HAKANIN.Sports

Paul’s Note: Sorry for the delay, still recovering for my flu. The following article was posted on 8/4. For the original article in Traditional Chinese, click HERE.

It was a very interesting day, first I saw Bon Jovi before the game and shook his hand, then watched Chien-Ming Wang pitched a good game.

Wang performed well, I think there were clues before the game. Usually media aren’t allow to talk to him on the day he starts, but Wang was in a good mood, approached me with a smile to say hi. He also waved at Kim Jones of YES when he saw her. Dunno how to say this, but Wang definitely look more relaxed comparing to the past couple starts.

Some keys of the game:

• Everyone noticed his speed. Indeed, Wang was impressive today, fastballs were around 95, with several went above 96, and 97.Yankee Stadium’s speed radar guns are notorious for adding a couple MPH. Please note: the pitch speed on the scoreboard and the one broadcasted on YES are separated. In the press box, we can see the speed indicated on the scoreboard, and we also have small TVs on the side showing the game on YES, so we know that the 2 usually are different.During the game on the 3rd, the part on the scoreboard that shows pitch speed was malfunctioning, so it was almost the 2nd, 3rd inning when it started showing the speed correctly. Therefore, when we saw that most of Wang’s fastballs were clocked over 95, we were shocked. Not only that, both the stadium and YES showed similar results, with difference of 1~2MPH.In postgame interviews, Wang told us that he felt really good throughout the game, “the speed was there,” he said. He also threw several 4-seamers.Of course, this happened when he was in the zone. Wang normally does not reach 98 at a regular basis. But he was still hitting 95 in the 8th inning, so you know he was feeling it.
• Even though it was only the 2nd time caught for Wang, Jose Molina is getting familiar with his game. It was also obvious that Wang feels comfortable pitching to him.Ron Guidry said part of the game plan was attacking the insider corner with 4-seamers, but it was easier said than done. Not only did Wang need to have good control, the matchup with the catcher was also important. 4-seamer is not one of Wang’s better pitches, and he’s had controlling issue all year. So to do what he did today, you must give credit to Wang’s hard work, Guidry’s instruction, and Molina’s lead.Molina stressed that “Wang’s command and location were great today,” without too many mistakes, and delivering to the wherever he wanted, plus his stuff was great as usual, so naturally Wang pitched a great game.
• John Buck did not have a good day! He managed to strike out 3 times by Wang, and they were all 3-pitch strikeouts!Chien-Ming Wang is already not known for his striking out ability, it’s hard to believe that someone can get shut down so badly.Here are some data I compiled:
  • First AB - slider (or change up), fastball, fastball
  • 2nd AB - slider, fastball, slider
  • 3rd AB - fastball, fastball, slider

  It’s probably not gonna happen again~

• Kei Igawa went back to the minor, he locker is still there, with name tag and all his stuff.However, everyone probably thinks that he is not gonna come back till September with roster expansion, so people started using the locker as storage, putting water, peanuts or whatever in it. As team captain, Derek Jeter gets to have 2 lockers, the one between him and Miguel Cairo is empty, so he uses it for his shoes.I guess that’s the reality for baseball…
• Wilson Betemit, already gave me a good impression.No other reasons, simply because of his sneakers.When I pass by his locker, I right away noticed a pair of Air Jordan III PE (player exclusive). That’s right, those pairs belong to Andruw Jones.Black body, with red lining, my goodness, I almost cried when I saw them. Betemit said that he and Jones are buddies, wearing same size of shoes, so Jones gave him a pair as presents.From now on, whenever I pass by his locker, I am going to worship them.

J-Train writes for the Word Journal, one of the bigger Mandarin news paper in North America, in NYC. He spends most of his time covering Asian athletes, with focus on Chien-Ming Wang and the New York Yankees. He recently became the first Taiwanese baseball writer to join the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). For more of his articles, you may go to The J-Train Blog (it’s in Traditional Chinese), or click HERE for my translated ones. For those English speaking fans, HAKANIN.com will continue to provide the translated version of his articles, so stay tuned!

Popularity: 14% [?]

If you liked this post, subscribe to HAKANIN's RSS feed.

Filed under: Chien-Ming Wang, Joseph Liao, MLB, New York Yankees, Sports, The J-Train Blog