2022 was the Year of the Tiger, and was supposed to be our year to win the pennant. As you surely know by now, that did not happen. But that does not mean it was not a year to remember! There was a lot to rejoice (and lament) over during the past 365 days. Here’s a brief look at some of the big stories and/or games…
10. Kumagai Header into Left Center FTW!
June 11 @ Orix Buffaloes (Kyocera Dome). The Tigers fell behind 0-2 to their crosstown rivals but came back to tie it in the top of the 8th on a Sato RBI triple and pass ball. The game went into extras, and Sato led off with a single. Pinch-runner Takahiro Kumagai took advantage of a 2-0 count to Rojas, trying to steal second base. The throw from the Buffaloes catcher glanced off his helmet and bounced into left-center field. While outfielders scrambled to get to the ball, Kumagai put the pedal to the metal and scampered home for the go-ahead run! The Tigers won this game, swept the Buffaloes, and were well on their way to erasing the terrible deficit they accrued in the season’s first month (see #2 below).
9. Okada Named New Manager
This baseball team has not finished in first place since 2005. That’s a 17-year drought, for those of you keeping track at home. The last manager to lead the team to victory? None other than Akinobu Okada (2004-08). The year was 2005 and the team featured a potent lineup and a revolutionary 7-8-9 combination of relievers nicknamed JFK that ensured the team would run away with a bunch of games. Well, at age 65, he is back in the saddle for 2023. Okada has been a color commentator and newspaper columnist for years now, and has always had a fierce love for the Tigers. He has been critical of many of the managers’ decisions in recent years, and now he has a chance to mold the team as he wants to. He has already verbalized many promises, such as giving star players one position and full trust over the entire season, focusing on defense, and not bowing to the crowd after losses or donning home run hitters with medals. How all this affects the final results remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: the team is in for some big changes in 2023!
8. Fujinami Posted to MLB
Long-time fans know him as the high school phenom who pitched his team to spring and summer Koshien Tournament victories in 2012. The kid whose pedigree and ceiling were higher than Shohei Ohtani’s. The young Hanshin Tigers starter who won 10+ games in each of his first three seasons out of high school. More recent fans have heard about his 161-pitch performance punishment in 2016. His beaning of a Yakult Swallows hitter in early 2017 that caused a bench-clearing brawl. His frequent trips to and from the farm as he struggled with control. His tardiness to practice. His contracting Covid-19 in early 2020 when the team forbade social gatherings. But also, his flashes of brilliance out of the bullpen in 2020, his being named Opening Day pitcher in 2021 and 2022. Well, Shintaro Fujinami has asked the team to let him try the major leagues in 2023. And the team has granted that request. As of this article’s publication, he still had not signed on with any MLB team, but his agent Scott Boras says it’s just a matter of time. Whatever becomes of Fujinami in the States (or Canada?), we will keep our eyes on him and cheer feverishly when he suits up on the other side of the Pacific. He becomes the first Japanese Tigers player to head overseas since Kyuji Fujikawa (2013). Go get ’em, Shin-chan!
7. Itoi Calls it a Career
Yoshio Itoi came into the baseball world as a pitcher. After a couple of years trying and failing, he realized that his only shot at a career would be a conversion from the mound to the outfield. And so, after years of hard work, he bloomed into a star for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. He got traded to the Orix Buffaloes, where he spent four highly productive seasons. Along came free agency, and the mighty hand of then-manager Tomoaki Kanemoto lured him to the Hanshin Tigers for the 2017 season. At age 35. While he never fully lived up to the hype and expectations that the club had for him, he was always a fan favorite. He needed nearly 18 months to go from career stolen base 299 to #300, but he made it there. He was known as “Cho-jin” (Superman), though his injury-proneness made him look rather human, especially in his final years. Nevertheless, the Hanshin Tigers nation was saddened when he announced his retirement from the game back in September. At age 41, he was roughly 10 years older than any other position player on the team, and the guys really looked up to him. We are just glad he loved his time with the team and hopefully, he will continue to support the team in some capacity for years to come.
6. Big Comeback Win Lifts Team Out of Last!
June 3. The Pitcher of the Month for May, Aaron Wilkerson, took to the mound for the return of Fighters manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo to Koshien, where he grew into a superstar back in the 1990s. Wilk did not by any means have his best stuff, allowing 7 runs in the first three innings of the game. But help was on the way! Yusuke Ohyama hit home runs in the second, fourth, and eighth innings (all solos), and the guys rallied in earnest after the third bomb, ultimately pushing the go-ahead run across home on a bases-loaded walk. It would be the team’s greatest comeback win in five seasons, and with this win, the guys clawed their way out of 12th place in the overall NPB standings for the first time all year!
