With tonight’s 4-1 Giants victory over the Hiroshima Carp, the red-and-white fall into third place, a half-game behind our Hanshin Tigers. The result is that Koshien Stadium will host two, possibly three baseball games this long weekend. Game 1 is Saturday at 6pm, and will likely see Messenger facing off against Kenta Maeda. Game 2…
The original article can be found here 元の記事はこちらです The Rotation is Set! Tigers Open with Tough Righty Messenger Open with “Messeh”! Reports on October 5th indicate that the Tigers will start Randy Messenger (33) on October 11 in the first game of their Climax Series matchup with Hiroshima. Typhoon 18 has delayed the final game of…
The original article can be found here 元の記事はこちらです Hanshin Tigers outfielder Yamato (26) missed the first team practice (on the 3rd) leading up to the Climax Series (starting on the 11th) because he was having his injured shoulder checked. It was supposedly injured during the Hiroshima Carp game (at Mazda Stadium) on the first of…
Last week I broke down the final few days remaining on the schedule, as well as the importance of finishing first (or at least second). The Tigers’ regular season is now over, and it ended on a positive note, as they defeated the second-place Hiroshima Carp, 4-2. Since I didn’t see the game, I will…
Last night the Yomiuri Giants won the Central League title for the third consecutive year and thirty-sixth time overall. Unlike major league baseball, where the division championship means a slight home-field advantage, the NPB playoff rules tilt things heavily in the league champion’s favour. Here’s a look at the NPB playoff format. Sorry the graphic…
Messenger’s 7 Shutout Innings & 12th Win Put Him Back on Top! The original article can be found here 元の記事はこちらです As the crowd roared jubilantly, Messenger’s eyes were glued on the ball. The Tiger faithful were ecstatic, and Messenger grinned. He jumped off the bench to greet the hero of the moment. With Fukudome’s game-winning…
During the off-season, I hope to be able to add information about every player’s walk-up song, and link to a youtube video of the actual song. Right now, though, I want to introduce Matt Murton’s walk-up song and the band that sings it. Until last season, he was using “Strong Tower” by Kutless. He has…
The Tigers completed their annual 3-week long road trip on Thursday in Tokyo. As I was away from Japan for most of it, I will simply post all the scores here without commenting on the action. For the record, they went 6-9 on their road trips, winning just one of their 5 series, and 5-1 at…
After Friday night’s victory over the Hiroshima Carp, co-heroes Shintaro Fujinami and Seung-Hwan Oh were interviewed by the media. When asked about the team’s young ace, Oh speculated that Fujinami is the type of pitcher who could move on to the major leagues some day. The game commentators also reminded viewers that Fujinami is basically right…
For the second week in a row, the Tigers went 2-3. Monday’s game was rained out and played instead on Tuesday. Shintaro Fujinami pitched 8 strong innings, and the Tigers won 2-0. On Wednesday, the Tigers held a tenuous lead going into the 9th, and unfortunately lost it on some poor defence and a rare…