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NEW YORK -- The latest high-priced addition to the New York Yankees stood on the dais in front of a large news conference, put on his pinstriped jersey with No. 19 and smiled. "Hello. My name is Masahiro Tanaka," he said slowly in English. "Im very happy to be a Yankee." After chartering a Boeing 787 Dreamliner for his trip from Tokyo to New York, the 25-year-old right-hander with the $155 million, seven-year contract was presented Tuesday not in the news conference room downstairs at Yankee Stadium, but in the Legends Suite Club, where the high rollers congregate on game days. Yankees spokesman Jason Zillo concluded the teams latest Pacific overture drew New Yorks most-attended news conference since Hideki Matsui was introduced in January 2003. Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner said obtaining Tanaka was worth the economic pain of exceeding the $189 million luxury tax threshold New York had hoped to stay under. "We needed another starter, and when we do things, we try to do them right," Steinbrenner said. "And this guy, hes tough. Hes got tremendous ability. We all know that. And hes going to be very exciting to watch. And hes going to be great for the team, a great teammate. And $189 (million) or not, we wanted a good quality starter, and we got it." Tanaka charted a Japan Airlines plane, which seats about 200, for the trans-Pacific trip to New York, reportedly costing about $200,000. There were just five passengers on the plane, including his pop star wife Mai Satoda, plus their poodle Haru. The flight, originally scheduled to depart at noon, was delayed many hours by a snowstorm. "There wasnt many choices of planes," he said through a translator when asked about the big jet. And a lengthy commercial trip could have been uncomfortable. "I thought about my conditioning, just wanted to get here in the best condition possible," he said. For his first meal in New York, he ventured outside his room at the Mandarin Oriental hotel overlooking Central Park. "I ate a sushi," he said, "which I bought at a grocery store nearby." New York, which also added Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the off-season, figures to have a big following in Japan this year. Tanaka joins pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki on the roster, and reliever Yoshinori Tateyama will be at spring training with a minor league contract. "This would make the Boss proud," general manager Brian Cashman said in a reference to late owner George Steinbrenner. "The Yankees obviously are about always trying to acquire the best talent and a collection of talent that can compete for a championship, but he also liked a lot of attention, and this certainly represents a lot of attention. So this is Yankee big. This is Steinbrenner big." Tanaka was 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA last year, leading the Rakuten Golden Eagles to the Japan Series title. That left him with a 99-35 record and a 2.30 ERA in Japan, where he had 53 complete games in 172 starts. New York had one of the most successful Japanese players in the major leagues with outfielder Hideki Matsui, the 2009 World Series MVP. And the Yankees experienced costly flops with pitchers Hideki Irabu and Kei Igawa. Manager Joe Girardi was behind the plate for Irabus debut in 1997. "They feel a little bit more weight of representing their country than maybe players that are here on an everyday basis, because they kind of pave the way for the next guy and then the next guy," he said. Girardis advice: "Dont feel like you have to live up to the contract." On a tour of the U.S. with a Japanese high school all-star team in 2006, Tanaka met Matsui when one of the young pitchers games was rained out. During the off-season, he spoke briefly by telephone with Matsui about his pending decision. New York appealed to Tanakas desire to pitch on the biggest stage. "This is where you need to be. A great star. The biggest franchise. The biggest brand. The biggest city," Yankees President Randy Levine remembered saying during the teams pitch session with the player on Jan. 8 in Beverly Hills, Calif. "He said some other teams he had met with wanted him to transition in, and he didnt like that. He wanted to take the ball on Day One, and that told us a lot about him." Tanaka sounded prepared for the Yankees win-or-else mentality. "Ive heard that this place is -- it could be very harsh to you at times," he said. "Just wanted to put myself, though, in this environment and try to see where I can get to with my ability." Cashman is trying to lower expectations, saying Tanaka will slot in as No. 3 in the rotation behind CC Sabathia and Kuroda. "We could be getting more than a three. Maybe its a two. Maybe its even a one at some point," Cashman said. "I think that the adjustments are real, and as excited as we are to have and as much as we need a player of his capabilities, I want to make sure that people understand how difficult this game is over here and that there should be expectations of growing pains." Zapatillas Balenciaga Baratas . Weise will have his hearing with the NHL head office over the phone, while the league has