March 16: Stomping on the Eagles in Shizuoka This game started quite slowly, as the two aces showed off their repertoires before helpless bats. Our guys finally got to Takahiro Norimoto in the fifth, when Kento Itohara smacked a 2-run double to the left field corner. T 2-0 E Randy Messenger is just getting warmed…
March 9: Let’s just say that Randy Messenger didn’t get off on the right foot. The first inning saw him give up 5 hits and 4 runs. He said after the game that it was his first time facing live hitting this year, and that a lot of his pitches were right over the plate…
Since it’s the preseason and these games mean precious little once the season has begun, we will keep things short and sweet. March 3: Starting pitcher Takumi Akiyama went 4 scoreless innings, scattering 3 hits (no more than one per inning) and striking out 4. Kyuji Fujikawa (37) threw the fifth and allowed 2 runs on…
For the first time in my life (in any sport, perhaps) I took in a pre-season game. It was actually sprung on me when a Twitter friend told me that one of his friends had two spare tickets to the game. Since that friend-of-a-friend happened to be reliever Rafael Dolis, I was curious and could…
Earlier in the spring I took time to look at the Tigers’ players in a four-part series. Click on one of the links here to see them: Infielders Outfielders Starting Pitchers Relief Pitchers Today we take one last look at the team as we head into the regular season. What are the team’s glaring weaknesses?…
Tuesday’s “Sports Nippon” paper featured part 1 of 4 interviews that will be conducted with the Tigers’ foreign players. In this one, former catcher great Akihiro Yano interviews ace pitcher Randy Messenger. Yano: This is your sixth year in Japan. I guess you know what to expect out of spring camp by now? Messenger: Yeah,…