Zorny and I went to last night’s game at Koshien Stadium. The Tigers had to win, and they brought their best. The Giants had nothing at stake and it showed. Still, very entertaining ball game. Here are our postgame thoughts:
Sources: Nikkan / Sponichi / Sponichi Annex / Daily With a thankful heart and no regrets, Hanshin outfielder Shintaro Yokota (24) will end his career at season’s end. He held a press conference on September 22nd at the team’s office in Nishinomiya, falling short in his attempt to come back from brain tumors. He was…
Daily Sports Column (Japanese) Here True Hanshin Tigers fans have had their worlds rocked no fewer than four times in the last month*. While baseball is “just a game” and we need not get too uptight or depressed over what happens on the field, we also need to remember that each guy involved with the…
Source: Daily Sports A press conference was held for Randy Messenger to make his retirement official. Here is much of the Q & A. As he approached the podium, he looked at the media and said (in Japanese): OK, sayonara. Good work here today, people! I’m Randy Messenger, #54 for the Hanshin Tigers. This is…
Host T-Ray is joined by JD as they go over team news, the past fortnight of Tigers baseball, and then go deep on Randy Messenger‘s retirement, plus they discuss who needs to step up and solidify this pitching rotation in 2020. Recorded on: September 17, 2019 Book review of Randy Messenger’s autobio: https://www.thehanshintigers.com/2018/09/04/randy-messenger-giving-my-all-for-the-tigers/ Like/Review us…
So long, Big Mess! Hanshin announced on the 13th that pitcher Randy Messenger (38) would be retiring at the end of this season. The man himself made the request with the team that same day, and they accepted. He struggled this season, his 10th in Japan, starting 13 games and winning three, losing seven and posting a 4.69 ERA. He injured his right shoulder in July and was on the farm but could not get desirable results in his starts during the past month, and made the decision to end his career. The plan is to have a press conference in the days to come.
Sources: The Wedge / The Page / Gendai First, the story as told by most media here. Yangervis Solarte was signed in early July to breathe some life into this wilting Hanshin Tigers hitting lineup. After an impossibly strong start to his time here, his defensive lapses and slump at the plate warranted a farming…
In a recent podcast episode, we talked about the man, the legend, Takashi Toritani, who was the first one given his ticket to get out of the Hanshin Tigers organization this offseason. We also pontificated who might also be on that same flight when it is scheduled to depart at the start of December. Here…
The Hanshin Tigers have a long history of odd happenings with import talent: Gene Bacque finds himself in a brawl, breaks his thumb while punching a Giants’ coach, gets released at season’s end. Mike Greenwell plays all of seven games (at a ¥350-million price tag), fractures a bone after fouling a pitch off his own…
Host T-Ray is joined by JD as they go over team news, the month of August, choose players of the month, and then go deep on Takashi Toritani‘s release, plus they pontificate about who else might be kicked out of Koshien at season’s end. Recorded on: September 3, 2019 Like/Review us on Facebook! facebook.com/hanshintigersenglishnews Follow…