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Paul’s Note: Taking a little break from remaking the site, gotta catch up with J-Train =) The following article was posted on 8/15. For the original article in Traditional Chinese, click HERE.

Today is a day game, starting at 1PM, although the players report at around 11:30, but I showed up before 9:30, because Chien-Ming Wang is schedule to have a bullpen session today. Due to his recent struggle, I had a feeling that he would show up extra early.

Wang usually has the habit of arriving the stadium early, but today he was pretty much the first one here. Although he wasn’t unhappy or upset, but you can tell that the slump is very much on his mind.

“I keep pitching worse and worse,” Wang frowned.

I knew he wasn’t in a good mood so I didn’t talk to him for too long. He was going to work out in a bit anyway, so we just chatted a little bit. I didn’t want to bother him. I left him a little card, basically to cheer him up a little, telling him not to worry about some of the negative reports and just focus on pitching, reminding him that we all support him 100%.

• Other than Wang, the other players who arrived early were Kyle Farnsworth, Shelley Duncan, Wilson Betemit, and a couple more. Although Duncan got there early, he still looked asleep, so the media joked around saying that he sleep-walked into the clubhouse. Don’t be surprised that Farnsworth showed up early, even though he has been heavily criticized this year, he usually shows up early and do some running or weight lifting.
• Jeff Karstens and Jim Brower went back to the minors, Edwar Ramirez and Sean Henn got called up. Sorry to see Jeff go.The two that returned to the Show seemed to be in a good mood, catching up with the media upon arriving the clubhouse; among the other players, who was the first to welcome them? Joba Chamberlain, with a huge hugs for them both.

  Joba is such an interesting kid, who did not appear to be shy or anything surrounded by New York media. Unless something abnormal happen, he looks like is here to stay.

  Oh, Joba and Wang already exchanged mitts with each other for souvenir, and Joba does not seem to be afraid of veterans, already cracking jokes with Wang. He saw the media chatting with Wang, he would interrupt and say “ignore Wang, he is not a good guy!”

• Miguel Cairo left the team, cleaned up his locker, and Andy Phillips took over the spot.So now, the order of the lockers on the right hand side is now - Johny Damon. Chien-Ming Wang, Bobby Abrue, Andy Phillips, empty, and Derek Jeter. The empty locker is reserved for Jeter’s sneakers.

  By the way, today Phillips is wearing a pink polo shirt, with khaki shorts. HOOOOT.

• Brian Cashman talked to us for a little bit prior to the game. He didn’t seem to be too please with the fact that people reported the ways Joba is going to be used because now the opponents can perhaps figure out whether or not Joba will pitch.The problem is, it was Joe Torre himself that told us. Kind of hard to believe New York media will ignore that.
• Buster Olney is in the house. Not only did he talked with Yankees folks, he also did an interview with a Japanese writer.He really seems like a great guy.
• Ron Guidry jokes around as usual. I asked him about the bullpen session with Wang after the game, he first responded with one word “terrible!!” Then he continue to made fun of him for awhile.However, he did get serious at the end and told me that it was a very successful practice. His mechanics were adjusted and seemed more confident. He is very happy for Wang.

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!

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