Baseball legend, ambassador, and one-time Hanshin Tigers manager Katsuya Nomura passed away on February 11 at the age of 84. The cause of death was listed as coronary artery disease. Nomura was born and raised in Kyoto, Japan, and played for the Nankai Hawks (based in Osaka at the time) for much of his career…
A few years ago when I was teaching junior high school kids, I came to a certain realization: some kids’ writing is just ugly. Can’t make out their chicken scratches to save my life. “What’s THAT supposed to say, Shota?” “W.” “THAT’s a W???” Same could be said of last night’s 2019 season opener against…
The Tokyo Yakult Swallows had an incredible interleague mini-season. In fact, they became just the second Central League team to finish with a better record than all PL teams. They looked to parlay that momentum into a spot near the top of the CL standings, but if the Tigers have their way, it will be…
Through seven innings, the two hurlers combined to throw approximately the same number that Fujinami threw in that unforgettable (for all the wrong reasons) game in July 2016. Yes, they both brought their A games. In fact, the Yakult Swallows never got past first base until the eighth inning. That’s how good Akkyaman was again tonight….
When you’re playing on a field with smaller dimensions, against a team that’s not know for its pitching (the Yakult Swallows), you have to take advantage. And that’s exactly what the Tigers did. A couple of bombs and their first 10+ hit game in two weeks, and you’ve no longer got a losing streak on your…
Once again, the team’s most dependable pitcher came through when needed the most. In fact, the only run the bad guys got against him were assisted by some shaky fielding on our part. The bats took just enough advantage of the Swallows inferior pitching to make this one a no-doubter. The losing streak stops at…
The Tigers finally got big contributions from their bats, tallying a season-high 13 hits and eight runs as they made up for three straight games of offensive lethargy earlier in the week. Starting Pitchers: Yuta Iwasada (0-0) vs. Yoshinori (0-1, 6.75 ERA) 1 Three of our guys who are a combined 114 years old (Takashi…
You know, there are days when the team plays well but loses a close one. There are days when the team plays alright but wins a close one. And then there are outright stinkers, like today. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, here are some of the “highlights” of today’s shutout loss. Starting Pitchers: Takumi…
It took until the ninth inning for the Tigers to get on the scoreboard, and they got good pitching from their birthday boy starter, but ultimately they fell in extras. Starting Pitchers: Shintaro Fujinami (0-0, 5.59 ERA) vs. David Buchanan (2-0, 0.56 ERA) 2 Three straight singles gave the Swallows a quick lead. It took…
March 13: Starter Shintaro Fujinami didn’t look like himself. Or should I say, he looked a little too much like his 2017 self. Control was lacking, pace was slow, and it all fell apart in the fourth inning. (Prior to that, he played with fire in the first three innings.) In the 4th, it was…