Kenshin Kawakami versus PIRATES

1st inning

Kawakami throws 13 pitches - 9 strikes a mix of fastballs, cutters and a nice curve



1. McLouth grounds out to 1st base
2. Jack Wilson pops out to shallow center field
3. Fastball to Freddy Snachez and another weak fly out


3 up 3 down, go Kenshin.......

2nd inning
1. Doumit grounds out to SS 6-3

Adam Laroche hits a bloop single to LF just outside the infield

2. Nasty 12-6 curve, then Alvarez flies out to LF.... 2 OUT

3. Kawakami-san strikes out Tabata with a nice high end strike.....

Great outing by our hero, Kenshin Kawakami

Kawakami and the Media

Photos courtesy of The Atlanta Journal Constitution (www.ajc.com) and AP

Our hero has a posse of up to 20 Japanese media people following his every move.

We need to get used to this phenomena in Atlanta as Kenshin is a great hero in the western part of Japan and around Chunichi.

His initial nervous session has been followed by some outstanding efforts on the mound and I for one expect big things from our great pitcher in 2009.

In other news, I expect TODAY we will be signing both hall of famers, Tommy Glavine and The Natural, Ken Griffey JUNIOR (best player I have seen, well okay with Barry Bonds).

Kawakami Arrives - Spring Training 2009

The great Kenshin Kawakami, our new beloved Bravo has arrived in the USA after spending his entire major league career with the Chunichi team in Japan.

This is the first picture of the great man at the Braves "Dark Star" training ground (courtesy of http://www.ajc.com/).

We look forward to seeing this great man crush the MLB opposition with his mix of cutter, fastball, 12-6 curveball and exotic "shuto".

"Shake and Bake"

So Kawakami is UNDERRATED

Having seen baseball games in many different countries and having played the game at a high level as a junior I am quite surprised at the lack of enthusiasm for Kenshin Kawakami.

"Kenny" has good stuff, just not in a fundamentally normal American way (remember one Greg Maddux was not a flame thrower either). Kawakami's best pitches are; a quite slow and nasty 12-6 curveball which "accelerates" his modest 88 mph fastball.

He also throws a type of shuto and a cutter which can be effective "out pitches".

The plan with this blog is to follow "Kenny" quite closely as he plays in his rookie MLB season and to post on any other things of note not limited to;

The Braves
Pitching
Food
Music
Movies
TV Shows
Being a Braves Fanatic in New York City
Travel

and pretty much anything I bloody well want to write about.

Which brings me to todays thoughts...

1. Wall Street has totally lost the plot and any semblance of connection to the real world.
2. Skip Bayliss is an old tool who needs to be taught some R-E-S-P-E-C-T (go Aretha)
3. I hate the bloody shitty cold NYC weather except when the border collie and I are in Central Park

Spring training starts in 15 days.... lets rock on BRAVES