By Jim Bouton, Naha Shisa correspondent

4/6/2013: Naha, Japan – After being reinstated as the Shisa’s official correspondent, I giddily made my way to spring training camp.  There are no less than four new players joining the team through free agency and four rookies hoping to hook on with the big club this spring.  As I ambled (that’s my preferred form of locomotion now as I continue my seventh decade on the planet) into the facility, the excitement in camp was palpable.

Although most experts agree that Naha does not have enough hitting to compete with Edo or Kuwana for a playoff spot this year, don’t tell that to anybody here.  Manager Kijuro Yoshida sports an even more peculiar smile than usual as he meanders his way around the camp.  I managed to corner him for a moment.

“Yeah, there’s something about this bunch,” Yoshida mused, scratching a private area.  “A chemistry is rapidly developing here.  When we got that new closer a few days ago, something clicked.  We have good team speed and a good bullpen.  I think we can win a lot of close games with this scrappy crew.”

I reminded him that the new closer, Sidao Ichihara, has made it very clear that this is a one-year stop for him to showcase his closing ability for the PEBA.  “Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t matter,” Yoshida insisted.  “The fact that Naha Shisa management got him for this year sent a message that has resonated throughout the organization.  Very clearly, the upper echelon is stating, ‘It’s time to start winning now,’ and the players and coaches are agreeing, ‘Why not now?’”

Clearly, the climate has changed for this long-suffering franchise.  Sidao Ichihara was the fourth free agent signing during the off-season.  Naha also elected to bring four of their top prospects here to get a taste of the big leagues this spring.  While SP Naomichi Nakagawa, 3B Kimi Fujita and SP Yoritomo Masuda are very likely to start the year in AAA, flamethrower León Férnandez has pretty much been handed the fifth starting spot.

Bright Blade batters are already nervous enough about having wild man Alberto Ramón doing some inadvertent headhunting.  Imagine their terror of a 100 MPH fastball “getting away”!  It would have been more interesting if the other competitors (José Nieves and Tomás Castillo) were able to join the spring training camp to vie for the last rotation spot, but the rules forbid more than four gaijin to be on the active roster at any time.  Xenophobic discrimination is still the rule in Japanese culture.

Veteran third baseman Yasutoki Kikuchi is champing at the bit for the season to get going.  He signed as a free agent last year, only to miss most of 2012 with a broken kneecap.  “The knee feels perfect,” he told me.  “I’m not quite in the groove yet, but with a little playing time I will show Naha that they did not make a mistake in signing me.  I am very excited to be here.  Clearly, management has focused on obtaining fundamentally sound ballplayers, and I think the island of Okinawa is going to see a lot of quality baseball this year.”