Word: ishii
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Kazuhisa Ishii was seen walking around the Los Angeles Dodgers' camp with a wad of bubble gum in his mouth. Catcher Paul Lo Duca noticed this and asked the former Japan League All-Star if he had taken a special liking to American gum. "Actually, he says it's horrible," Ishii's interpreter, Scott Akasaki, relayed. "He just chews it because you guys do." Ishii has since ditched the chew and found a far more effective way to gain acceptance as one of the guys: by winning his first six starts...
...year-old Ishii, who spent 10 seasons with the Yakult Swallows before signing a four-year, $12.8 million contract with L.A. in February, is the latest in a line of foreign-born Dodgers pitchers whose talent has lost nothing in the translation. He follows in the footsteps of compatriot Hideo Nomo, the Japanese righthander who was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1995; Korean righthander Chan Ho Park, who won 75 games over the past five seasons; and Mexican lefthander Fernando Valenzuela, who as a 20-year-old in '81 won the league's rookie and Cy Young...
...With four pitches?fastball, curve, slider and splitter?that he can throw for strikes, Ishii has quickly gained the respect of some of the game's Elite hitters. "I got one pitch I felt I could hit, and I popped it up," 2000 National League batting champ Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies told the Denver Post after striking out twice in the Dodgers' 9-2 win April 6. "Other than that, he made me look like a child...
...Ishii isn't yet generating the buzz that the team's previous foreign phenoms did. Dodger Stadium doesn't sell out every time he pitches, as it did at the peak of Fernandomania, but with his flowing brown locks and quick smile, he could very well become the Next Big Thing in L.A. Although he has kept a relatively low profile in order to fit in with his teammates, Ishii has a somewhat zany personality, which has made him a regular guest on comedy and variety shows on Japanese television. In his homeland he has even been called the Asian...
...Ishii is the kind of fellow who apologizes at the end of an interview when he thinks his answers haven't been witty enough. And he doesn't mind when a laugh comes at his expense. A Los Angeles columnist noticed the patent leather satchel Ishii sometimes carries his wallet in and jokingly suggested that a purse doesn't make him seem intimidating enough. "Then I will carry two purses," Ishii replied...