Darvish signs a hefty salary
23 year old Yu Darvish told a news conference on Dec 9 that he's been proposed an increase of 60 million yen to 330 million yen annual income and was happy with it. It's the highest annual salary for a man of his age.

Akahoshi calls it quit
Hanshin Tigers star Norihiro Akahoshi suddenly announced on Dec 9 that he's retiring. He won the most number of steal title 5 years in a row and an indispensible player for the Tigers. He said he's hurt his already injured neck badly when he was fielding on Sept 12 and that his condition was too serious to continue playing.

Darvish and Ramirez are MVPs
It was announced on Nov 18 that the Fighters pitcher Yu Darvish and Giants outfielder Alex Ramirez were elected MVP in their respective leagues. It's based on votes by veteran baseball journalists. Ramirez won the honor 2 years in a row. Meanwhile the Rookie of the Year award went to the Giants outfielder Tetsuya Matsumoto and the Hawks pitcher Tadashi Setsu.

WBC victory party
It's more than half a year since the national team's victory at the WBC in March. But the formal celebration took place on Nov 17. Manager Tatsunori Hara presented the players with victory rings. However, Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners and Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox failed to turn up.

Kudo makes a move back home
Kimiyasu Kudo who played for the BayStars during the past season has tied the knot with the team he played for the beginning of his pro baseball career. This was announced on Nov 14. His currently the oldest active player at 46. He's older than Lions manager Hisanobu Watanabe with whom he used to be teammates.

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