[外電] Yankees and Red Sox May Open 2008 in Asia

[pleased ()]

Yankees and Red Sox May Open 2008 in Asia
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/sports/baseball/05pins.html?ref=baseball

The Yankees and the Boston Red Sox extended their rivalry all the way to Asia
in November, when the Red Sox beat the Yankees in their bid to sign the star
Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Next March, Japanese baseball fans could
experience the rivalry up close.

As reported by The New York Post yesterday, Major League Baseball is in
preliminary negotiations with several teams, including the Yankees and the
Red Sox, about playing exhibition games in China next March and opening the
regular season in Japan, according to several individuals briefed on the
negotiations.

Although other teams are involved, baseball would prefer the Yankees and the
Red Sox, who have the league's most contentious rivalry and would conceivably
feature four Japanese players, to open the season in Asia. The Los Angeles
Dodgers and the San Diego Padres are believed to be two other choices.

「We are talking to a number of different clubs about a number of different
possibilities,」 Patrick Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball,
said in a telephone interview.

Courtney said that the plans were in the preliminary stages and he did not
want to comment further.

Baseball has opened the season outside North America before, most recently in
2004 in Japan when the Yankees played the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. But the
possibility of the Yankees and the Red Sox playing regular-season games in
Japan is complicated because home games between these teams are so valuable.
M.L.B. would have to sufficiently compensate each team for money lost on
attendance and concessions. Two regular-season games would probably be
scheduled to prevent one team from losing home-field advantage.

The Yankees are particularly interested in playing in China. Last winter,
Randy Levine, the team president, and Brian Cashman, the general manager,
went to China on a good-will trip to promote baseball and to try to tap into
the Chinese market. The Yankees agreed to help establish baseball academies
in China and also send coaches and scouts to develop talent.

「They would be very interested in playing in Beijing and Japan to start the
season,」 the Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein said in a telephone
interview. 「Because the Yankee brand is so well known in Asia and all over
the world, the Yankees would be interested.」

The Red Sox, through a team spokesman, declined to comment.

STUCK IN A SLUMP Bobby Abreu was healthy, but his batting average was not.
Abreu, batting third as the designated hitter last night, raised his average
to .252 after going 3 for 5.

He said that it was easier to handle a slump when the team was winning; the
Yankees swept three games from Texas earlier this week before losing to the
Mariners last night, 15-11.

「I'm starting to hit the ball a few times the opposite way,」 Abreu said
before last night's game. 「I'm close to getting the rhythm. I'm opening up a
little too quick.」 Right now, I'm hitting a lot of ground balls to second
and popups to first. I'm just rushing. I don't let the ball get deep.」 JOE
LAPOINTE

WAITING GAME FOR HUGHES The rookie starter Phil Hughes was to have his
injured hamstring examined last night by Dr. Stuart J. Hershon, who would
determine whether Hughes should have a magnetic resonance imaging test.

「It's frustrating,」 said Hughes, who was removed from the game in Texas on
Tuesday with a no-hitter in the seventh inning. 「I try not to look back too
much and think what might have been.」

JOE LAPOINTE

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推 windgoing122:如果真的要的話，還是在日本好了，不要去北京 =.=
推 bryon:MLB之前除了美日明星對抗賽外.有在日本舉辦過公開賽嗎？
推 kenro:應該還是日本  場地與後勤比較佳!
推 windgoing122:文章裡有提，最近的一次是2004年 NYY vs.TB @Japan
推 kenro:有一次  洋基和魔鬼魚的開幕戰!
推 VeryLike5566:在台灣的天母棒球場最好，不過不要打太晚喔，免得住
→ VeryLike5566:佳會抗議
推 amgdaaaa:NYY vs TB不是2002年的事嗎
推 markoo:如果是open in Janpan就是王跟松坂了吧@@
推 yayaki:等松山菸廠的巨蛋蓋出來就可以來台灣open了  :Q
推 markoo:樓上是要拿一生去等待的巨蛋QQ
推 CCfss:2004年NYY vs TB在日本沒錯 小泉和朱利安尼都有出現在巨蛋