After the rather embarrassing opening series in Tokyo against these same Giants (25 straight innings without a run), the Tigers’ pride was on the line for this, the first home set of 2024 against their longtime rivals. They continued to struggle with run production, but the pitching trio of Shoki Murakami, Masashi Itoh, and Yuki…
The good news is that the Hanshin Tigers won their 2024 Koshien debut (on a cold night, I might add). The bad news is that in three games, they managed just three runs (two of them coming in a blowout loss). They now have lost three of their first four sets of the year. Heating…
Last season, that magical season that saw the Tigers win the Japan Series, started with a three-game sweep at Kyocera Dome against these same Yokohama DeNA Baystars. That hot start propelled the team to the top of the standings, where they stayed for the better part of the season. This year things did not go…
The long wait is over. For just the second time in NPB (1950-present) history, the Hanshin Tigers are the best team in Japan. This series went down to the wire, but the final game was lopsided from the start. Even in the innings that the Tigers didn’t score, they knocked on the door and put…
Coming home to Koshien Stadium after a rough beatdown on Sunday night, the Tigers were looking to take control of the series again. They opened the scoring, but an uncharacteristic outing from Masashi Itoh put them in a hole in the middle innings. However, the team fought back hard in the latter third of the…
Sometimes you have to watch games to get a true feel for what they were like. The scoreboard and stat line aren’t enough. This one was a bit of a stressful affair, as Masashi Itoh allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in five of his seven innings. In the eighth, they got two 2-out…
The Tigers are historically a bad team against the Giants. Through the end of the 2020 season, it was an 827-1086-71 (.432) mark. Fortunately, the Tigers have started chipping away at that deficit in the last three years. Two years ago, it was 13-9-3 in our favor. Last year, once again there was a four-game…
Yes, it’s an iconic song by Europe… but it’s also the feeling that all Hanshin Tigers have now that the team’s magic number is down to 5. Not even the biggest choke job or the fiercest charge (or the combination of the two) can stop this team from winning its first pennant in 18 years….
Say goodbye to the September swoons of our team’s past! This team is a perfect 8-0 this month after completely controlling the action at Koshien Stadium against the second-place Carp! The three starting pitchers – Shoki Murakami / Koutaro Ohtake / Masashi Itoh – combined to throw 22 innings of three-run ball (two earned), walking…
Ironic, isn’t it, that the first full series that I was able to watch after being away from Japan most of August wasn’t even on network TV! Nevertheless, the Tigers were able to take advantage of a weakened Swallows lineup. On Friday, rookie Shota Morishita hit two bombs at a stadium he played in often…