These Hanshin Tigers starting pitchers keep getting the job done. Entering tonight’s game, Takumi Akiyama was the “worst” of the rotation with a 2.75 ERA. All he did was go out and pitch 7 shutout innings to lower that number to 1.80 (which is still just 4th best on the staff). And as for the…
Two weekends ago, when the 2021 season began, Hanshin Tigers fans across the globe were elated when the team left the Tokyo region with three straight wins. They were facing the defending cellar-dwellers at that time. This time, they faced the current basement residents in the Yokohama DeNA Baystars. Different team, same result: one tight…
The first two games of this series were simply too good to be true. Our hitters were mercilessly pounding the Giants pitchers, and our pitchers were holding off their big bats. In this one, the tides turned, though our pitching was still quite strong. But those bats… most of the game looked like fielding practice…
As a fan, it is always a nervous proposition seeing a rookie pitcher starting against the orangemen. Whether they are injury- (or corona-) plagued or not, they still have a certain swagger against our men, which often turns them into little boys. On this night, though, the freshman kept his composure despite having a man…
After the first two games of this series went to the team that did not deserve them (in my opinion… Friday’s Dragons committed 4 errors and still pulled off a win, while Hanshin’s lone hit that left the infield was its last one on Saturday), this one actually played out quite calmly. Very little drama,…
With just five outs to go, this one looked to be a beautiful home opener for the Tigers. Team up by 2, Fujinami went 6 IP 1 R, and the Dragons had committed 4 errors. I mean, you can’t win when you’re fielding that poorly, can you? Not against the almighty Hanshin bullpen, right? Wrong.
Last year, Covid-19 only permitted me to attend one baseball game. This year, I got a quick start to matching that number, as I headed out to Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the preseason to catch the Tigers-Lions battle-for-feline-supremacy match (Part II). It was a cloudy, cool Saturday afternoon, and Koyo Aoyagi was on the mound…
It’s been a year, hasn’t it? Without getting into too many details about any of these stories (which have been discussed on the podcast, in the TTT sessions, and in other articles we’ve written), here are the 20 things that defined this year for your Hanshin Tigers. 20. Fourth-string catcher Kenya Nagasaka started his season…
Sources: Daily Sports (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) The Hanshin Tigers returned to the field on Wednesday after nearly three weeks of inactivity. Workouts have been staggered and limited to fewer players than usual. After having three players test positive for COVID-19 at the end of March (off the field), extra precautionary measures are being…
I never thought I’d become a Koki Moriya fan. He’s started performing well, but that’s not how I got into him. And it’s also not because I’m 43 years old and he’s #43….