World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations and held every two years. The upcoming event will be held in the city of Daegu.
Event title : IAAF World Championships, Daegu 2011- International Association of Athletics Federations
www.iaaf.org/
Date : August 27 ~ September 4, 2011 (9 days)
Event size : 212 countries, 6,000 athletes (plus 3,500 officers and
2,500 reporters) 47 events (24 for male, 23 for female)
Location : Daegu Stadium
米大リーグ：うっそ〜。アルバート・プーホーがエンジェルス!! a 10-year deal for at least $250 million. 年俸の桁が違う。まだ所属チーム・カージナルズの契約金との折り合い次第であり、最終決定ではないことがＥＳＰＮのニュースでわかる。いつものことだが打線が湿り勝ちなエンゼルス打線には、彼は即戦力として期待が持てる。だが今まで隠れファンとしてゲームを追っていると、多分バッティングコーチに責任があるのだろうと思える。他チームに移籍した元エンジェル選手が打線で活躍するケースが際立っているからだ。たとえばテキサスレインジャーに昨年移ったキャッチー、マイク・ナポリ (Mike Napoli) が今シーズンＭＶＰ級に活躍したのが良い例。だからアルバート・プジョーの打率その他の成績がエンゼルス入団して突然に、極端に落ちなければ良いが。余談だがアルバート・プホルスという書き方は間違い。アルバート・プーホーが発音に近い。
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エンゼルスがプホルス獲得 ＭＶＰ３度の強打者
2011/12/9 1:46
ダービッシュの大リーグへのラブコールと米スカウト側の目
Yu Darvish wants to play in majors
ESPN.com news services
TOKYO -- Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish ended months of speculation Thursday by saying he intends to make a move to Major League Baseball.
The 25-year-old right-hander, considered the best pitcher in the Japanese professional leagues, wrote on his blog that he had decided to use the posting system, which allows MLB teams to bid for the negotiating rights to Japanese players who have yet to become free agents.
"I have decided to use the posting system," he said. "I wanted to tell my fans directly, so that is why I am posting this on my blog."
Darvish, the son of an Iranian father and a Japanese mother, went 18-6 with a 1.44 ERA this season for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. He had 276 strikeouts to lead the Pacific League.
The Fighters had given him approval to negotiate with a major league club through the posting system. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ichiro Suzuki went to the major leagues under the system.
"I owe a lot of thanks to my team," Darvish said, adding he would provide more details at an upcoming news conference.
Darvish pitched in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was a member of the Japanese national team that won the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
The 6-foot-5 Darvish has superb control and throws seven effective pitches, including a two-seam fastball introduced during the 2010 season. It's expected he would make a top-of-the-rotation major league starter.
"Darvish is the No. 1 pitcher in Japan, but we want him to become the ace of the world," Nippon Ham team representative Toshimasa Shimada said.
Yu Darvish, 25, went 18-6 with a league-leading 1.44 ERA this season for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. His 276 strikeouts led the Pacific League.
Darvish turned pro in 2005 at 18. His pro career got off to a rocky start when he was caught smoking in a pachinko parlor on an off day during his first spring training, despite not being old enough to legally smoke or gamble at the time.
After going 5-5 with a 3.53 ERA in his rookie season with the Fighters, Darvish had a breakout year in 2006, going 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts.
In 2007, Darvish won the Eiji Sawamura Award presented to the top pitcher in Japanese professional baseball after posting a 15-5 record with a 1.82 ERA and a league-leading 210 strikeouts.
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Once posted by the Fighters, MLB clubs can submit sealed bids for the right to negotiate with Darvish. If the Fighters accept the highest bid, the MLB club that placed that bid will have 30 days to finalize a contract with the player. If no deal is reached, Darvish returns to the Fighters for another season and the Fighters must return the posting fee to the MLB club.
The Texas Rangers certainly will be one team with interest. They've scouted Darvish in the past and generak manager Jon Daniels has seen him pitch in person.
The New York Yankees also are expected to make a bid, but have been coy about their intentions after their bad experiences with Kei Igawa, who failed to make an impact in the majors.
Before leaving the winter meetings, Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington indicated that the Red Sox are unlikely to participate in the posting process for Darvish.
"I'm not sure the timing of this offseason puts us in a position to be the most aggressive team," Cherington said. "But he's a good pitcher. We have a lot of respect for him. We certainly will discuss it. We've got to figure out if a post makes sense.
"We've got a lot of commitment to the starting rotation, as you guys know. We feel pretty good about the front end of our rotation. Certainly if a team is going to be posting and trying to sign him, it's going to be part of the front end of the rotation. We feel pretty good about that part of our team."
