Too bad about Dave "Dingo" Nilsson leaving the Chunichi Dragons. He's gone back to his native Australia for treatment of a painful lower back condition, and it appears his Japan career, at least at the varsity level, may have come to an end. What was supposed to have been an exciting season in Japan for a bona fide .300 hitter in the majors has gone completely haywire.

Nilsson went from a high-profile member of the defending Central League champions lineup, to the farm team, to back home Down Under. Hope he'll be back in good health and able to rejoin the Dragons, but reports say he's not expected to return here until July, and he's going to the Sydney Olympics in September, so how much of a season could he have, realistically?

The fact is Nilsson had difficulty adjusting to Japanese baseball during the spring exhibition season and the first three weeks of the regular campaign. He seemed confused, especially when called upon to catch in the middle of exhibition games after playing left field for the first four or five innings. He was lost, is what he was.