hayata

NPB Shutdown, Tigers Out of Hospital

NPB Shutdown, Tigers Out of Hospital

Sources: Daily / Sponichi / Daily Hanshin outfielder Hayata Itoh, who tested positive for COVID-19 on March 26, was released from hospital on April 5th, becoming the first of the three hospitalized Tigers to be discharged. He will spend an indefinite period in isolation in his home, and had this to say through the team:…

COVID-19 NPB Update

COVID-19 NPB Update

To no one’s surprise, really, the NPB season has been further delayed due to the continued spread of the coronavirus in Japan, especially in the Tokyo area. Today (April 4) marked the first day in which there were over 100 new cases reported in the nation’s capital alone, and most of them cannot be traced…

Game 107 @ Giants – Shunen At Last

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…

Games 66-68 @ BayStars – Home Away from Home

Games 66-68 @ BayStars – Home Away from Home

Life as a Tigers fan had been pretty depressing for much of June. Surprisingly, one of the few teams we’ve had success against this season is the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Thanks to them (really, thanks to some untimely errors) we were able to put that 5-game losing streak behind us. SWEEP! Game 66: Brought to…

Games 58-60 @ Eagles – Big Bat Better than Bad Bunts

Games 58-60 @ Eagles – Big Bat Better than Bad Bunts

You expect to win two, if not three when you’re playing against a bottom-feeding team like  the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Tigers barely pulled it off – but hey, we’ll take the wins any way we get them. Game 58 – Kids Back in Kanemoto’s Good Books? Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami vs. Wataru Karashima…

Why I Still Don’t Like Kanemoto (Part 2)

Why I Still Don’t Like Kanemoto (Part 2)

I hated Wadaball. So did most of you. And when his time at the helm ended in October 2015, and Tomoaki Kanemoto took over the reins, there was a lot of excitement in Tigerland. Things were going to be different, at last! Aniki’s team would be faster and (much) stronger than the yawn-inducing lineup Yutaka…

Game 9 vs. Carp: Walked a Lot, Scored Enough

Game 9 vs. Carp: Walked a Lot, Scored Enough

The Tigers were gifted ten free passes, and a crucial error by the usually-reliable Carp shortstop allowed Hanshin to turn the tables in the sixth inning to steal a win in their first game at Koshien Stadium this season. Starting Pitchers: Taiki Ono (1-0, 1.23 ERA) vs. Kazuki Yabuta (1-0, 3.60 ERA)  2 With two…

Spring Training 2018 – Le Troisieme Cours

Spring Training 2018 – Le Troisieme Cours

Before we get to the highlights (yes, there were a couple of games!), here are the latest bits of news: – Manager Tomoaki Kanemoto has declared that Yusuke Ohyama will get a chance at third, which means moving ironman Takashi Toritani over to second base. I guess Hiroki Uemoto is out of a job! –…