It was looking like the weather might wash away the entire weekend of baseball, but the skies held up as Game 1 between the Hanshin Tigers and the Yokohama DeNA BayStars got started. All the talk was that winners of Game 1 of this playoff series go on to the next round 95% of the…
Though the Tigers’ place in the standings is already set, this next-to-last game was still important. 1) The team had not scored at Koshien in 29 innings heading into this series; 2) It was riding a 7-game winless streak at home; 3) This was a great chance to give the young guys more playing time….
The Yomiuri Giants have gotten the better of us most of the year, especially on our home turf. Though our spot in the playoffs was secure, second was still up for grabs, and the Giants were looking to complete their comeback attempt at sneaking into third. Though the BayStars shut us out in two straight…
This shouldn’t have been a “must win” series. By now, Hanshin should have locked up second place. Unfortunately, life as a Tigers fan is never that easy. Two straight shutout losses to these BayStars left the team up just 3.5 games with 7 to go. Fortunately, now with 4 games to go, the gap is…
The Tigers are about as close as you can get to clinching a playoff spot. In fact, just a couple of wins and/or a couple of losses by both the Yokohama BayStars and Yomiuri Giants would lock up second place and the chance to host the First Stage of the Climax Series. Naturally, it would…
The Yomiuri Giants aren’t a fourth place team on paper. With three of the best starters in the Central, and a lineup of proven veteran hitters and free agents, they should be contending for the pennant. And when they play the Hanshin Tigers, they look like a pennant team. The reality in this series was…
The gap has shortened once again. With hopes of first place completely vanished, and eight matches remaining against these Yokohama DeNA BayStars, this series was crucial in establishing that (a) second place is OURS, and that (b) if we meet in the Climax Series, it won’t be easy for them. In three days, the Tigers…
Somehow in the past month, the Tigers have managed to take away the Hiroshima Carp‘s magic number. Twice. And in the month of August, they managed to cut an 11-game gap between the teams in half. And yet during that time, the team only went 2-3-1 in their head-to-head matches. This three-game set in Hiroshima…
This article is a paraphrase of Japanese ones found here and here Hanshin Tigers outfielder Shintaro Yokota (22) revealed on September 3rd that he had a tumor in his brain, which had caused him to remain away from the team since mid-February. The young left-handed hitter has the physical tools to excel, and has…
After struggling to score runs against the Yakult Swallows (but still winning all three games), the Hanshin Tigers hosted the Chunichi Dragons over the weekend. It was a much needed six-game home stand after a 27-game trip away from Koshien Stadium. For the most part, this one went down as expected, although Sunday’s game left fans…