Manny Ramirez is ready to play in Japan.

There's only one thing better than beating the New York Yankees, and that's winning the World Series.

Wait-make that two things. World Series MVP Manny Ramirez says he thought the Boston Red Sox' Series win couldn't be topped, but he was completely blown away by the wild celebrations that followed.

``That was just unbelievable,'' Ramirez said at a Tokyo news conference on Wednesday.

``There were millions of fans in the streets for the victory parade after we won the World Series. Unbelievable.''

The slugging outfielder is a member of the MLB team that is here to face a squad of Japanese All-Stars in an eight-game exhibition series that begins Friday at Tokyo Dome.

The Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to take four straight from the Bronx Bombers in the American League Championship Series, then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in four straight to claim their first World Series title in 86 years.

``It was great to finally break the curse (of Babe Ruth),'' said the left fielder, who hit .308 with 43 homers and 130 RBIs in the regular season.

Teammate David Ortiz, the ALCS MVP, agreed that the victory parade was a huge thrill, with one exception.

``It was just too bad that Pedro got nailed in the head,'' he said, referring to pitcher Pedro Martinez, who was beaned during the festivities by a baseball thrown by an onlooker.

The MLB pitchers include Roger Clemens of the Houston Astros, Jake Peavy of the San Diego Padres, who led the National League with a 2.27 ERA, Kaz Ishii of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Akinori Otsuka of the Padres.

Outfielders include speedster Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Vernon Wells of the Toronto Blue Jays and Moises Alou, who had 39 homers for the Chicago Cubs last season.

Clemens will start two games, including Game 1, according Padres manager Bruce Bochy, who is running the MLB dugout.

``Our club has power and speed-no weaknesses,'' Bochy said. ``We won't just sit back and wait for the long ball, we'll hit-and-run and put players in motion.''

The Japanese All-Stars will start Yomiuri Giants ace Koji Uehara in Game 1 and Seibu Lions fireballer Daisuke Matsuzaka in Game 2.

Nori steps up to the plateOSAKA-Kintetsu Buffaloes infielder Norihiro Nakamura said Wednesday he will make his second attempt to move to the major leagues, this time through the posting system, Kyodo News reported.

Nakamura, who walked away from a free-agent deal with the New York Mets in 2002, will become the fourth Japanese player to use the bidding system after Ichiro (Seattle Mariners), Kazuhisa Ishii (Los Angeles Dodgers) and Akinori Otsuka (San Diego Padres).

``I wanted to make a champion out of Kintetsu, but that is impossible now (with the merger with the Orix BlueWave). The deciding factor for me was the merger,'' said Nakamura, who must now wait for a bid from a major league club.

Kintetsu general manager Keisuke Ashitaka will carry out the procedures for the bid later this month.(IHT/Asahi: November 4,2004)