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…
From these scores, it should be clear to all that Meiji Jingu Stadium is a hitters’ park, and that Vantelin Dome Nagoya is a pitchers’ park. It is also true that the Dragons actually have a pretty good pitching staff, while the Swallows, at least on that day, did not. OK, it’s not just that…
Thursday night, the Hanshin Tigers clinched their first Central League pennant since 2005, and just the sixth in club history. From what I observed on TV and in the newspapers, they were up quite late into the night (as they deserved to fully celebrate their accomplishment). They then had to travel to Hiroshima very fatigued…
Say goodbye to the September swoons of our team’s past! This team is a perfect 8-0 this month after completely controlling the action at Koshien Stadium against the second-place Carp! The three starting pitchers – Shoki Murakami / Koutaro Ohtake / Masashi Itoh – combined to throw 22 innings of three-run ball (two earned), walking…
After one of the most successful August road trips ever (at least I presume that 18-5 is good), the Tigers were welcomed home at Koshien Stadium by excited fans, by kids who were hoping to witness a win before returning to school, by a new cheer song for Shota Morishita. But they got beaten fair…
Note: I did not watch these games and am doing this recap (along with the rest of the August scorecards) retrospectively for the purpose of having them on record. Enjoy the scorecards for what they are worth, but I do not have anything insightful to say about this series. These two wins at Kyocera Dome give…
Note: I did not watch these games and am doing this recap (along with the rest of the August scorecards) retrospectively for the purpose of having them on record. Enjoy the scorecards for what they are worth, but I do not have anything insightful to say about this series. I hear that Tuesday’s game was…
There’s nothing more satisfying than beating down the Yomiuri Giants at Koshien Stadium. Tuesday was a memorial game for the late Shintaro Yokota, and the team came through with a big win, thanks to clutch hitting from Yusuke Ohyama and Teruaki Sato. Wednesday saw the team storm back from a 5-3 deficit in a thriller….
The Tigers ended interleague on a downer, having lost four straight series to Pacific League opponents. Meanwhile, the Baystars caught fire during that stretch. The six-game lead once held by the Tigers was down to 2.5… and then they proceeded to completely give it away, as the Baystars swept them in Yokohama back in June….
Trips to Hiroshima have been hard for this team in the past decade, and this trip was no exception. One of our players made the trip but then left without even setting foot on the field. (No, not Yangervis Solarte – that was 4 years ago already!) Koji Chikamoto took a fastball to the ribs…