The title defense began on March 29 at Tokyo Dome. You would think the defending champs, and the only CL team to finish in the top 3 for 5 straight years, would get to start their season at home! However, the Tigers traded that privilege for the right to host the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien…
The reigning NPB champions started their title defense on Friday night at Tokyo Dome. Koyo Aoyagi took the mound for the Tigers as they faced the Yomiuri Giants led by ace Shosei Togo. The first four innings were clean for both teams, though each had a chance to break the scoreless tie. In the top…
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…
A loss is a loss, so there is no point in complaining about what seemed from these biased eyes to be an inconsistent strike zone. Normally steady Shoki Murakami walked two (on close calls) and Yuki Nishi walked one on a questionable call, while Yoshinobu Yamamoto got the benefit of several calls the other way…
Despite the dramatic win in Game 4, the Tigers still needed to win this one in order to head back to Kyocera Dome with some momentum and the pressure squarely on the Buffaloes. Their two best pitchers await, so forcing them into two must-win games was the only option. In spite of this, the Tigers’…
Before the Japan Series started, pretty much everyone predicted a low-scoring series. However, that surely has not been the case. Starter Hiroto Saiki labored through five innings but held the Buffaloes to a single run despite 8 base runners, and the relievers allowed the tying run to cross home (they were helped by a Tigers…
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…
The lesson we need to learn, Hanshin fans, is to not let the wins get us too high (until our fourth win of the series, that is) and to not let the losses get us too low. Yesterday was a dominant Tigers win, and tonight, well, it was the exact opposite. Our pitchers looked shaky,…
The Hanshin Tigers hosted the Climax Series Final Stage for the first time in team history. Would they be alright coming into the most important part of the year completely cold? The pitchers would probably be alright, but how about the hitters? Well, they didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard or hit the cover off…
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…