In 2006, former Seibu Lions pitcher Matsuzaka drew a $51.1 million posting fee from the Red Sox, who signed him to a six-year, $52 million contract, taking the total package to more than $100 million.
The Yankees won the negotiating rights to shortstop Hiroyuki Nakajima of the Lions on Wednesday. The posting fee for the 29-year-old was $2.5 million.
Information from ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett, ESPNNewYork.com's Andrew Marchand, ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes and The Associated Press was used in this report.
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米大リーグ：エンゼルスが野球界を衝撃。タイトルが凄い。
-アルバート・プーホーとＣ．Ｊ．ウィルソン獲得で
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Angels shock the baseball world
L.A. commits more than $325 million to land Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson
DALLAS -- It takes a lot to shock the citizens of Planet Baseball. A lot of dollars. A lot of years. A lot of courage.
But the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have pulled it off. On an unforgettable Thursday morning at baseball's 2011 winter meetings, they stunned their sport and changed their world, all in one dramatic swoop.
All it took was signing the great Albert Pujols, not to mention the $77.5 million and five years they gave to free-agent starter C.J. Wilson.
All it took was 10 years and more than $250 million, and Sir Albert was a Cardinals icon no more. He's an Angel now. Wait. Check that. He's THE Angel now.
He's the face of a franchise that hadn't even been connected with his name until 24 hours earlier. And that means he hasn't just transformed the Angels. He has left his indelible imprint on his entire sport -- on the team he is leaving behind, on the team he's joining, on the NL Central and the AL West, on landmark baseball contracts past and future.
It all came crashing down on one earth-rattling morning at the winter meetings, as news of Pujols' shocking decision rippled through the Hilton Anatole hotel and all the baseball movers and shakers who were still trying to fathom what just happened.
"If he's going to the American League, I'm a happy camper," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
"From my standpoint, it's great," said Mets GM Sandy Alderson. "We've got two wild cards and no Albert Pujols."
"I'll miss seeing him," said Reds GM Walt Jocketty, who once, in a previous life, was the general manager who had brought Pujols to the big leagues in St. Louis. "But I won't miss facing him."
Asked whether life in the American League West had just gotten a little more fun, Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine retorted: "How liberal is your definition of the word 'fun?'
"We just saw him for seven games [in the World Series]," Levine went on. "I think it's safe to say we haven't exactly figured him out yet."
Pujols' contract will go down in history as the biggest to a man who was not named Alex Rodriguez. Amazingly, his deal got done in the same hotel where the Texas Rangers once signed A-Rod for 10 years and 252 million of Tom Hicks' well-intentioned dollars.
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Asked Thursday whether there must be something about this hotel that inspired monstrous contracts, Alderson quipped: "There must be a strain of Legionnaires' disease here."
"Maybe 'Anatole' means 'U.S. Mint' in another language," joked another GM who wished to remain nameless.
But for the sport of baseball, this was no joking matter. The Angels are a different franchise now than they were a week ago. They have tied themselves to the face, the bat and the aura of the Best Player in Baseball -- for the next decade, anyway. And we'll never be able to view them quite the same way again, no matter how this turns out.
The immediate reaction of the masses will be to torch this decision -- based solely on the completely sensible premise that it's absurd to believe that a 10-year contract for any player in his early 30s is a good idea.
But that isn't how the Angels view this. For them, this is more than merely a baseball contract. This is a decision based not just on what Pujols is about to do for them on the field. It's also based on what he's about to do for the franchise.
"There's no question that branding comes into play," said Alderson, who worked in the commissioner's office sorting through deals like this in a previous professional incarnation. "There's no question that the television dynamic is probably a factor."
So to think that any other player -- whether it's Prince Fielder today or Bryce Harper in 2017 -- can take this contract and use it to rake in a quarter-billion dollars of his own is missing the point. This isn't just any player. It's Albert Pujols.
"Deals of this length and this magnitude are extremely rare for a reason," one National League executive said. "There's only one Albert Pujols. He's the best player of his generation. When you do any contract, you're always looking for comparables. Well, who's comparable to him? There are only a handful of guys who have ever played who are comparable to Albert Pujols."
And that's what the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim were buying here -- not merely a first baseman, not merely a No. 3 hitter, but a legend who alters everything about them.
Was that worth $250 million? We're about to find out.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com. His latest book, "Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies," was published by Triumph Books and is available in a new paperback edition, in bookstores and online. Click here to order a copy.
レインジャーズがダービッシュ交渉権獲得
Rangers win Yu Darvish sweepstakes
Updated: December 20, 2011, 12:16 AM ET
By Richard Durrett
ESPNDallas.com
The Texas Rangers posted the highest bid for Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish and that bid was accepted by Darvish's team in Japan, Major League Baseball announced Monday night.
