Nishi, Johnson Join Pitching Staff
Hanshin has added a couple of arms to the pitching staff in the past few days, alleviating some of the worries that they were being left behind this offseason.
Hanshin Tigers English News
Ride the Tiger - 騎虎之勢
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Game 107 @ Giants – Shunen At Last
This year’s team slogan, announced last November at the team’s annual Fan Appreciation Day, is 執念 Tigers Change 2018. 執念 (shuunen) means “tenacity” and manager Tomoaki Kanemoto was hoping the slogan would give his team that extra push to be tenacious at the plate, on defense, on the mound, in all situations. But the fact…
Toreba no Toraba: The Struggle to Keep Hating Kyojin
Japanese version written by me for Daily Sports can be seen here Have you ever been doing something a little shady, and said to yourself, “You know, you really shouldn’t be doing this.” Or, “Aren’t you worried what people are going to say when they find out you’ve been hanging out with him/her?” You’re human,…
Game 44 vs. Giants – Sweep Good for Psyche, Saiki
It had been four years since the Tigers swept a 3-game series against the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien Stadium. Bringing in a 19-year old rookie against a pitcher who was undefeated against the Tigers this season did not seem like a recipe for ending that streak. Then again, you can’t predict baseball. Starting Pitchers: Hiroto Saiki (0-1, 7.50…
Game 43 vs. Giants – 1st Walk-Off Win of 2018!
I have to admit, it’s a special atmosphere at these games against the Yomiuri Giants. But in the seven that I have seen at Koshien, the home team has won just one (against five losses and a tie). And this one twice looked like it would end in a loss or tie. But it didn’t. Starting…
Game 42 vs. Giants – Beat Sugano Again!
You can never like the Hanshin Tigers’ odds against Yomiuri Giants ace Sugano. Until his last start, he had a 29 2/3 scoreless innings streak, and he’s looking every bit the Sawamura Award winner he was last season, and not at all like the guy who gave us our first win back on March 30. But then,…
Game 31 @ Giants – Veteran Crushes Rookie’s Dream
It’s got to be a little bit intimidating to make your professional debut against the winningest, oldest, most popular team in baseball. Especially in their barn. And especially when they happen to be the hottest hitting team in the Central. Our pitchers did a valiant job of keeping the damage to a minimum. But if…
Game 30 @ Giants – 2nd Year Growing Pains
With a huge win on Tuesday and our best pitcher due up on the mound today, it looked like the Tigers might be well on their way to avenging a sweep at Koshien by these same Yomiuri Giants just a few weeks back. But a couple of judgment lapses by the sophomoric third baseman might…
Game 29 @ Giants – Akkyaman the Superhero
The origin of his nickname is not known to yours truly, but our starting pitcher today uses Akkyaman as part of his Twitter handle – アッキャマン has the letters for アキヤマ (Akiyama) in it, with a few extras so it sounds a little more “hero-like.” Well on this particular day, the name was 100% befitting…
Twitter Trash Talk: Can’t Convert Me to Kyojin!
The games over the weekend led to some furious fingers tapping away on my phone screen come Sunday night. If you know Hanshin fans, you know they take every single win and loss to heart, celebrating every victory and every loss as though it’s the World Series. So there I was, venting all sorts of…