It was bad enough that the team lost two of three against the Hiroshima Carp earlier this week. The first game was a low-scoring affair, one that our starter dominated for six innings and our relievers held their boots on the jugulars of the CL leaders. But then came two humiliating defeats – falling behind…
This Hiroshima Carp team is strong. Really strong. Though the Tigers entered this series with a slight 6-5 edge in 11 head-to-head games this season, the last two were lopsided enough to make it feel like it’s 2016 all over again. But things would be different in this series, right? I mean, the games are…
While the Carp had a slightly better interleague record than the Tigers, the standings atop the Central were still close heading into this one. Last year at this time, Hanshin opened the post-interleague schedule in Hiroshima with an embarrassing 3-game sweep. Everyone knew that and had revenge in their minds. They did not have it…
Golden Week ended up being quite the golden week for Hanshin. With a stadium full of kids cheering them on, and a scoreboard with every name written in hiragana (syllabic Japanese, much easier for children to read than kanji), the players put on performances that gave every kid in attendance hopes and dreams for their…
The last time Hanshin won a 3-game series against the red helmets was almost a year ago. Since then, nothing but misery. Errors, defense, pitching, hitting, everything cost us at least a game or two. And despite winning the season opener against the Carp, not only did we drop the next two (one in which…
The new team slogan for this year is 挑む Tigers Change. 挑む (Idomu) can be translated as “challenge” or “defy” or “dare to try”. After the opening series in Hiroshima, all the Hanshin Tigers seem ready to challenge is the record for most errors in a season. What has changed? The defense has certainly not…
Photos courtesy of Tim Herr Kris Johnson won the Sawamura Award last year and gave up just 7 earned runs to the Hanshin Tigers all season. (He did even better against the Dragons and Giants, but let’s leave that aside for now.) The defending champion Hiroshima Carp looked to start their season with a triumphant…
This team simply can’t beat the Carp. But even more than that, they can’t seem to figure out the 2016 CL champ’s ace, Kris Johnson. In his two seasons in NPB, the Tigers have never hung him with a loss. The fate of both teams has already been decided but still, a win against the…
There’s no decorating this or making excuses of any sort. The Hanshin Tigers have been utterly dominated by the Hiroshima Carp this year. After a decent 4-4 start in the season series, the Tigers lost 9 straight and have since limped to a 6-17 record against the Central League champs heading into this one. Game…
This year the Hiroshima Carp have utterly dominated our boys, no matter the venue. In Hiroshima, they have won 8 of 12, and at Koshien, they have won 7 of 9. Would playing in a different city but still being the home team reverse the Tigers’ fortunes? It reversed Takahiro Arai’s fortunes in 2015, and…