While I dream that the 2016 Tigers will win the pennant, I am also fully aware that playing with such a young lineup means there will be a lot of growing pains, mistakes, and losses. The previous series against the BayStars showed us several times that wins would not come easy. (We won the first…
After the embarrassment fed to them earlier in the week against the Giants, Hanshin had something to prove in this series. Could they make their week look respectable by taking their frustrations out on the last place BayStars? Game 29 – Friday, 4/29: K, I have to admit that I am not sure how many times…
Let me start off with my personal story. A friend of mine, who is a Tigers fan, said he wanted to take in a game before he left for the States at the end of the month. I found seats to Tuesday’s game despite it being a sellout. I’m pumped. Then I get word from…
Unable to get on a good roll and heading to a park that seldom helped them last year, the Tigers needed good pitching from their starters – something that has been their downfall most of the past week. Could the team use Thursday’s rainout to straighten out some of their problems? The tale of the tape…
It’s hard coming home after a bad day at work. Or maybe it’s comforting? The Hanshin Tigers got swept and humiliated in three games in Nagoya against the Chunichi Dragons. Could they right the ship at Koshien against the defending CL champion Yakult Swallows? Game 21 – Tuesday, 4/19: Surely young ace Shintaro Fujinami would…
Now, I’ve had my encounters with Hanshin Tigers players before. Some of you remember my report about meeting Matt Murton at Starbucks. Others will have read my more recent report about bumping into (not literally, thank God) Randy Messenger, Mauro Gomez, Marcos Mateo, Matt Hague, and Tom O’Malley at a Mexican restaurant in Okinawa. But…
It was great to see many of the players up closely during the first week of spring training down in Okinawa last week. After terrible bouts with illness, I am finally ready to start processing what I saw and share it with you all. Part 1 was about the fielders (catchers excluded), this one will…
I stood outside the clubhouse waiting for pitchers to walk past me. Hoped to get a comment or two from the foreign pitchers. Randy Messenger snubbed me, I double-pressed “record” when Marcos Mateo walked past so I got 0.5 seconds of video of him. Rafael Dolis actually said “thank you” to me. That is all….
The three imports from the Dominican Republic – 3rd year veteran Mauro Gomez and newly-signed relievers Marcos Mateo and Rafael Dolis – arrived safely in Japan on January 27th. The two newcomers had a press conference at team headquarters the following day. Here is a brief look at what the press reported on all three…
Co-hosts T-Ray and Whiz-Oh talk about the latest team news, some HTEN news, and then we look at some New Year’s Resolutions that the pitchers could/should make. Opening song – 君は君だけ – Kimi wa Kimi dake (Hakugaijin) Closing song – Hanshin Tigers (Sim Redmond Band) Recorded on January 18, 2016 Got any questions or comments? Want to join…