Igawa plays some shogi
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 16, 2007 
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Interesting scene in the clubhouse this morning. Kei Igawa was playing a game of shogi with one of the Japanese reporters.
Shogi is a variation of chess and Igawa is said to be a very good player. He hopes to get other Yankees interested in playing. Mike Myers was watching and could be the first to learn.
Igawa is an interesting dude. He likes playing video games and has a fleet of radio-controlled model cars that he races. He also just got married.
We haven’t had too much of a chance to get to talk to him yet but I’m looking forward to it. His dinner is Saturday night.
Chess is hard enough. I don’t need a variation.
So both Igawa and Matsui are collectors.
The yankee clubhouse has turned into a mini united nations. Very cool. Maybe the Japanese players can learn dominoes from the Dominicans. Wang can teach everyone Mah Jong.
So both Igawa and Matsui are collectors.
Yeah, but Matsui’s collection isn’t for children.
I bet Moose would be good at this.
Likes playing video games? I once heard he pitched a game as fast as possible one day because a version of Final Fantasy had come out that day and he wanted to go buy it ASAP.
And I believe the RC cars thing came from him never doing anything but staying the team dorms that they had on his team in Japan and one of the coaches told him to “get a hobby.” He chose RC cars, lol.
He’s a character.
That’s interesting to know that Japanese also know how to play Chinese chess.
I read the shogi rules and I’m interested. I can’t wait to hear who he gets to play with him.
He’d better not play with Pavano. The last person who used to play games in the clubhouse with him is dead.
He certainly sounds like the most interesting Yankee, so far. I’m glad the Yankees have someone like that in the clubhouse.
Seen here, Igawa is actually a “grand master” of shogi.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiSxb2MKx-U
The man takes his games very serious, a great thing to know while he’s on the mound.
I seem to recall that Guidry is quite a chess player. Maybe they’ll do some cross-cultural bonding.
[...] Camp Notes: Yankees, 2/16/07 By JMM I’ll admit it. I’m a small time blogger. I’m not down in Tampa reporting that Kei Igawa likes to play a Japanese game called shongi that’s like a variation of chess. You’ll have to go to Peter Abraham’s great Yankee blog for that news. [...]
If you are interested in shogi, my blog called “Takodori’s Entrance to Shogi World” might help you. It can be found at http://shogi.typepad.jp/eweblog/