The Japanese professional baseball players association said Friday it will donate about 29 million yen for the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
The donation, which will be sent through the Japanese Red Cross Society, comprises 11,735,000 yen in contributions from the players associations of 12 clubs and 17,531,952 yen raised through Internet auctions of baseball goods and memorabilia.
Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui drew the highest winning bid among those who took part in the auctions, with a set of his autographed bat, gloves and cap sold for 2,211,000 yen.
An autographed ball put up by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was valued at 383,000 yen by the successful bidder.
Tigers sign Valdes
OSAKA -- The Hanshin Tigers have acquired Marc Valdes from the Atlanta Braves and are expected to assign the right-hander the closer role in the upcoming season, officials of the Central League club said Friday. Valdes, 30, has a 12-15 career record with four saves in 144 major league games.
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