Hanshin has a relatively mediocre record against every Pacific League team these past dozen years of interleague existence. The team against which Hanshin has its second best record are these Chiba Lotte Marines. However, last season they are the lone team that swept us three straight. However, these Marines are not the same team they…
Hanshin needed a big series against an opponent that had been relatively easy to beat up to this point this season. Unfortunately, extremely poor fielding cost the team two of three at Koshien, and the team finds itself out of first place heading into Interleague play. Game 44 – Friday 5/26. (Kuru)Shintaro Strikes Balls Bawls…
That second win against Chunichi was a bad omen. Just three hits? Maybe it was just a fluke. Perhaps our bats will wake up at small Jingu Stadium against the mediocre pitching of the Yakult Swallows. Perhaps our pitchers will continue to deal, and stifle the Yakult bats. Then again… Game 38 – Friday 5/19….
It certainly is unusual to see the Tigers playing this well. Especially in light of the fact that heading into this set, Hanshin had winning records against every CL team except these Chunichi Dragons. Would playing at home change the team’s fortunes? (After all, Hanshin took two of three last time at Koshien!) Game 35 –…
Yokohama BayStars manager Alex Ramirez said at the start of the season that he thought the Hanshin Tigers would be a tough opponent. Apparently he knew what he was saying. Hanshin came into this series winning 3 of 4 against last year’s feel-good story team. Both of the series featured a rainout on day 2…
FYI – Koi Nobori is a type of carp streamer that people put up during Golden Week. Hanshin took down the carp, hence, Koi Kudari. In Episode 60, T-Ray shares the latest team news, recaps the 6 games over the past week (3 @ Swallows, 3 vs. Carp), chooses a player of the week, a Wacky Tomoaki…
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…
If you want to read more about the Yakult Swallows, click here. There is definitely no lost love between these two teams. Last time the two faced off, a brawl ensued that will surely be talked about throughout the season, and will make highlight shows for years to come. Hanshin took that series after losing…
Vs. Chunichi Dragons @ Koshien Stadium Hanshin faced lefties Valdes (Tuesday), Jordan (Wednesday) and Ohno (Thursday) the last time these teams met earlier this month. With starters usually pitching the same day of the week (6 man rotation and Mondays off), one would have expected to face completely different guys this time around, But… Game…
The steady diet of opponents’ lefty pitchers continued at Koshien for the Tigers on Tuesday. One can’t help but wonder if other teams feel their greatest chance of success at stifling the attack is to put a southpaw on the mound to start the game. The Chunichi Dragons sent 3 our way (Valdes, Jordan, Ohno),…