Daiei Hawks pitcher Masao Fujii died at a Fukuoka hospital Friday. He was 31, three days short of his 32nd birthday. Fujii had been hospitalized at the National Kyushu Medical Center for interstitial pneumonia.

Fujii fell ill after last season and missed this year's spring camp. He pitched for Daiei's farm team for a while this season.

The National Kyushu Medical Center is a designated medical facility for the treatment of AIDS. There was no announcement of the cause of death.

The news of Fujii's death shocked Daiei manager Sadaharu Oh and other Hawks team members.

Oh, accompanied by Koji Akiyama, Kenichi Wakatabe and other Daiei players, paid a condolence visit to the hospital late Friday night and many of them emerged with teary eyes after paying their last respects to their teammate.

A native of Saga Prefecture, Fujii joined the Pacific League team in 1995 after a stint with the Nissan Motor Kyushu club.

Fujii, who was used primarily as a relief pitcher, took the mound 59 times last year and picked up three wins, one loss and three saves.

Boring Mori

YOKOHAMA (Kyodo) New Yokohama BayStars manager Masaaki Mori said Friday he will break the aggressive offensive baseball style of predecessor Hiroshi Gondo to mount a serious challenge to the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants with conservative tactics.

Mori, 63, appeared before the press as the BayStars officially announced the appointment of the former Seibu manager, who guided the Lions to eight Pacific League pennants and six Japan Series championships between 1986 and 1994.

"This year, the BayStars used fewer sacrifice bunts than the Giants, whose lineup has the most devastating firepower. It was like a fight between pistols and cannons," said Mori, who will return to the field after serving as a commentator for six years.

He thus criticized the managerial style of Gondo, who omitted sacrifice bunts from games as much as possible to encourage aggressive baseball and at the same time make the game more appealing to fans.

Under Gondo's leadership with its "Machine-Gun" offense, Yokohama won the CL pennant in 1998 for the first time in 38 years and went on to capture the Japan Series crown by beating the Lions.

But Yokohama faltered to finish third in 1999 and again this past season, while Yomiuri claimed its first CL championship since 1996.

"I'm nervous just thinking about coming back into a tough battlefield," Mori said.

Hoshino re-signs

NAGOYA (Kyodo) The Chunichi Dragons, who finished second behind the Yomiuri Giants in the Central League standings, have offered manager Senichi Hoshino a new one-year deal.

In a meeting with Chunichi owner Bungo Shirai on Friday, Hoshino accepted the club's offer for a contract extension that will keep the 53-year-old at the helm of the club for a sixth straight year.