Sources said the Rangers' posting bid was around $51.7 million. Bidding for the posting fee closed last Wednesday, and the Ham Fighters had until 5 p.m. EST on Tuesday to accept.
The club has 30 days to negotiate with Darvish and his representatives. Should they not reach an agreement in that allotted time, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters will not receive the posting fee and Darvish will pitch in Japan next season.
"The Texas Rangers are pleased and excited to have acquired the rights to negotiate with Yu Darvish. Our organization has scouted Mr. Darvish for the last several years and has been very impressed with his abilities and accomplishments. We believe he would be a great addition to the Texas Rangers pitching staff," the Rangers said in a statement. "We look forward to beginning the next step of this process in the very near future with Mr. Darvish and his representatives."
Various reports before MLB's announcement had the fee close to or possibly more than the $51.1 million the Boston Red Sox bid for Daisuke Matsuzaka prior to the 2007 season. The club still has to pay Darvish a contract, meaning the total investment will likely top $100 million.
Darvish was 18-6 with a league-best 1.44 ERA and 276 strikeouts. The 25-year-old is known to have superb command and some scouting reports say a seven-pitch repertoire, including a two-seamer added in 2010. He walked just 36 batters in 232 innings.
The 6-foot-5 right-hander pitched in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He started his professional career at age 18 and after an average rookie year, put up impressive numbers in his second season (2006), going 12-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts. Darvish has been steady and has pitched plenty of innings, leading up to his opportunity to land a deal and pitch in the big leagues.
Darvish is represented by Don Nomura and Arn Tellem.
"We were pleased to learn that the Texas Rangers were the high-bidders for Yu Darvish," Tellem said in a statement. "The Rangers are an extraordinary franchise in an exceptional city with equally exceptional fans. Yu is honored to be prized so highly and recognized as a once-in-a-generation pitcher. We look forward to getting negotiations underway."
Darvish is 93-38 with a 1.99 ERA in his career in Japan. He has not pitched in the major leagues before and scouts seem to differ on how good he will be. But he's projected by most as a No. 1 or No. 2 starter.
For a Rangers staff without a true No. 1, he gives them a young starter who slides into the upper part of the rotation, assuming a contract is reached. C.J. Wilson, the Rangers' top starter in 2011, signed a five-year, $77.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels this offseason.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels scouted Darvish himself last season and the club has increased its presence in the Pacific Rim in recent years. The team's biggest signing out of Japan was Colby Lewis prior to the 2010 season. He put up a ton of strikeouts and showed solid control in Japan for two seasons and has been able to replicate that, for the most part, in the majors. Lewis has pitched well in the postseason for two straight years and the Rangers picked up a club option on Lewis' contract for the 2012 season.
Richard Durrett covers the Rangers for ESPNDallas.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
大リーグ：ロスアンジェルス エンジェルスの来期予想ラインアップ
Fun with lineups
December, 9, 2011 8:03AM PT
By Mark Saxon ESPN LA
The only thing Mike Scioscia was willing to offer just hours after the acquisition of Albert Pujols was that the new guy will bat third. Duh.
"I don't have to have lineups in now, do I?" Scioscia wondered.
No, but that doesn't mean we can't speculate about how the Angels offense will work next April. It feels as if more personnel moves are in the offing -- with players such as Mark Trumbo, Kendrys Morales, Bobby Abreu, Alberto Callaspo and Maicer Izturis -- now having less defined roles, with one or more perhaps headed out of town.
Here are a couple of likely possibilities for Angels lineups:
1. Peter Bourjos CF
2. Howie Kendrick 2B
3. Albert Pujols 1B
4. Torii Hunter RF
5. Mark Trumbo DH
6. Vernon Wells LF
7. Alberto Callaspo 3B
8. Chris Iannetta C
9. Erick Aybar SS
If Trumbo adapts to playing third base -- something he admits was a disaster when he first started pro ball -- and if Morales is healthy, it opens up some more powerful looks. In a perfect world, the Angels could field a lineup that would rival the power the Texas Rangers can field:
1. Peter Bourjos CF
2. Howie Kendrick 2B
3. Albert Pujols 1B
4. Torii Hunter RF
5. Kendrys Morales DH
6. Mark Trumbo DH
7. Vernon Wells LF
8. Chris Iannetta C
9. Erick Aybar SS
If Wells has a bounceback season and performs as well as he did five years ago, you could see four players hit 30 or more home runs and a lineup that looks something like this:
1. Peter Bourjos CF
2. Howie Kendrick 2B
3. Albert Pujols 1B
4. Vernon Wells LF
5. Kendrys Morales DH
6. Mark Trumbo 3B
7. Torii Hunter RF
8. Chris Iannetta C
9. Erick Aybar SS
Another X-factor: Mike Trout. What if he's lights-out this spring? Do the Angels consider trading Bourjos, one of their best players, if they can reap a nice haul in return? If so, we might see this look:
1. Erick Aybar SS
2. Howie Kendrick 2B
3. Albert Pujols 1B
4. Kendrys Morales DH
5. Mark Trumbo 3B
6. Torii Hunter RF
7. Vernon Wells LF
8. Chris Iannetta C
9. Mike Trout CF
The list goes on. This exercise is a lot more fun ever since Thursday happened.
