The team giving us the biggest fits this year is the team that has struggled the most with run production. That said, the Hiroshima Carp have an outstanding pitching staff, to the point that they entered this series just 1.5 games out of first place. They figured out Shoki Murakami early and often in the…
Baseball is one of those sports that is just so hard to predict. It is also one in which teams can steal victories from their opponents despite not deserving to win. This was the case (in my opinion) in all three games over the weekend. Despite letting Koyo Aoyagi pitch too long on Friday, and…
Hosts T-Ray and Sanjay fill your ears with team news, the import report, a farm round-up, all the latest Tigers baseball action, our Players of the Month for March/April, and talk about which respects our team is better (and worse) than the competition. All that and more! Check out Koji Chikamoto’s new endeavor, mentioned at…
The long wait is over. For just the second time in NPB (1950-present) history, the Hanshin Tigers are the best team in Japan. This series went down to the wire, but the final game was lopsided from the start. Even in the innings that the Tigers didn’t score, they knocked on the door and put…
Despite the dramatic win in Game 4, the Tigers still needed to win this one in order to head back to Kyocera Dome with some momentum and the pressure squarely on the Buffaloes. Their two best pitchers await, so forcing them into two must-win games was the only option. In spite of this, the Tigers’…
Before the Japan Series started, pretty much everyone predicted a low-scoring series. However, that surely has not been the case. Starter Hiroto Saiki labored through five innings but held the Buffaloes to a single run despite 8 base runners, and the relievers allowed the tying run to cross home (they were helped by a Tigers…
The Hanshin Tigers hosted the Climax Series Final Stage for the first time in team history. Would they be alright coming into the most important part of the year completely cold? The pitchers would probably be alright, but how about the hitters? Well, they didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard or hit the cover off…
Sometimes you have to watch games to get a true feel for what they were like. The scoreboard and stat line aren’t enough. This one was a bit of a stressful affair, as Masashi Itoh allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in five of his seven innings. In the eighth, they got two 2-out…
It is obvious that the Tigers have not been playing with the same fire in their bellies since they clinched the pennant on September 14. Even though the games matter less, it is still good to see the team win games and perform well. Now that Game 143 is in the books, the team will…
From the Daily Sports Online column / デイリースポーツオンラインの連載コラムから So this is what it feels like to be a fan of the champs. The Tigers nation, myself included, is still basking in the glory of it all, in part because of the frantic pace at which the team went from tenuously holding the lead in the…