Here’s a brief look at some of the bullpen pitching I watched over the first couple of days at spring training. Apparently Kyuji Fujikawa was the first man in the pen on Day 1, and then on Day 2 it was Akifumi Takahashi. But once again, Atsushi Nohmi blows everyone away with his work ethic….
Unfortunately there was not a whole lot to see today, though just being in the area and seeing players a little closer up than usual was exciting! Here’s a brief video of my morning report:
Once again I had the privilege of attending a game with a good friend and being able to sit in a good section. I was 17 rows behind the Tigers’ dugout, so I got to see the players coming off the field every inning, high fiving each other, and so on. Tonight our opponent was…
The lead had evaporated. With 18 games to go, the most crucial games of the season started in this series. How would the team respond? Could they defeat the underachieving Carp? Take back first place? Let’s see how this one played out. Game 1: I was able to watch this one from the first base…
As has been the case in the Central League all season, winning streaks are followed by losing streaks, which are followed by winning streaks again. The Tigers had won 3 straight heading into Sunday’s matchup with the Dragons, but lost 5-0 in the series finale. Would it be the beginning of another losing streak, or…
The triumphant return to Koshien was everything the fans wanted. The follow-up two games were every fan’s nightmare, unless you count the 7 runs in the last two innings of Sunday’s game (the team still lost that one, 11-8). With three more at Koshien against the team that took two straight from them in Hiroshima…
Since the all-star break, the Hanshin Tigers are playing much better ball. They are 11-6 with a run differential of +13. Before the break they were 41-42 and got outscored by 86 runs. The team has won all but one of their six series (losing two of three to the Swallows at home), and started…
On Friday night, the Tigers began their “Ultra Summer” (ウル虎の夏) campaign at Koshien Stadium. They gave out free yellow replica jerseys to all in attendance, and will do so for the remainder of this series, as well as the entire next series (July 31-August 2, vs. Yakult Swallows). It is a wonderful way to “color…
I got to Koshien Stadium around 11am, despite not having a ticket to tonight’s game or even the intention of attending. And I didn’t. But I did get to take in the Koshien Stadium Museum for the first time ever, and followed it up with a tour of the stadium that included a chance to…
After finally reaching the .500 mark for the first time since early April, the Tigers proceeded to fall right back into mediocrity with two straight blowout losses to the Saitama Seibu Lions, ending May with a 12-13 record, and only staying in third thanks to even worse play (or luck?) from the Dragons, Swallows and…