This is young Massa, the up and coming phenom who will someday make his start in Japanese pro ball and eventually come to America where he will play for the San Francisco Giants. He is currently playing second base for South Ryuo (a town over from Kofu) and bats 2nd or 6th depending on the coach's lineup for the day. This day he had been at practice all day, 8am to 4pm, and then upon coming home asked his father if we could all go out to play catch. So we did. Massa (9 years old), Shuhei (14), Toshi (their father) and me all hit the ball around and had some fun. Amy took pictures and tried to avoid getting hit. According to Toshi, this was a day that Massa will long remember--the day he played catch with an American.