沢が最優秀女子選手
Sawa, Messi named Players of Year
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012
By GUS FIELDING
Kyodo
ZURICH — Homare Sawa, the 2011 Women's World Cup Golden Ball and Golden Boot winner, was named FIFA Women's World Player of the Year on a historic night for Japanese soccer Monday.
Athletic and elegant: Nadeshiko Japan star Homare Sawa reacts after being named the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year at an awards ceremony in Zurich on Monday night. AP
Norio Sasaki, who guided Nadeshiko Japan to an astonishing first ever World Cup triumph at last summer's finals in Germany, won the Women's Coach of the Year, while the Japan Football Association also won the Fair Play Award.
Barcelona's mercurial Argentine forward Lionel Messi landed the men's Ballon d'Or award, becoming the first man since former France international Michel Platini to take the title three years in succession, while the Men's Coach of the Year award went to his club coach, Pep Guardiola.
Messi was up against Barca teammate Xavi and Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, the 2008 winner, was unable to attend the awards ceremony as Real is in action on Tuesday night in the King's Cup against Malaga.
The 24-year-old Messi won the award after polling 47.88 of the votes, ahead of Ronaldo (21.6 percent) and Xavi (9.23 percent).
"It is a big pleasure to win the third, a big honor. I want to thank the teammates, players and coaches that voted for me," said Messi.
"I want to thank my Barcelona and Argentina teammates, without them this would have been impossible. But most of all, I want to share it with Xavi: you deserve this as much as I do."
Messi, man of the match in the Champions League final in 2011, also won the Primera Division, Spanish Super Cup, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup last year.
Dressed in a traditional kimono, Sawa, 33, and the 53-year-old Sasaki were the first Japanese recipients and first Asian winners of their respective awards, picking them up at the star-studded ceremony in Zurich with the cream of the soccer world in attendance.
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"It hasn't sunk in yet," said Sawa. "When my name was read out I didn't know what was going on. This award feels so heavy. I wasn't at all confident that I had definitely won it and just wanted to give myself a pat on the back for making it among the three nominees."
"I am so surprised and delighted with this award. I spoke with people at the JFA and came to the conclusion that the kimono represents Japan and was the most suitable attire for tonight," she smiled.
"As the JFA president I feel blessed," Junji Ogura said of the country's hat trick of awards. "Winning three awards doesn't happen very often. Sawa won and Sasaki won, something that no other Asians have done, and this is fantastic. Getting the Fair Play Award is an added bonus."
Sawa beat out five-time winner Marta of Brazil and American Abby Wambach, while Sasaki was named from the coach's shortlist that included Pia Sundhage, whose U.S. team lost to Japan in a penalty shootout in the World Cup final, and France's Bruno Bini.
"I am so thrilled for Sawa," said Wambach. "I think the Japanese deserved all of the awards they received tonight. They were of course the World Cup champions, she was proven to be the best player and I am very proud of her."
Said Platini: "It's good that there is a Japanese woman (winning the award). I think it is possible in the future that a Japanese man could win the award but they will have to win the World Cup first."
Sasaki, who in an inspired piece of sports psychology showed his players footage of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami's aftermath before their World Cup quarterfinal and semifinal wins over Germany and Sweden, said, "I am full of gratitude to everyone."
"I was just overjoyed to be able to be here with my family. It was only for a moment but it really hit me emotionally when I got the award. Last year we suffered a disastrous earthquake in northeastern Japan and many, many people in the football family of the world provided such warm support and I would like to thank everyone for their support."
These awards were decided after a poll in which the captains and head coaches of the men's (for the two men's soccer awards) and women's (for the two women's soccer awards) national teams, as well as international media representatives selected by French soccer magazine France Football, voted for candidates in each of the four categories. Each group's votes represented one third of the final result.
Nadeshiko Japan star Homare Sawa, who led the team to a Women's World Cup title last year, and Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi are named FIFA Players of the Year at an awards ceremony in Zurich on Monday. AP PHOTO
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