Marines down two runs in the playoffs at Fukuoka SoftBank. But Tomoya Satozaki powered a double off the wall to score the two and the Marines won the game and eventually the Japan Series.
After Satozaki’s big hit, Nomura still insisted the right move was to bunt in that situation.

Ringing in the season
A year ago, Seiichi Uchikawa of the Yokohama BayStars was in a heroic situation. He was getting hits and making a diving catch and throw to help Japan repeat as World Baseball Classic champion.
One year has passed, and now he’s contributing to the presumption that young, attractive TV announcers who cover baseball evolve into players’ wives. Uchikawa and Fuji TV announcer Tsubasa Nagano filed paperwork for marriage on Wednesday.
“Now I can go into Opening Day with a clear mind,” said the 27-year-old Uchikawa, who won the Central League batting title in 2008.

One and done
Bobby Keppel, a righty who the Fighters picked up in the offseason, had to leave his start on Monday after apparently suffering a mild oblique muscle strain.
Keppel threw a scoreless inning against the Hawks, but couldn’t return. He is expected to miss about three weeks.

Young stars
Finally, a report late Wednesday night said the Yomiuri Giants plan to start rookie Hisayoshi Chono and bat him eighth in Friday’s opener.
The 25-year-old No. 1 draft pick is one of nine first-year players to make Opening Day rosters around the Central League.