Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you are ready for an exciting year of Hanshin Tigers baseball! H-TEN has got your needs covered! You might want a little primer into what has happened this offseason before anything else, though. First, if you want a full look at the new roster, check here. Now, on to…
The scorecard below tells you almost all that you need to know. But what you do not fully see in this, is this: Yuki Nishi = 5 walks + 1 hit batter in 5 innings Taiki Ono = 4 walks + 1 wild pitch in 1 inning Koki Moriya = 1 hit batter in 2…
This year’s team slogan, announced last November at the team’s annual Fan Appreciation Day, is 執念 Tigers Change 2018. 執念 (shuunen) means “tenacity” and manager Tomoaki Kanemoto was hoping the slogan would give his team that extra push to be tenacious at the plate, on defense, on the mound, in all situations. But the fact…
The Tigers came back to Koshien on Tuesday and laid an egg against the Chunichi Dragons on Tuesday. The weather was gloomy after that, too, and it looked as though the rest of the series would be rained out… but somehow they squeezed in the game on Wednesday. Speaking of squeezes, everyone’s favorite catcher came…
Life as a Tigers fan had been pretty depressing for much of June. Surprisingly, one of the few teams we’ve had success against this season is the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Thanks to them (really, thanks to some untimely errors) we were able to put that 5-game losing streak behind us. SWEEP! Game 66: Brought to…
The Kansai Derby always seems to be interesting. This year, it was the Orix Buffaloes turn to “hit the road” and come over to Koshien. The series was delayed thanks to a rainout on Wednesday (June 6), and the rubber match wasn’t played until two weeks after it was originally scheduled. The way it was played,…
If only it had rained a few more times. This series against the Chiba Lotte Marines came during the heart of rainy season, and in case you missed it, Hanshin is perfect so far this season on days after rainouts. So Friday’s rainout was a good omen, but Monday’s rainout only helped them win their first…
You expect to win two, if not three when you’re playing against a bottom-feeding team like the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. The Tigers barely pulled it off – but hey, we’ll take the wins any way we get them. Game 58 – Kids Back in Kanemoto’s Good Books? Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami vs. Wataru Karashima…
You can never like the Hanshin Tigers’ odds against Yomiuri Giants ace Sugano. Until his last start, he had a 29 2/3 scoreless innings streak, and he’s looking every bit the Sawamura Award winner he was last season, and not at all like the guy who gave us our first win back on March 30. But then,…
When wins are not coming easy, you don’t take any of your opponents for granted. Even if they are the Chunichi Dragons. Even if they’re putting a developing pitcher on the mound. And especially when your own starter is unproven. But the team pushed runs across when they needed them, and the pitching was rock-solid in…