book

Book Review: Put Your Life on the Line

Book Review: Put Your Life on the Line

While I enjoyed the first book I read by current Hanshin manager Tomoaki Kanemoto (Prepare and Proceed, 2008), I still questioned its timing. He was still mid-career and was not coming off any major event (championship, surgery, retirement, etc.). But this book is a different story. Written the offseason after he retired in 2012, this…

Book Review – The Arm

Book Review – The Arm

Full Title: The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports As a (relatively) casual fan of the game, and as an avid fantasy baseball player, the words “Tommy John” and “arm issues” were rather impersonal to me. They meant “look for another pitcher on the waiver wire” and “never draft this…

Offseason Reading Program

Offseason Reading Program

It’s not just that the Hanshin Tigers season is all but over. It’s also that I need good reading material for on train and bus rides (my commute to work is almost 2 hours one way). So I have a decent stock of books to get me through until next spring, or at least I…

Book Review – Prepare and Proceed

Book Review – Prepare and Proceed

This book, written by current manager (and former player) Tomoaki Kanemoto, is only a mystery to me because of when it was released. Kanemoto was still in his playing days and still extending his ironman streak from game to game, season to season, at this point. Why did he write a book and have it published…

Book Review – Hey Young Tigers!

Book Review – Hey Young Tigers!

Masayuki Kakefu is easily one of the most prolific and recognizable hitters and names in Hanshin Tigers history. He made his way into the heart of the order quite quickly after joining the club, and remained there for most of his playing years, which unfortunately ended too soon. For decades after his retirement, he mysteriously…

Book Review – Hanshin Strategy as Seen by Scorers

First of all, what is a “scorer” (スコアラー) anyways? Before picking up Hiroshi Miyake’s memoirs, I would not have thought of them as anything more than guys who keep track of each at bat in a game – tracing lines on a scoresheet to indicate which runners made it how far in every inning of…

Book Review – Murton’s Bible

Book Review – Murton’s Bible

Anyone who has followed Matt Murton while he played for the Hanshin Tigers knows that the man is a Christian, and a vocal one at that. While his faith may not appeal to everyone, there are certainly people within the Christian community that root for him based solely on his beliefs. Contrarily, there are people…

Book Preview – History Treasures

Book Preview – History Treasures

Now I’m going to sound like a spoiled child, but my father-in-law called up his daughter (my wife) the other day and said, “I found something your husband might be interested in. Can you come over sometime this week and check it out? If he wants it, it’s his. If not, that’s OK, I can…