Japanese Baseball Technicians Arrive in Cuba

Havana, Mar 4. -Three Japanese baseball technicians arrived this Thursday to give a course to their Cuban counterparts on pitching until March 17.

The technicians are Masatake Yamanaka and Atsuyoshi Otake, former coaches of Hosei and Waseda universities respectively and former Yomiuri Giants outfielder Shinji Inoue.

Yamanaka already knows the Cuban baseball team because he was the coach of the Japanese team that played in the finals with the Cuban one in Barcelona Olympics in 1992, when Cuba won the gold medal.

The conferences will be mainly about the pitching, batting and physical training.

Last month, Jose Ramon Fernandez, president of the Cuban Olympic Committee, announced the arrival of the Japanese technicians to give a course.

Fernandez at that time said that the through the course the Cubans would see how the Japanese work, how hard they train, their self-control, the education they receive and their ability of concentration.

Japan won the gold medal in the first and second World Baseball Classics in 2006 and 2009. In 2006 they defeated the Cubans in the finals while in 2009 they defeated the Cubans in the second qualification round. It makes necessary to learn from the best. (Prensa Latina)