Opinion Pieces

Fan Appreciation Day @ Koshien

Fan Appreciation Day @ Koshien

More fans showed up at Koshien Stadium yesterday than on many days on which the Tigers hosted a baseball game. The reason: the team’s annual Fan Appreciation Day took place from 12pm until around 4pm. The weather was great and the turn out was reported at 43,000. Here is a rundown of the day’s events:…

2015 Season Evaluation

2015 Season Evaluation

The Hanshin Tigers started their 2015 season with one goal: winning the Central League pennant in their memorial 80th year as a franchise. Despite finishing 7 games behind the champion Yomiuri Giants and just a half game ahead of the Hiroshima Carp in 2014, the team made no significant offseason moves. In fact, officials pointed…

Book Review – School of Hanshin Fans

Book Review – School of Hanshin Fans

Knowing very little of the team’s tradition or its long-time writers, I picked this book up to get a quick education. It ended up being much more than that – a real entertaining read about some of the quirks of Hanshin fans, anecdotes of various players throughout history, and even a few write-ups about Tigers-related…

“Creative” Liberties in Translation

“Creative” Liberties in Translation

Today I finally got to watch last Friday night’s “Nekketsu Taiga-su To-“ (Fervent Tigers Party) and they caught up with Matt Murton at Kansai International Airport. Murton was very frank and told things like they were. He even insinuated that the team is to blame for his not returning. I didn’t think a show like…

Kanemoto’s Press Conference

Kanemoto’s Press Conference

At 4:30pm today in Osaka, newly appointed manager Tomoaki Kanemoto met the press for the first time since his hiring was made official. The press conference lasted no more than 10 minutes but gave Tigers fans plenty to get excited about. Here are some of the key things brought up, and my thoughts on them….

Report: Perez to be Called Up?

Report: Perez to be Called Up?

The original article can be found here  元の記事はこちら Reports on the 16th indicate that Hanshin manager Yutaka Wada (53) is considering calling Nelson Perez (27) up from the farm in an attempt to win the league pennant. Gomez is slumping in September, hitting just .167, and Murton has been showing mental instability as he shows his…

By the Numbers: What’s Our Problem?

By the Numbers: What’s Our Problem?

In a nutshell our problem is this: the Hanshin Tigers can’t beat other teams’ best pitchers. The chart below lists the Central League’s ten best qualified (enough innings played to win individual awards) pitchers by ERA. Keep in mind this chart does not look at our record in games in which their aces got no-decisions. Pitcher…