* The Japanese use the word クール (from the French cours = course / installment / season) to divide the spring training sessions into parts. But since クール is usually used to mean “cool” I have turned it into a cool headline. Hope you’re クール with that! Happy National Foundation Day, everyone! Yesterday was a day off for…
Hanshin’s slogan for the 2016 season was 超変革 (chohenkaku) – ultra reform. The idea was that the team’s attitude and atmosphere under manager Tomoaki Kanemoto would change. Gone would be the old way of thinking, of practicing, of reflecting on games won and lost. In would be a new work ethic. Practice extremely hard but…
Nothing is on the line anymore, with the exception of a few records and perhaps a leg up on the competition for playing time next season. Maybe for some, a strong performance in these final few games is a plea for one more contract, one more season. Either way, the 5-game winning streak the Tigers…
For the final time in 2016, the Hanshin Tigers hit the road. The fact of the matter is, the team has had far better success away from Koshien than it has at Japan’s holy grounds. However, heading into this one, the team that gave it the most misery away from home was, you guessed it, the…
You’ve already heard it, right? The Tigers have been eliminated from the playoff race. They are winless at home against the Giants this year. The only thing left to cheer for is rookie Shun Takayama breaking club (and league?) records. Still, baseball goes on until the end of September, even for teams out of contention….
Who cares about the Hanshin Tigers’ season anymore? Screw this team and their summer of pathetic play. They couldn’t have won the high school tournament at Koshien Stadium this year. Bad defense that makes high schoolers look good, a pathetic 21-33-2 record in their home building, and just a game separating them from the last…
Five straight losses. Against teams that are beatable. Three at home, and two on the road with your best pitchers starting. Could it get any worse for the Tigers? The only good news was that they would host the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, who had a rough August and who have struggled against our Tigers. But…
There’s no moving up in the standings too far if you can’t beat the teams at the top. After a humiliating two-game mini-series against the CL-leading Carp, the Tigers looked to redeem themselves against the second place Yomiuri Giants on the weekend. Redemption, minimal as it was, didn’t come until the last inning of play on…
The weekend series against the Yakult Swallows left a bad taste in the mouths of Hanshin fans. But things were about to get a whole lot harder for the traveling Tigers. Having started the season even (4 wins 4 losses) against the Fish, an ugly, humiliating 9-game losing streak meant this series would probably be the hardest…
Going on a good run at home against teams with similar records was one thing. Taking that act on the road and beating the higher-ranked teams would be another. Could Hanshin continue its mini-run in Yokohama to start its annual long road trip? Game 100 – Tuesday 8/2: The bats started out extremely silent against…