JAPAN – The 2009 race towards the Japan Series should be a heated competition this season with the reigning Japanese League champion Seibu Lions facing a crowded field of title-contending teams. The Yomiuri Giants, who lost to the Lions in last year’s suspenseful championship series, head a long list of contenders that includes the Nippon Ham Fighters, Hanshin Tigers, and the Rakuten Golden Eagles.

The new season, which kicks off on Friday, has a bevy of interesting storylines headlined by the departure of baseball’s all-time home run king, Sadaharu Oh, who retired as Softbank Hawks’ manager at the end of last season due to health reasons.

Two of the top pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Nippon Ham’s Yu Darvish and Rakuten’s Hisashi Iwakuma, will square off in the Pacific League opener at the Sapporo Dome. Both hurlers took the mound in the title game against South Korea at the World Baseball Classic (WBC) last month.

2009 PREDICTED FINISH (PACIFIC)
1. NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS
2. SEIBU LIONS
3. RAKUTEN GOLDEN EAGLES
4. ORIX BUFFALOES
5. CHIBA LOTTE MARINES
6. SOFTBANK HAWKS

Darvish, only 22-years-old, is regarded by many to be the best pitcher in Japan. The hard-throwing right-hander is beginning his fifth season in the NPB and won 16 games a year ago for the Fighters.

Iwakuma, 27, won 21 games last year for the fifth-place Eagles and jumped on the radar of major league scouts with his impressive performance at the recently-concluded WBC.

Chiba Lotte Marines skipper Bobby Valentine, whose contract was not extended, will be in his final season calling the shots for the NPB club. The former Texas Rangers and New York Mets manager will welcome ex-major leaguer Tadahito Iguchi to the fold this upcoming season.

The Orix Buffaloes high-octane lineup featuring veterans Tuffy Rhodes, Jose Fernandez. Alex Cabrera, and Greg LaRocca have a combined 1,014 long balls in the Japanese League. With four starters winning at least 10 wins last season, the Buffaloes could make some noise in 2009 if their top players can stay injury-free.

2009 PREDICTED FINISH (CENTRAL)
1. YOMIURI GIANTS
2. HANSHIN TIGERS
3. HIROSHIMA CARP
4. CHUNICHI DRAGONS
5. YAKULT SWALLOWS
6. YOKOHAMA BAYSTARS

The Yomiuri Giants captured the Central League crown down the stretch drive last year before falling to Seibu in a thrilling Japan Series. Former major leaguers Edgardo Alfonzo and Darrell Rasner solidfy an already strong roster. Sun-Yeop Lee should recover from a lackluster 2008 but the Giants must replace the departed Koji Uehara.

The Hanshin Tigers added former major league slugger Kevin Mench to go along with Takahiro Arai to form a powerful dynamic duo in the middle of the lineup. Also, the recovery of Colonel Sanders statue from the bottom of the Dotombori River is expected to lift a 24-year-old curse.

Photo courtesy of www.geishablog.com

Tags: Japan