For the past seven days, it has been in theatres near you (if you live in Japan). And at long last, H-TEN took it in on this day. There were around 30 people in a 200-seat cinema, which I suppose should be expected for a Thursday matinee. Anyhow, let’s get down to business. There are…
Sources: Nikkan Sports / Hochi Message from the translator: Keep in mind that these are not the exact words spoken by the guys. The press conference is not viewable by the public, so this is a translation of the Japanese translation of their words. New Hanshin import pitchers Jon Edwards (32, Indians) and Joe Gunkel…
This one was nothing like the first two, especially in that the BayStars did not crank one out of the park early. The losers would go home for good, and the winners would advance to face the Central League champs. Neither team’s pitchers seemed interested in giving up a run, and neither team’s hitters seemed…
When your best pitcher gets tagged for five straight hits to open the game, and you find yourself down six runs with just a few innings to go, it’s easy to just pack it in and hope for better fortunes tomorrow. Fans who did just this are kicking themselves now, because they gave up on…
Host T-Ray is joined by Sanjay as they recap the last two weeks of up-and-down Tigers baseball. They then take a look at several key veterans on the team who are approaching the ends of their careers. How much longer will they be around, and who can replace them? The elephants in the room are…
After twenty years of professional baseball, including seven (2008-14) with the Hanshin Tigers, Hiroshima Carp first baseman Takahiro Arai announced his retirement effective at season’s end. Despite a diminished role with the soon-to-be three-time CL champion Carp, Arai is a beloved teammate and player to all. Those who know him personally attest to his humility,…
Here’s a look at my Hanshin calendar, which highlights the birthdays of Hanshin players past and present, as well as the game schedule for the this month of baseball. Note that the first two home sets (vs. Swallows, vs. Carp) are at Kyocera Dome, not Koshien Stadium. A clearer look at the schedule can also…
Life as a Tigers fan had been pretty depressing for much of June. Surprisingly, one of the few teams we’ve had success against this season is the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Thanks to them (really, thanks to some untimely errors) we were able to put that 5-game losing streak behind us. SWEEP! Game 66: Brought to…
It’s Golden Week, so lots of families were in attendance at Friday afternoon’s game. The players’ names on the scoreboard were all in syllabic hiragana so kids could read them. And the only thing it helped kids do was read out the names of players who disappointed them time and again, as the Tigers dropped…
The Tigers’ 2018 slogan is 執念 (shunen = tenacity). But up to this point, the team has really failed to show resilience in most of its games. But the boys managed to grit out a W to finish the month of April on a positive note. And the hero was our new import slugger, who…