TMCnet News
Baseball: Nippon Ham acquires Cubs infielder Macias+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)SAPPORO, Jan. 23_(Kyodo) _ The Nippon Ham Fighters announced Monday the acquisition of utility player Jose Macias, who played for the Chicago Cubs last year. Macias, a 33-year-old who plays second and third base as well as outfield, has played a total of 659 games in the major leagues with the Detroit Tigers, Montreal Expos and Cubs with a .256 batting average, 26 homers and 173 RBIs. He has been named to the provisional roster of Panama for the World Baseball Classic, a World Cup-style international tournament to be held in March. Nippon Ham also announced the retirement of pitcher Tsutomu Iwamoto, who was released after the 2005 season. Iwamoto, 34, posted a 63-79 record in 239 games in his 16-year career. |