5. Sato Reaches 20 HR Again
Just how high are expectations for second-year slugger Teruaki Sato? Despite boosting his average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, doubles, triples, stolen bases, while decreasing his strikeout number significantly, many considered his sophomore year a disappointment. The reason? His 24 home runs as a rookie established a new club record for first-year players, and he hit “only” 20 in 2022. The fact of the matter is, though, he became the first left-handed hitter in NPB HISTORY to hit 20+ home runs in his first two seasons after being drafted. You can say what you want about how his season paled in comparison with a certain history-maker in the Swallows organization… but I, for one, am extremely proud of what he has accomplished and know the best is yet to come!
4. New Team Record for Shutout Losses
The 1963 Hanshin Tigers hitters were bad. Really bad. As defending CL champions, they put up 24 shutout losses to establish a club record that would last 59 years. Unfortunately, the 2022 Tigers did them one better, putting up 26 (times nine) bagels. The only good news is that they avoided breaking the NPB record (31), which still belongs to the 1956 teams now known as the Yokohama DeNA Baystars and Nippon-Ham Fighters. Here’s the ugly breakdown, in case you want to cry your way through the details.
3. Chikamoto Ties Club Hitting Streak Record
On May 27, Koji Chikamoto went 0-4 against the Chiba Lotte Marines, dropping his batting average to .260. It would never sink that low the rest of the way. Thirty games later, he had tied the club record (held by Matt Murton) for longest hitting streak. In 13 of those games, he recorded multiple hits. He was just three away from tying the NPB mark of 33, in fact. Unfortunately, the streak came to an end on July 7 at Koshien Stadium against the Hiroshima Carp. After the game, reflecting on the streak, Chikamoto said, “Today there were fans that came to the game just to see me get that hit and set a new team record, so I’m sorry I was not able to come through. Especially that 4th at-bat… the atmosphere at the stadium was incredible… and I put a lot of pressure on myself in that situation. It was actually really fun. But I’m glad it’s over so I can focus more on maturing as a hitter. I’ll be back tomorrow to face new challenges.” I also happened to be chatting with Murton during the game, and when the streak ended, he said, “Kind of stinks, but he did a great job! 30 is no joke.” No joke indeed.
2. Worst Start in Team History
March 25. Opening Day. Hanshin has a seemingly insurmountable 8-1 lead against the Yakult Swallows after five innings. The night fell apart after that, though, as history was made and remade throughout March and April. They would lose that game 10-8, then get shut out two games in a row after that. Their six-game road trip was a fruitless one as well, with the Carp erasing Hanshin leads in three straight, and the Giants simply laying the lumber on our starters at Tokyo Dome. That nine-game losing streak to start a season established a new Central League low, but the worst was yet to come. They won at long last at Koshien against the Baystars, then kept on losing until the record sat at 1-15-1 (.063), setting an NPB record for the worst winning percentage to start a season (not counting .000). They would dig themselves as deep as 3-19-1 (16 games below .500) before righting the ship and reaching the .500 mark by the all-star break. But what a disheartening start to the year! Many blamed the top story (see below) for the results on the field…
1. Yano Announces Resignation Before Camp
The Hanshin Tigers fell just shy of the Central League pennant in 2021. Some blamed the manager, and perhaps it was this pressure that caused Akihiro Yano to announce his resignation on January 31 — one day before spring camp started! This is a first in NPB history, and certainly was not so that he could have a farewell tour. It has been speculated that the stress of managing the Tigers was simply too much, and that although he had signed a deal to lead the team in 2022, perhaps he knew that there was nothing left in the tank. He seems to have developed more of an interest in youth baseball (whose spirit he somewhat tried to incorporate into Hanshin’s bench during his years as skipper) and did not have the killer winning instinct that professional teams need. Whatever the reason, the team knew before they even played a single inning of baseball that he was done at season’s end, regardless of the results. I personally think he chose this timing because that way, it would not be seen as a cop-out if the team failed, or a hard decision if the team were successful. No fans or media could scream “Good riddance” or “How can you leave after a championship?” He was leaving on his terms. We at H-TEN love Yano-san and wish him nothing but the best in 2023 and beyond. And our sentiments are the same for you — especially you who read this right through to the end!
TL;DR → Yano quit, the team stumbled, had a few good games, had a few historical moments, made the playoffs despite horrible hitting, Itoi retired, Okada became manager, and Fujinami got posted.