The Panda is living amongst the Tigers in Osaka.
At least that¡¯s how the Hanshin Tigers and their fans refer to the team¡¯s newest addition, first baseman Jason Rogers. When it¡¯s not ¡°Panda,¡± his nickname, it¡¯s ¡°Rogers,¡± and the East Point, Georgia, native wonders, somewhat jokingly, if anyone even knows his first name. Then again, he¡¯s still learning all of theirs, not to mention how to pronounce names comprised of sounds so foreign to him.
It was only July 1 that the Tigers signed Rogers to help in the pursuit of their first Central League pennant since 2005 and first Japan Series title since 1985. The 29-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder was playing for that team¡¯s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis a few weeks ago. Now he¡¯s getting used to life on the other side of the world.
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