Many years ago, I read (and reviewed) one of the best Japanese books about baseball that I have ever read, which was written by Keio University professor Dr. Masaru Ikei. Not long thereafter, as I was browsing Amazon, I came across this one. The title was intriguing enough, so I decided to flag it and…
This book came recommended to me by a few people, and while I had had an interest in reading it for a good three years or so, it was not until recently that I got my hands on it and cracked it open. The first few chapters were completely mesmerizing for me, and I learned…
Some of you know that the first fielder that the Hanshin Tigers acquired after Randy Bass‘ release in 1988 (other than a half-season by Ruppert Jones) was none other than Cecil Fielder. (Yes, the man who went on to win two home run titles and three RBI titles in the majors with the Detroit Tigers….
< Previous Next > Date: October 13, 2013 Shinjiro Hiyama had a long, productive career with the Tigers. He played 22 seasons, all with Hanshin, and finished 4th all-time in games played (1959), 9th in home runs (159) and 9th in runs batted in (707). This in spite of being used primarily as a pinch…
< Previous Next > Date: September 15, 2003 When you go 17 straight seasons without even contending for the pennant, seasons like this seem surreal. These Tigers won at least 15 games in each of the first four months of the season, and became the fastest team ever to reach 70 wins in a…
< Previous Next > Date: November 2, 1985 The drought had gone on long enough. In fact, there were players on the Tigers roster who were still in diapers the last time the team had won a pennant in 1964. And this team had a lot of the right pieces to take the team…
< Previous Next > Dates: October 15-18, 2014 To better understand the significance of this moment, you need to know the Central League’s playoff system. Until and including 2006, the team that finished first in the regular season standings automatically advanced to the Nippon Series. However, in 2007, the CL introduced the Climax Series. The…
< Previous Next > Date: June 12, 1999 Hanshin fans had had very little to cheer about for years. Fourteen seasons since the last championship and four more until the next, there was no telling when the Dark Ages would come to an end. One of the few bright spots on this team was a…
< Previous Next > Date: July 30, 2004 The ironman was on a mission. And not even a broken wrist was going to stop him. Playing in his 698th consecutive full game (no innings off) on July 29th, Tomoaki Kanemoto needed just 3 more games to match the NPB record of 700, set by Hideshi…
< Previous Next > Date: October 9, 2012 This moment cannot be properly understood without first understanding the absolute mess this team was before Tomoaki Kanemoto‘s acquisition during the 2002 offseason. Just two seasons removed from the 1985 championship, the team finished… 6th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 6th, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 6th, 6th, 5th, 6th, 6th,…