Unfortunately, because of the weekend of rainouts, plus a miraculous Swallows win against the Carp earlier on the weekend, the Hiroshima Carp came to town with a magic number of one. And of course, all the talk in the media was that the Tigers had to prevent the pennant from being clinched on our soil….
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…
Just a week ago these two teams squared off in the home-run friendly confines of Jingu Stadium. The Tigers experienced a spike in their offensive numbers while enjoying another series victory against the Yakult Swallows. And at long last, the team was back at Koshien Stadium to play baseball – the first time since July…
No matter how weak the Yomiuri Giants appear (1 game under .500 entering this series), they always seem to bring their best against the Hanshin Tigers. As the Tigers’ long 27-game stretch away from Koshien Stadium drew to a close with this series, the team hoped to end on a high note. Unfortunately, the note…
The road trip of death has just one week left. So far it has been quite successful, but now is not the time to let up. Playing against the last-place Yakult Swallows, against whom the Tigers have had good success this year (who hasn’t, really?), it would be nice to win two or three. But…
Obon is the time of year that people all across Japan return to their hometowns and pay their respects to their dead relatives/ancestors. Roughly 100,000 fans paid respect to the not-so-alive Hanshin Tigers at Kyocera Dome over the course of these past three days. Game 104 – Tuesday 8/15. O NO! MEN, DEZ NOT GOOD!…
It doesn’t seem to matter how either of these teams are faring in the standings. These “Legendary Games” (伝統の一戦) have a special atmosphere, and neither team wants to lose. This is an important time of year for both teams – Hanshin needs to play well on the road and patiently wait for the high schoolers…
This would be the final series that Hanshin plays at Koshien Stadium before the team vacated the premises so the 99th annual National High School baseball tournament could be held here during the first three weeks of August. With a slender 1-game lead on the hard-charging DeNA Yokohama BayStars, the Tigers would need all their…
This Hiroshima Carp team is strong. Really strong. Though the Tigers entered this series with a slight 6-5 edge in 11 head-to-head games this season, the last two were lopsided enough to make it feel like it’s 2016 all over again. But things would be different in this series, right? I mean, the games are…
It’s All-Star Break… no real baseball to watch and analyze, so let’s look at our crop of pitchers and give a few brief comments about each of them. What’s your take? Whom do you like in those final couple of rotation spots? In the bullpen? The above “depth chart” is just my own observations, and…