For some reason, the Hanshin Tigers have played relatively well at Kyocera Dome Osaka in recent years. It is definitely not as electric an atmosphere as Koshien Stadium, but for this series, which coincided with the Japanese obon holiday season, the house was packed and home field advantage could be felt. Still, when facing a…
Three straight series wins and an exciting come-from-behind victory on Thursday gave Tigers fans plenty to talk about. But this team of mostly youngsters was still sitting 9 games under .500 and 4 games out of a playoff spot heading into this one. Could they take a chunk out of both of those numbers against…
The Hanshin Tigers have no reason to get too high after sweeping the lowly Tokyo Yakult Swallows at home earlier this week. After all, they faced inferior pitching and were just starting to heat up at the plate after battering the Hiroshima Carp (pun intended) last Sunday. This would be their last chance to enjoy…
Nothing has gone the Tigers’ way since the start of interleague play. They sure aren’t helping themselves, either. Heading on the road against the top team in the Central League was not going to help things, either. Even with the “ace” opening the series and the true ace closing it. Game 91 – Friday 7/22:…
It would be hard to blame Hanshin fans for taking the entire week off after last weekend’s drubbing at Koshien, during which the team scored just 3 runs (and just one run batted in) versus 24 against. But this matchup, unlike the last one, was against a comparable opponent. Formidable at the plate, mind you,…
As the team record spirals further downward, one of the few things the Tigers have left to hang their hat on is a winning record at Tokyo Dome this season. Heading into this series, the boys were 4-2 on the year, and looked to extend their dominance in a stadium that gave them all sorts…
How can a team forget a humiliating (and frustrating) sweep at the hand of the league leaders over the weekend? Beat up on an opponent that has been kind to them so far this year! That’s right, the Tigers found a lot of strange ways to lose to the Carp in Hiroshima to open the…
The Tigers combined to win two of nine (one vs. Lions, none @ Marines and one @ Fighters) against quality Pacific League opponents. Their two wins against the then-last place Eagles was barely acceptable, and the same result against the now-last place Buffaloes would also be the bare minimum, though a sweep would definitely be preferred,…
The good news is that the Tigers have finished playing in Pacific League parks for another year. The bad news is that they had their worst week of the season and looked terrible in doing so. This series was no different. Other than being able to squeeze out a victory in the middle game. Read…
We take two steps forward and one step back. One step forward and then two back. The Hanshin Tigers have been within a game of .500 since May 11 – an incredible stretch in which there has been no winning or losing streak longer than two games. After nine games on the road, the team came…