requested an in-person hearing with Kassian. Oilers centre Sam Gagner suffered a broken jaw after getting hit with a high stick from Kassian in Edmontons 5-2 win. Zapatillas Balenciaga España . With newly minted president of hockey operations Trevor Linden looking on from above one day after being handed the keys to the franchise, it was more of the same on Thursday night. http://www.balenciagabaratas.es/. The above paragraph could be rewritten, verbatim, with Marcus Stromans name in place of Romeros. After both men had disastrous outings in Tuesdays 18-4 mauling at the hands of the Tigers, its clear that neither is the best option to begin the season in Toronto. Comprar Balenciaga Baratas . That still leaves a big hole.You dont replace the leadership, defensive co-ordinator Billy Davis said. You just dont. Leadership is something that is earned over time. Balenciaga Baratas Chinas Online . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51.BALTIMORE -- The Tampa Bay Rays usually work their way around the bases one at a time, so they took great delight in putting on a power-hitting display against a team known for the long ball. Desmond Jennings opened the game with the first of Tampa Bays three home runs off Wei-Yin Chen, and the Rays got an impressive pitching performance from former Oriole Erik Bedard in a 5-4 victory over Baltimore on Saturday. Tampa Bay built a five-run lead in the fourth inning, then held off a late comeback bid to improve to 3-8 against the Orioles this season. Logan Forsythe and rookie Kevin Kiermaier each hit a two-run shot against Chen (7-3), who lasted only 3 1-3 innings in the shortest outing of his three-year career. Of the 15 home runs Chen has yielded this season, five have come against the light-hitting Rays. Tampa Bay started the day tied for 25th in the majors with 59 home runs and hit only two its previous nine games. Half the Rays 10 hits were for extra bases, including a triple by Ben Zobrist and a double by Ryan Hanigan. "Thats more like what we expect on a consistent basis, to play that game," manager Joe Maddon said. "Against this team here, fangs out late in the game, its nice to beat them that way." Nick Markakis and Manny Machado homered for the Orioles, who have a major league-leading 40 long balls in June. But it wasnt enough to beat the last-place Rays, who can win the four-game series with a victory Sunday. Bedard (4-5) struck out seven in a season-high seven-plus innings. The 35-year-old lefty gave up three runs and five hits against the team he began his career with in 2002. He walked none, and 68 of his 87 pitches were strikes. "Thats probably the best strike-ball ratio Ive ever thrown in my life," Bedard said. "The biggest thing was the first-pitch strikes and after that, I continued to throw strikes. I mixed in fastball, changeup, curveball and I came out on top." He was pulled after giving up a two-run homer to Machado in the eighth. Adam Jones added an RBI single off Jake McGee, who subsequently retired Nelson Cruz with two outs and runnners on the corners.dddddddddddd McGee returned in the ninth to earn his third save -- the second in two days. Chen gave up a season-high five runs, seven hits and a pair of walks. The Taiwanese left-hander was 4-0 in nine starts since May 3 and 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two games against Tampa Bay. "For every game, you dont want to give up any home runs," Chen said through a translator. "Lately, Ive been leaving more pitches up in the zone. Maybe the opponent hitters are studying me more than they used to, so if I didnt make the adjustment necessary, the results are going to look bad. So Im going to look at that." On Chens fourth pitch, a 91 mph fastball, Jennings hit his seventh career leadoff homer to put the Rays ahead for good. Prior to the at-bat, Jennings was 4 for 23 (.174) against Chen. In the second, Sean Rodriguez singled and Forsythe followed with his first home run in 142 at-bats this season. Forsythe went 3 for 3 with a walk and scored twice. Tampa Bay made it 5-0 in the fourth when Forsythe singled and Kiermaier drove a 1-2 pitch into the right-field bleachers. It was the fifth home run of the season for Kiermaier and the first by a left-hander against Chen. "I actually like the way weve been swinging the bats," Kiermaier said. "It was one of those things today -- Desmond hit the leadoff home run then Logan came up clutch and hit that other one." Bedard retired 10 straight batters before Markakis homered on a 1-2 pitch in the sixth. NOTES: Miguel Gonzalez will start for Baltimore in the series finale against RHP Alex Cobb, who has held the Orioles to a .176 batting average throughout his career. ... Tampa Bay SS Yunel Escobar missed his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. ... Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy, returning from elbow surgery, will make his fourth rehab start Thursday, this time with Class-A Frederick. ... Rays RHP Jeremy Hellickson, trying to come back from elbow surgery, ended his rehab start with Triple-A Durham on Friday night after three innings, complaining of discomfort. Maddon suggested Hellickson might return to Florida for an examination. ' ' '